In Home Pizza Oven Questions

[Jgarceau]

I would like to start by explaining I am new to the concept of owning my own pizza oven but have always wanted one. I am in the process of designing the kitchen for our new home and would like to install a Casa2G90 oven in doors. We have an open floor plan (kitchen, dining room, great room) with high ceilings where the oven would be installed. I would like to tap the wealth of experience from this forum community as the pro's and con's of an indoor pizza oven. Please be honest because I do not want to make a costly mistake. My first choice is to install it inside but I have not ruled out installing it outside.

My biggest concern is the amount of heat the oven will generate while in use and for several hours after the fire is out. Is it wise to plan additional ventilation close to the oven? How does the amount of heat generated compare to a standard wood fireplace (no insert)? Any and all feedback is welcomed.

Thanks
Jeff

[Laurentius]

Re: In Home Pizza Oven Questions

Are we talking about interior or exterior. With proper insulation the exterior is about the same as the air temperature. While cooking in January the top of the exterior of my dome was 68 degrees and the interior was over a 1000 degrees and with an insulated door attached you can store heat for days for additional cooking.

[brickie in oz]

Re: In Home Pizza Oven Questions

When doing pizzas there is a lot of heat that comes out of the entry, you can feel it 4' away, I mean hot.

If you have high ceilings in your plan maybe you could incorporate a vent high up that can be opened and closed as the weather dictates.

The actual outer shell of the oven is only 10 to 20 degrees c above ambient temp.

[Jgarceau]

Re: In Home Pizza Oven Questions

Thank you for the responses...I am planning on an interior oven (installed to code) and where I am currently planning to locate it is where the dinning room transitions to the great room. If there is alot of heat that comes out the oven opening I was thinking of putting some type of hood ventilation or vents above it. My plan is to install it in a wall enclsosure.

Our thought is this is a much better way to spend money then installing a traditional wood fire place.

[stoveup]

Re: In Home Pizza Oven Questions

My biggest concern with an indoor oven would be getting smoke in the house. Even the best designed and built ovens will produce some smoke that doesn't go up the flue. I can think of two possible solutions (there are probably others):

1. Install a powered vent hood onto the front of the oven - just like you would have over a conventional stove or cooktop, except it would not have to be as deep from to back.

2. Install a power draft inducer. This uses a small electric fan or blower of some sort connected to the flue above the oven - the air stream from the blower enters the flue at a steep angle and is directed up the flue. You would turn on the blower before lighting the fire to get the draft going before any smoke is produced.

I just thought of a third solution - build the oven outside. Now there's an idea!

[dmun]

Re: In Home Pizza Oven Questions

Building a chimney tall enough to go through a roof over a tall ceiling should be more than enough length to get great draft. The heat you are going to get out of your oven is radiant heat, not hot air pouring out if it. An exterior door, and an independent air source, (which code may require anyway), means you can open your door when you need access to the oven, and close it off to the room when not needed. Some builders have built exterior doors with heat proof glass, which might produce a view without a blast of heat.

An interior oven is the one application where you should have a flue shut-off. Good ones are made for the masonry heater trade.

[david s]

Re: In Home Pizza Oven Questions

By using the top down method of lighting you can fire a front flue oven without any smoke escaping out the front. Another solution that works is to have a port at the side or back that you can open at start up. It draws air into the oven and you can partially close your oven front door. After 15 mins you open the front door fully and plug up the port.

[brickie in oz]

Re: In Home Pizza Oven Questions

I rarely get smoke out of my door opening, the only time I do is when I partially close off the flue with the damper when there is a fire going.

With the blast door at start up the fire doesnt smoke.