how to bake traditional flatbread in wood fired oven
a step by step guide to how to bake tunnbröd, swedish flatbread in the traditional way.
Yesterday we were baking all day long in the “baking house” or Bagarstuga in swedish. It has a traditional wood fired oven that we used for baking both flatbread and soft flatbread, and later pizza. Super delicious all of it!
I will try to explain how to bake in this traditional way. I’m definitely no pro, I have learned from my mother and grandmother and I think it’s fun to bake and keep the tradition alive. We usually bake once a year, when I am visiting my family during the summer vacation. Sometimes we bake in my grandmother’s old Bagarstuga with my uncle and his family, and I really love baking there with my grandmothers old tools, and all the memories from my childhood.
You start the night before by making the poolish for the dough.
the poolish
50 g yeast
2 l cold whole milk
1 tbsp salt
5 tbsp fennel seeds
0,5 l rolled oats
500 g sifted rye flour
500 g wheat flour
Mix everything in a large bowl and let it stand in room temperature for 12 hours.
The baking day
One hour before baking, add:
0,5 l warm whole milk (37 degrees)
0,5 tbsp Ammonium carbonate
Keep on adding a 50/50 mix of sifted rye and wheat flour until it comes together as a dough. It should be firm but not too hard.
Let it rest to prove.
The wood fired oven
Evening before baking
Start a small fire to gently heat the oven.
This is important on cold and wet days but can be skipped on a summer day.
The baking day
3-4 hours before baking, start by making a fire in the center of the oven. Begin with a few logs of wood and keep adding more to rise the temperature gently. When the oven is ready for baking, push the logs to the back and the sides so you get a space in the centre to bake the bread. Keep adding more logs when the fire is fading. We use birch wood for best temperature and flavour.
Tools needed
A striped rolling pin to flatten the bread.
A spiked rolling pin to make holes in the bread.
A brush to remove excess flour.
A thin wooden peel/spatula to lift the bread.
A wooden peel with a long handle to insert the bread into the oven.
Start baking
The dough is quite sticky so a lot of flour is needed to be able to handle it.
First divide the dough into smaller pieces (about 30-35) and shape to round balls. Add flour to the baking surface (lots of it!) and use the striped rolling pin to flatten the bread.
Check every now and then that the dough is not sticking to the surface. When it’s as thin as possible, use the spiked rolling pin to make an even hole pattern over the flatbread.
Use the smaller peel to transfer the flatbread to the larger peel and push the bread into the center of the oven. It takes some practice to get the right technique but once you do, it’s a lot of fun! You can see how I do it in the film clip :-)
There is so much flavour from the wood fire, and I love to get that nice coloured edge of the bread.
We baked both flatbread and soft flatbread:
Tunnbröd - the traditional flatbread from this most northern part of Sweden is hard and crispy, and can be stored for a long time.
Mjukkaka, or also called Rieska, is made with another dough (including butter and syrup) and is not flattened as much. It is soft and heavenly good straight from the oven with some butter on top melting from the heat!
And then we ended the day with making lovely pizzas! This one was a Pizza bianca with sourcream, Västerbotten cheese and local, cured pork. Italy meets Sweden in a perfect harmony!
