I got an email from LeCreuset this morning; they have a new "bread baker" so of course I took the bait.
I don't think it can be easily used for proofing; it would need to be turned upside down and the knob on the top would interfere. There is a Lodge cast iron pot (not coated) that would work, though. I think it will fit in the Breville; I believe the base is 12.5" including handles... is that too wide? It's 7" tall.
I just got a Yahoo email recommendation for this. I saw the 7" high "with lid" spec, but could not figure out if that included the handle. The width of the oven between the rack ledges is about 15 3/4", so those handles should be fine. The depth of the oven from the back wall to where the inside of the door would hit is about 12", but there's a rounded bump-out so that a 13" pizza pan fits. The bump-out is a little over 6" tall...it's not the entire height of the oven. But I bet that the round base--sans handles--is under 9" anyway, so depth will not be an issue. I was gonna post a Q&A regarding the total height including the knob, but I figured you would do a Live Test Demo soon enough I'm on the fence for one of these (K.A. or this one.) The only time I eat bread these days is with pasta (I make Italian bread) or for a sandwich...and I've not found a decent whole wheat sandwich bread recipe I like. And if I did find a decent sandwich bread recipe, I'd make a traditional loaf shape. If I got one of these bread ovens, I'd be eating bread with my salad for every dinner...I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, health-wise. edit to add: Amazon's website has 9.5" in the description, so that would be the size of the loaf. I posted my overall height question there.
I didn't know it was on Amazon already; it's brand new. (But when I looked on Amazon it says "first date available March 15, 2022.") I had already ordered from LC direct, but they're having a promo where you get two free pottery bowls with $250 purchase so at least I get a freebie. The knobs are easy to unscrew and remove, but then I'd have to figure out a way to plug the hole so the steam wouldn't escape. Sounds like I'll be baking bread in the Breville soon!!
Breville oven arrived yesterday; still waiting on UPS to bring the bread baker. In the meantime, I ordered a "push/pull" oven tool because I'm tired of getting burns from oven racks. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WW6MD4T/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AK4QXWETYFGD4&psc=1
I just ordered 8 of these. . I cleaned and painted my gourds this week and had to discard some of them. If the birds use these, I'm going to order some more.
I've been to this event, but have not set up any houses. The Articles page has some good tips, including how to attract Purple Martins to unestablished sites.
Thanks, I'm going to read those sites later. I did look at making gourds starling resistant. I tried making a few of my gourds starling resistant but the martins wouldn't nest in them.
It seems that a big enemy is cowbirds. They are "parasitic," meaning that they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds so that those birds will batch & feed the cowbird chicks. The cowbird hatchlings are larger than the "native" chicks and crowd them out so the "native" chicks starve. The cowbirds always return to those other nests to check on their eggs. If their eggs have been damaged or removed, the cowbirds destroy the native eggs. If you see cowbird eggs, you "addle" them so they will never hatch and then return them to the nest so they appear to be normal. I had never heard of any of this stuff until I attended that presentation. The local guy has over 70 pairs he landlords. I'm excited you are doing this! You gotta start a thread. I was fired up after that presentation I attended, but did not want to worry about doing this year after year, knowing the same pair would always return to my nests. There is so much to read on this subject.
I don't have problems with brown headed cowbirds. They are larger than martins and can't get in the opening. I make my openings 2 inches. That keeps out most starlings but a few sometimes squirm in. My son eliminates them when they are on top of the pole. He's a crack shot with a rifle.