# Wood Burning Ovens



## chefclaycollins (Jul 27, 2002)

So I want to put a wood burning oven into my kitchen and don't have a clue about them, other than actually working them. Has anyone out there ever bought one? How does it work, I mean is there like a kit that you put together, then have a contractor come and build around it or what? What brands are good if there is a kit, and if there isn't where do you find plans or whatever. I'm just starting to research this so any info is good. 

Thanks in advance!


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## georgeair (Jun 11, 2001)

I can't imagine cooling my kitchen well enough to make one of these practical. I have however added the project below to my long-term to-do/wishlist when I finish a patio under and beside my deck.

Brick Oven Project


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

There is a company in California, called Earthstone (they have a website), that makes wood-burning ovens. They are not cheap, and because they are so heavy, I know they must cost a fortune to ship, but they are a very realiable company. Check them out.


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## greg (Dec 8, 1999)

Here's a thread from one of the cheftalk members that's building his own oven: http://www.cheftalkcafe.com/forums/s...&threadid=7606


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## chefclaycollins (Jul 27, 2002)

Any body heard of these? I called the California Pizza Kitchen in Sacramento, CA to see where they got theirs and this is who they recommended. Also they said that if you do the brick work right around the oven it shouldn't get too much hotter in your kitchen. The good thing is that where I live it's only hot for 3 or 4 months out of the year and it snows for 5-6 months out of the year. I always wanted a wood stove in my kitchen on those snowy winter days! I'm really surprised that there is so little info on these things, but I will let you all know as I find out though, I guess. I'm going to Napa on thursday to bug a couple of people down there about them (Tra Vigna and Napa Grill) and if anything it's a good excuss to eat some awesome food!

C-YA!


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## greg (Dec 8, 1999)

I worked with a Woodstone oven for a little over a year. They make a great product if it's within your budget. I've worked through some slams standing in front of a Woodstone running at 600 F+ for hours on end and it never got really hot. Reaching in all the time to throw wood on the fire was a different story.


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## chefclaycollins (Jul 27, 2002)

WOW, the initial cost is way more than I thought it would be, BUT I think that in time it's going to be worth it $$$$$ Any one out there ever worked with an oven and remember what brand it was? Just curious.


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## nick (Oct 19, 2002)

I just emailed a friend who builds custom ovens for homes and restaurants a link to this thread. Perhaps he'll post tomorrow. His ovens are simple, elegant, and work.


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## pat manley (Oct 19, 2002)

Nick linked me to your board yesterday.
There are a variety of options for wood fired bakeoven, such as manufactured models, or hand built designs. I have had the opportunity to build a few pre-fabs, but I prefer to hand build them.
If the oven is built with the proper insulation, than it will not contribute any heat into the kitchen.
I have built a number of bakeovens in restaurants here in Maine. They are not inexpensive, but you get what you pay for. One restaurant in Rockland Maine figures that if they were useing a gas oven, that they would spend a couple of hundred dollars a month for propane. As it is, they spend about $75 a month for firewood. They have been useing their oven for almost 10 years now.
I travel widely to build bakeovens. Follow this link to see the construction, and story, of a bakeoven in an organic winery/bed and breakfast in Fairplay, California, that I built a number of years ago.

http://www.fitzpatrickwinery.com/woodoven.html

Also, for an abundance of bakeoven information, visit the Bakeoven pages at our Masonry Heater Association web site at
http://www.mha-net.org/msb/html/bakeov.htm

Please feel free to contact me for any further info.
Pat


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## really nice! (Dec 10, 2002)

There is a company in California, called Earthstone (they have a website), that makes wood-burning ovens. They are not cheap, and because they are so heavy, I know they must cost a fortune to ship, but they are a very realiable company. Check them out.

-----
I have one of these in my backyard. (See attached photo.) Total cost from Earthstone back in '99 for the Model 90 was $2823.00. This included shipping, about $300, and the following accessories: Cooking video $25.00, Fire starters $48.00, Ash stick $10.00. 

It took about another $8,000 to have a contractor build it. 

Since I live in Seattle, the structure needed extra support for our earthquakes--included with the instructions. The 6.8 we had in February 2001 caused no damage whatsoever.

It comes with two videos, one for assembly, one for cooking. 

I am totally satisified with their oven and their service during the sale.

I've used this to prepare pizza, bread, duck, chicken, steak, roasts, and this past thanksgiving's turkey (11 lbs cooked in just under 2 hours). At the end of a pizza party I'll throw all the leftover ingredients into a paella pan and make paella. 

I have a pizza garden planted on each side. This includes: basil, rosemary, chervil, lavender, roma tomatoes, golden sage, French sorrel, French tarragon, thyme, parsley, French lavender, marjoram, sage, oregano, Greek oregano, cilantro, chives, and dill.

I'm glad I didn't get one for inside the house as occaisionally, the smoke comes out the front rather than the chimney. Guess I should have been a boy scout.


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Welcome, Really Nice!! Can you try again to post the photo of your oven? Pretty please? There are a lot of us who would love to see it.


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## really nice! (Dec 10, 2002)

I'm missing something here. I attach the file (c:\pizzaoven.jpg) and it doesn't attach. It's only 60k in size. 

The forum rules state I may post attachments.


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## really nice! (Dec 10, 2002)

It's on Pbase.

Sorry about that. Click on the thumbnail to get a larger view. Since there's nothing there to give it perspective, it's about 10 feet high.


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Wow!! I just finished eating dinner, but your pix made be hungry again!  And that is one impressive oven! Have you checked out The Big Hat's oven thread? You two can compare notes and war stories.


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## chefclaycollins (Jul 27, 2002)

That oven is very nice, I am jelous! My project has been postponed for a couple of months, due to the baby on the way, but I hope to have one for myself in the next year. Thanks for the pictures.


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## richardl (Sep 7, 2002)

It looks nice!
Do you think it's possible to make a rotisseries and put it in your brick oven? me think the chicken legs might have a better result if you use a rotisseries!


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## thebighat (Feb 21, 2001)

I thought about putting a hole and a bushing in the back wall of my oven so that I could put in a rotisserie. But the things run so hot that I wondered what I could put under the meat to catch the drippings that wouldn't get absolutely ruined by the heat. The turkey I popped into it for thanksgiving was golden brown all over in 8 minutes. Raw, but golden. Typical door height on an Alan Scott oven is only 10 or 11 inches. Rotisserie rod is going to be almost up to that height to get the food in the center of the oven. I think it could be made to work.


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## nick (Oct 19, 2002)

Haven't talked with Alan in probably ten years or more, but the last I knew he was only into bread baking ovens.


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## pat manley (Oct 19, 2002)

Originally posted by "really nice"

I'm glad I didn't get one for inside the house as occaisionally, the smoke comes out the front rather than the chimney. Guess I should have been a boy scout. 

There are a few reasons why your outdoor oven will smoke on occasion-
The first is that being outdoors, you do not have a pressure differential that you would have were it located indoors. Pressure differential is one thing that creates draft.
Another reason is starting a fire in the traditional manner of lots of paper and small pieces of wood on the bottom, and large pieces on top. The fire starts burning very fast, and smoky, and when you try to stuff all that heat and smoke up a cold chimney/stovepipe, often it is too much, and it flows out the door instead. (not so much a problem if the oven is still hot from previous use the day before) The alternative is starting your fire useing what we call the top-down burn. You build your starter fire by stacking your wood with the bigger pieces on the bottom, and adding smaller pieces on top of each layer, finishing the top with small kindeling, and lighting the top. The fire starts a bit slower, but it will develop it own draft as it burns to the bottom of the pile of wood, and you will never have smoke out the door again.
BTW, the top down burn also reduces the amount of unburned wood (smoke) released into the atmosphere. Start up is often the dirtiest phase of a wood fire, any wood fire, in a bakeoven, masonry heater, open fireplace, or woodstove.


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## really nice! (Dec 10, 2002)

Regarding the top-down burn.

Thanks, Pat. I'll try that next time. We're having a surprsingly clear week here in Seattle for this time of year so I might try that this weekend. I do use that method for smoking stuff in the smoker to keep the fire going for 10 hours or so.


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