"Traditional wood-fired ovens are very good at maintaining steady, even heat", said Jack, "and are by design very economical. And equally, naturally leavened breads are very easy to manage, especially for the home baker, as the dough matures more slowly and the point when the loaf finally gets to the oven is less critical. I am convinced that naturally leavened breads, like sourdough, are great for the home baker and less problematic that other quicker yeasted breads."

above, a loaf of rye bread fresh from the Aga oven sits cooling on the kitchen table

We took the pizza out of the oven, and quickly cut it into pieces. It had just a faint smoky hint to the crust, whish was both hot and crisp but tender inside (it's always a shame when the base dries out to something that resembles a cracker). After this first test, we bowed out and let other people roll their own pizza.

And what if you don't have a wood-fired oven? "Well, here we have an Aga, which is very good for baking bread. Domestic ovens often don’t get hot enough. Also, the Aga is very good at retaining the steam inside the oven, as it only has a small outlet for the steam. I just throw a cup of water into the base of the oven with the bread, and that produces a beautifully glazed loaf. "

I left the day just wishing I had a big garden, and the drive to build my own oven. Below, Jack shares with us his seven tips for successful home baking:

1. Use a naturally-leavened starter. “Using a sourdough starter is easy,” says Jack. “You keep it in the fridge from one month until the next, and simply refresh a small amount when you need to use it”

above, tucked up in their linen-lined baskets, two rye loaves sit slowly proving in the kitchen.

2. Keep practicing your ‘baking routine’ until you find a method that suits you. “It was the constant baking that improved my breads”, says Jack.

3. “For many of the breads I bake”, says Jack, “I make the dough the night before and leave it overnight in the refrigerator”. This is a great help in managing your time when baking at home, when there are always other things to do.

4. Do keep a record of the temperatures of your flour, water, dough and room when you bake. “Temperature control is very important when you bake”, says Jack, “but don’t go overboard with it”.

5. “Food processors are great for mixing bread, just remember to use the steel blade”, says Jack. My co-author on “Baking with Passion”, Richard Whittington, swears by the food processor and finds it much easier to use than the upright mixer.

6. Remember that when you bake brown, mixed wheat, rye or wholemeal loaves, you will not get the same volume in the finished loaf as you will achieve with white flour, nor as open a texture to the crumb. Just remember this and be content.

7. And finally, “Bake the dough from cold”, says Jack, who lets his dough prove overnight in the refrigerator at 4ºC. This, he feels, gives a better result.

About Jack:

'Entrepreneur in Residence' at the University of Cambridge, and CEO of Artimi Ltd, Jack Lang founded NetChannel, which was eventually bought by NTL, where he continued as chief technologist. During a rich career, Jack founded five companies, including Topexpress, and the company that grew into E*Trade UK. Though he originally studied applied psychology at Sussex University, after a degree in Engineering at Cambridge, Jack then took a diploma in computer science at Cambridge, and an MA from Emmanuel. He is the author of "The High Tech Entrepreneurs Handbook - how to start and run a high tech business", published by FT.com, and widely described as both a business angel (now there's a sweet phrase) and a serial entrepreneur - always starting something new. Jack is recognized as one of the leading UK experts on mass-market computer systems, e-commerce, computer security, artificial intelligence and interactive television. Not only a keen baker, he is a passionate cook and founded the Midsummer House restaurant (in Cambridge) in 1984

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