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Wood Fired Oven
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I've
been interested in wood fired ovens for quite some time, since the
early 1990's when I began to see them in restaurant installations.
I photographed two of these for my book, Kitchens for Cooks,
at Olive's Restaurant in Boston, and Al Forno in Providence. In
1998 I resolved to build my own wood-fired oven, and used a wonderful
kit from Earthstone as the basis. Because Vermont winters seem so
endless, and summers so brief, we decided to locate the oven in
the kitchen/diningroom rather than outdoors. I figured we'd value
it more if it made winters more fun. (Now, if the truth be told,
I'd love to have another one outside for summer fun.)
The kit from Earthstone consisted of a series of shaped cast refractory
materials, each with a number cast into the form. A pile of thick
tiles ("pierre de boulanger", baker's stones) were also provided,
along with a cast iron door, digital thermometer probe, a set of
tools, and a thick book of installation instructions, a cooking
video and an installation video. We also got a metal frame to build
the oven on, rather than building up a base of brick or cement blocks
because we were concerned about the weight of the oven and the affect
on our beams.
We put the oven together with the help of an Italian chef friend,
Davide Monzo, who had built himself an oven entirely of brick based
on one he'd seen at Pompeii. He took one look at Earthstone's kit
and said: "Piece of cake, Deborah, piece of cake". He was right;
it took only three days to get it all set up. |
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 The
most difficult part was figuring out how to enclose the oven and chimney
so that it would work seamlessly into the room, and also accomodate
the cast iron wood stove we use for winter heat. You can see the result
in the picture -- we encased the whole structure in metal beams (the
welder who lives down our road came up and welded them together on
site). Then we covered the beams with cement board, and then hand-troweled
plaster.
The first big thrill of learning to use the wood oven was the discovery
that it meant having an open fireplace at eye level for the first
two hours of any use. You have to build a good fire in the oven to
heat the whole masonry mass, and we find it takes that long to get
it up to temperature. The first time we sat at the table watching
the sparkling flames in the oven across the room, my husband said:
"I'll never watch television again." It was mesmerizing, and it felt
incredibly luxurious to have an open fire in the middle of the kitchen.
Since we've had the oven, we use it weekly in cold weather, making
pizzas and breads, roasting chicken, fish, and vegetables, grilling
over hot coals in winter, and cooking bean soups slowly overnight
in the falling heat of the just-used oven. It's been such an asset
in winter that even in the midst of summer, I find myself looking
forward to autumn weather so that I can use it again.
I suggess the following information
sources and suppliers for wood-burning pizza and bread ovens for home
kitchens:
The Bread Builders: Hearth Loaves and Masonry Ovens, by Daniel
Wing and Alan Scott (Chelsea Green Publishers, 1999).
Alan Scott Ovencrafters
5600 Marshall-Petaluma Road
Petaluma, CA 94952
415-663-9010
http://shell10.ba.best.com/~ovncraft/
Alan Scott builds ovens all over the country and sells plans for do-it-yourselfers.
Earthstone
1233 North Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
800-840-4915
My oven (from France) was supplied by Earthstone.
Renato's
2775 West Kingsley Road
Garland, TX 75041
800-876-9731
www.Renatos.com
Distinctive Living Products
International Market Square
275 Market Street, Suite 130
Minneapolis, MN 55405
800-690-0783
Distributor of the Mugnaini ovens from Italy. Mugnaini can be reached
directly at 888-887-7206 or www.mugnaini.com.
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