Wood Burning Ovens

[ChefClayCollins]

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!

[Georgeair]

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

[Pete]

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.

[Greg]

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

[ChefClayCollins]

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!

[Greg]

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.

[ChefClayCollins]

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.

[Nick]

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.

[Pat Manley]

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

[Really Nice!]

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.

[Suzanne]

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.

[Really Nice!]

Originally posted by Suzanne
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.

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.

[Really Nice!]

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.

[Suzanne]

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.

[ChefClayCollins]

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.