I encourage you to write to me. I am always interested in corresponding with people who share common interests. I am also always looking for recipe testers. At this time I am looking for people interested in testing bread recipes. I am also interested in people who have a bread oven — but having a bread oven is not a requirement for the recipe testing.
William Rubel
126 Otis Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060 USA
william@williamrubel.com
William Rubel 
Dear William~
I loved your book The Magic of Fire when I borrowed it from the library and am wondering if there are any plans to republish it? or if you might have any personal copies that you might be willing to sell. As they are going for upwards of 85$ these days, we cannot afford them online, but I thought I’d see if there was any other possibilites!
Thanks for all your great work and reverence ofr things that are low tech and handmade and ancient arts.
All Blessings!
Angela Rennilson
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How much is the book Magic of Fire? I don’t have one!
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I began cooking on my fireplace after visiting a friend in Normandy. Years later I went to La Tupina in Bordeaux and had a great Xiridakis meal, envying his apparatus for hearth cooking. After that I visited Williamsburg and envy the clockwork-driven spit system there. Do you know where these non-electric systems are made and sold?
Meanwhile I have a wood-fired pizza oven outside our CA home and love baking, grilling and roasting in it. However, neighbors sometimes complain about the smoke. Is wood-fired cooking long for this world?
I had intended to purchase your Magic when it was $22 at Amazon. Please do reprint the book. It’s up to $225 now!?
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Wood fired cooking is long for this world. I once had a neighbor call the fire department because of the smoke from my oven — the fire department arrived in full regalia — and laughed. This said, I have improved my firing method to reduce or eliminate smoke entirely.
Be sure you are using super dry wood — preferably super small diameter wood. Wood is the last thing to “bake” in the oven. After you have done all your cooking, fill the oven with wood and close the door. This assumes the oven is swept clean of embers. Close the oven door. The next time you fire your wood will be tinder dry and less prone to smoking.
Also, start the fire near the mouth of the oven. Smoking comes from having too much fuel, and not enough oxygen, for the heat of the fire. There is lots of oxygen at the oven door. Add wood in proportion to the heat — and don’t push the fire back into the oven until it is a well established thriving fire.
Smoking can also be caused by a poorly proportioned door opening. The door height must be 60% to 63% the height of the oven ceiling.
I have recently purchased a propane tank with one of those week burning attachments. Don’t think of it as cheating. Using a propane torch to quickly increase the oven heat when it is smoking will eliminate the smoking.
Regarding The Magic of Fire. I believe there are a few for sale in the $70 range — and I have a box of returns from bookstores I can sell you — but they don’t have covers. Write to me directly –william@williamrubel.com. I am trying to get it back in print.
All my best,
William
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Hi william am edward from kenya
I would love to hear from you.
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Hello! Edward! So good to hear from you. You an also reach me at FaceBook. https://www.facebook.com/william.rubel1
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Just an FYI.
The YouTube links to the videos on your .com website are out of date and do not work as a result.
As an example; Baking Bread in Sand 2
OLD LINK httpv://youtu.be/LEnC7jukm4Y
NEW LINK https://youtu.be/LEnC7jukm4Y
The old link brings you back to the .com website instead of the YouTube video.
The “v” at the end of the “http” in the old link instead of the “s” is the problem.
It appears that every link has the same error.
Just thought you would like to know.
Darrell Fluman
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