looking hard at a 24 in premavera bee hive oven

[billys-za-pizza]

Im New to this forum so bear with me i dont know if im doing this rite. Im looking real hard at the 24 in oven. how many people does it take to set it up on the stand. Is the stand sturdy enough to roll it around a lot. how about cooking when its raining,does it stand a chance of cracking because of the 900 degrees inside and the cold rain hitting it outside and the rain going down the chimney hitting the hot walls inside the oven. Also we live in florida and would bring it in the house in the summer when we travel,would it be ok to wash the inside out with a hose before we put it in storage i the house for 5 months or so. Is it possible to shop around for price or are all dealers the same price. Thanks I will appreciate any input. Billys-za-pizza

[Nic The Landscaper]

Re: looking hard at a 24 in premavera bee hive oven

We have installed 1 Primavera for a client and 6 hardened construction workers could not dead lift the oven. We ended up installing the stand with the oven on it's side and then tilting it up. IMO the stand is not sturdy enough to frequently "roll" the oven around. I would pick a location for it, and leave it there. The insulation is sufficient to keep the outside of the oven from getting hot, so it wont crack, and I believe Forno has a chimney cap that will prevent water from entering the flue, which no matter what would be a good investment. Hosing out the oven is not necessary, a good hot fire will burn it clean and then you can scoop the ashes out with a shovel or mason's trowel. Hosing will make a big mess of everything. As for dealer pricing, Forno offers a wholesale price to dealers and from there it is the dealers discretion as to what is reasonable so shop around.

[Stan]

Re: looking hard at a 24 in premavera bee hive oven

Hey Billys,

I own the 24 inch Primavera and I live in Tallahassee, so I can speak with some experience as to your situation.

Leave it out all year. It comes with a terra cotta chimney cap and a door. I got mine with a free cover, and we put that on when big storms blow through the Panhandle just to keep things dry. It's too heavy to even consider rolling.

Mine has a crack along the inside that happened while I was curing it, but the exterior won't crack during the rain. I've had to shut down the oven (at 900+degrees) when a sudden summer storm blew through, but it's not a problem at all.

We lifted it with 6 or 7 college guys (myself included) from the ground onto the stand. You just have to have a plan, because once you get it up you don't want it going down except where/when you want it.

You're probably going to get the best price from Forno Bravo themselves instead of a reseller (I think there's a place in Tampa, but I'm not sure). The tradeoff is that shipping from Cali to Florida is very expensive.

We really love it, but our next oven will be 36". Regardless, it's great to have in Florida, especially when things start cooling off a bit.

Let me know if you have any specific questions. If you're ever in the 'handle, let me know and you can come see it.

Stan