How to improve venting for an existing built-in oven?

[sbuxton]

I'm based in the USA, and have a small house in Italy.
The Italian place has an outdoor pizza oven and regular oven side-by-side, both venting to a small chimney in the roof.
We use local wood for both ovens, and there's a huge amount of smoke - when my nephews visited from the UK, they wore snorkeling masks while cooking!
Is this just a matter of getting the right wood? The right draw?
Is there some way to force the smoke up the chimney without investing in a large (expensive) chimney fan?
Thanks in advance for any tips, pointers.
- Stephen

[Gulf]

Hi Sbuxton,

Welcome to the forum. Sharing a chimney/flue with multiple sources usually leads to problems. I'm a little concerned about the size and type of shared chimney you have. Flues for conventional ovens and stoves are really just vents to exhaust cooking smells and carbon dioxide if they are gas fired. A little more information and pics may help. But, DO NOT add any kind of forced exhaust vent to the wood fired oven since it is sharing a chimney that is attached to the house.

[MarkJerling]

I'm based in the USA, and have a small house in Italy.
The Italian place has an outdoor pizza oven and regular oven side-by-side, both venting to a small chimney in the roof.
We use local wood for both ovens, and there's a huge amount of smoke - when my nephews visited from the UK, they wore snorkeling masks while cooking!
Is this just a matter of getting the right wood? The right draw?
Is there some way to force the smoke up the chimney without investing in a large (expensive) chimney fan?
Thanks in advance for any tips, pointers.
- Stephen

Is the chimney clear? I would think that, if you see a huge amount fo smoke, that the chimney may be blocked.

[sbuxton]

Thanks for the responses!
I'm in the USA right now, but I seem to remember the chimney does carry some smoke (i.e. I can see smoke coming out of the chimney on the roof), just not all of it - that suggests the chimney is (at least partially) clear.
I do need to get up on the roof and test it when I get there.
Any suggestions for an easy test?

Not sure how much the pics will help.
There's a pic of the setup - oven + pizza oven built in to the house.
The chimney goes up through the roof, but it's not shared with any of the house chimneys.
Then there's a pic of the oven - there's no vent or flu inside the oven, just a narrow gap immediately behind the metal doors, about half an inch.
If there were a flow, I can imagine the smoke being sucked up through that slit on its way out of the oven. I'm thinking I just need to get that flow moving.

[Gulf]

.....there's no vent or flu inside the oven, just a narrow gap immediately behind the metal doors, about half an inch.

I may be confused! But, I'm assuming that your are referring to the (pizza) oven. If so, the "slit" is not enough opening size to remove the smoke from the oven. I would not build another fire in that oven without a proper flue opening. The danger is the possibility of putting too much fuel (wood) in the oven. Just like the smoke, flame can shoot out the front with an over built fire. That and exposed timbers in the shed could lead to a structural fire.

[Gulf]

My opinion is that you will need to build/install another chimney/flue just out side the cooking chamber of the "pizza oven".

[MarkJerling]

Thanks for the responses!
I'm in the USA right now, but I seem to remember the chimney does carry some smoke (i.e. I can see smoke coming out of the chimney on the roof), just not all of it - that suggests the chimney is (at least partially) clear.
I do need to get up on the roof and test it when I get there.
Any suggestions for an easy test?

Not sure how much the pics will help.
There's a pic of the setup - oven + pizza oven built in to the house.
The chimney goes up through the roof, but it's not shared with any of the house chimneys.
Then there's a pic of the oven - there's no vent or flu inside the oven, just a narrow gap immediately behind the metal doors, about half an inch.
If there were a flow, I can imagine the smoke being sucked up through that slit on its way out of the oven. I'm thinking I just need to get that flow moving.

Hi Stephen

Thanks for the detailed reply. Looking at an enhanced view of your photo. It seems like the smoke is sucked up into a much bigger "gap" than "half an inch" Please confirm.
Regards,
Mark

[sbuxton]

Hmmm, I'm struggling to do this from memory, but hopefully I'll be there on-site in a few weeks.

I have some clear actions when I get there:

1. check that (some) smoke is in fact going up through the slit

2. check the size of the slit

3. look into building an external flue

"Gulf" said not to force the smoke mechanically - could you say more about this please?
Is it because of the danger of forcing smoke into another part of the shared flue?

[Gulf]

"Gulf" said not to force the smoke mechanically - could you say more about this please?
Is it because of the danger of forcing smoke into another part of the shared flue?

Yes., as I don't know what the the "regular oven" is, nor what materials from which it's vent and the shared chimney are constructed? Again, shared flues usually lead to problems.

[sbuxton]

That makes sense, thank you!

[MarkJerling]

Hmmm, I'm struggling to do this from memory, but hopefully I'll be there on-site in a few weeks.

I have some clear actions when I get there:

1. check that (some) smoke is in fact going up through the slit

2. check the size of the slit

3. look into building an external flue

"Gulf" said not to force the smoke mechanically - could you say more about this please?
Is it because of the danger of forcing smoke into another part of the shared flue?

Safe travels! Let us know what you find! (Hopefully, just a bird's nest in the flue!)