Hello from Pennsylvania

[CanuckJim]

Re: Hello from Pennsylvania

Generally, I agree with James. It can be done, but it's not as easy, to bake pizza in a rectangular barrel vault oven like mine, because it is not designed to have flame licking up to the dome for pizza baking. I'll be doing it this weekend, so trust me. Is one superior to another across the board? Humm, don't think so, and I've used and installed both. Both will bake a huge variety of foods, from bread to fish. Don't know where you got the info that there is a wide temp variance across the floor of a rectangular; it's not so if it's properly built and well insulated. Any wood fired oven will be cooler near the oven mouth, though, and hottest at the back wall. The former can be a good thing for some dishes, calzone for example.

The choice depends on intended use. I can get more loaves per bake in my oven than I could if it was round, hearth bread or pan bread, sheet pans or pita, and that's why I chose the design. For me, pizza is secondary, bread primary for my bakery. If I wanted an oven for general use, I'd probably opt for a round design. If my primary intent was pizza, I'd definitely go the round route.

From a speed and ease of firing stance, I'd use a white oven for a commercial setup, though they can be difficult to find and tricky to build (read expensive). Alf, the builder in England, could guide you there. For traditional look and feel, I'd go with a fire in the oven design. One of the larger, commercial FB Ristorante ovens might be what you want.

The most important thing about any design is to build it carefully and insulate to the point that you retain as much heat as possible--and beyond. There's a wealth of insulation information on this forum. Whether it's modular and purchased, brick by brick and hand built, round or barrel, these things don't change.

To answer your question directly, both styles of oven will retain heat for a very long time (how long depends on construction) if they are properly built. A poorly built oven, no matter the orientation, will not.

You haven't told us what the primary use will be; that will affect orientation choice. After that, either one will perform flawlessly for general cooking and baking, so long as the provisos above are kept in mind.

It's important not to get hung up in the many, many, many contentious opinions out there about superiority of one over another. The French don't use a round design and bake awesome bread. The Italians don't, generally, use a rectangular design and bake awesome pizza. Point is, either one is good, works well. The choice is based on intended major use--and somewhat simply on historical tradition.

Contact me directly by email if you want to discuss details further.

Jim

[james]

Re: Hello from Pennsylvania

My favorite saying that it's easy to make bread in a pizza oven, but difficult to make pizza in a bread oven. :-)

If you are looking for a general purpose oven, for a range of cooking, I think the round Italian design is the best one. If you are setting up a commercial bakery, then I would go with the low, barrel vaulted oven. I would even considering doing a white, French oven design if I was thinking of starting up a commercial bakery.

My two cents.

I love the idea of building a brick oven for community use. Excellent idea.

James

[asudavew]

Re: Hello from Pennsylvania

The Pompeii design is an excellent all around oven.
It will cook pizza, bread, and roast/smoke meats. (brisket, pork shoulder, turkey, etc.)

I've had a ham, a turkey, 2 dozen rolls, and squash in mine (a 42"Pompeii) all at the same time.

I regularly cook meats up to 36 hours after firing the oven, so the heat retention is awesome.

I love mine.

As for a barrel-type oven, I have no experience there. But Jim, our excellent baker, has experience with many different ovens.
I am sure he will be happy to offer his opinion on that subject.

Good luck and welcome aboard.

I'm sure we would all enjoy pictures when you decide to build.

Dave

[McLane]

Been visiting the main Forno Bravo site for a couple of months, and decided to join the forum to get some advice. I am a member of a growing church, and we are in the planning stages of a major renovation of our kitchen. We feed about 1200-1300 people on the average weekend, and we are contemplating the addition of a brick oven to the renovation plans. We have increased our bread making capacity over that past few months (using a commercial convection oven), and we are currently producing about 20-30 loaves of bread per weekend. We have even discussed the possibility of making our own fresh dough pizza, which has spurred my interest in the designs mentioned on this site.

I joined this site primarily to make sure we build/purchase the proper oven. I read out on the main site that the question one needs to ask, is if they intend to bake bread or make pizza. How much difference is there between a bread and pizza oven? On reading the "why round" section, I'd be compelled to think that a round "pizza" oven would be superior to a rectangular "bread" oven. Is this the case? I'm not sure why a rectangular oven would be better suited for bread, since on of the main drawbacks of a rectangular oven is that they have a wide temperature variance across the floor of the oven. I have read on another site that a "falling" oven is perfect for bread baking. Does the temp in a rectangular oven drop at a faster rate than a round oven?

Thanks for any help that you folks can give.