A visual history of the American Flatbread oven.

Bread has been with us for 6000 years. American Flatbread has been with us for 20 years. Here's some photos reflecting how we got to where we did. Some of our ideas, beauty, and history, of the Flatbread ovens can be traced back in time to when bakers made bread by hand, used a solid fuel source, and the bread carried with it the soul of the baker.

Field oven made from clay and timbers. 1898 - Quebec, Canada

A recreation of George Schenk's 1st Flatbread Oven made alongside the Mad River. Simple, functional, and very primitive. Fire below the hearth stone creates floor heat heating the chamber above. This style oven was the precursor for George's later Flatbread ovens.

Our oven at American Flatbread in Los Alamos, California. When George arrived in October of 2003 I was almost fearful to ask him if he would consider a rounded stone base. After seeing the space, George and I agreed to build the first oven in this style. After we completed the clay dome I feared that the surface was too rough and that Health Department authorities may have issues with washability. The solution was to make terra cotta tiles from a nearby adobe pit. Once the tiles were cured, we broke them into small pieces. The large stone in the bottom center of the base is from the creek that runs behind our facility. The flat ledger stone is from Yosemite. The arch is Pennsyvania Bluestone which was cut from a surplus step from the Getty Museum.