Indoor vs. outdoor oven?

[Brotalex]

Hello We are planning to build a pizza/bread baking oven in the Spring, I have been waiting for this so long and want to make sure it is the perfect set up and location, we are still in the design phase. I always wanted a quaint German looking "Backhaus" Like we had in Germany-the community baking houses (I was born and raised there) we are also adding a Sun room over our existing deck and are wondering, if it would it make sense to put a pizza oven indoors in the corner of the sun room so we could use the pizza oven year round even on rainy days. Most of the pizza ovens I have seen are outdoors, and that is our plan, but I am just wondering what are the pros and cons to put the oven indoors. I am wondering does it get really dirty, smoky, and dusty due to the wood and ashes, would it get way too hot having it indoors? Thank you so much, Alex

[Gulf]

Brotalex,

Welcome to the forum. There are others who have built indoor ovens, But, I think that SableSprings could possibly answer all of your questions. Check his build out here The Dragonfly Den..... Mike is very active on the forum and will probably respond to your post fairly soon. Good luck and I'm looking forward to the build.

[SableSprings]

Hello We are planning to build a pizza/bread baking oven in the Spring, I have been waiting for this so long and want to make sure it is the perfect set up and location, we are still in the design phase. I always wanted a quaint German looking "Backhaus" Like we had in Germany-the community baking houses (I was born and raised there) we are also adding a Sun room over our existing deck and are wondering, if it would it make sense to put a pizza oven indoors in the corner of the sun room so we could use the pizza oven year round even on rainy days. Most of the pizza ovens I have seen are outdoors, and that is our plan, but I am just wondering what are the pros and cons to put the oven indoors. I am wondering does it get really dirty, smoky, and dusty due to the wood and ashes, would it get way too hot having it indoors? Thank you so much, Alex

Welcome Alex! We put together a corner build, 39" inside diameter modified Pompeii and then put on a vault (1/2 barrel) facade. Because we get plenty of rain in Oregon, we built a roughly 18' square roofed structure (The Dragonfly Den) so we could enjoy and use it year round. Instead of completely enclosing the den, we opted for just screens and sun shades. I've seen another build that was in a sun room and it turned out quite well for them...so a sun room build is very doable...and probably in PA you're going to want windows for winter use . The modern design of these ovens includes lots of insulation, so it's not going to heat up your room significantly (if at all). If you provide adequate venting for the oven and a large enough funneled chimney opening, I suspect you'd pretty much be able to eliminate startup smoke totally.

I built carts into the corner support base for the oven to expand on my "table/prep space" as needed and to give myself a place for wood storage. You will need to have some access to bring in wheel barrow loads of wood. I load my cart from a side door directly so I'm not bringing wood debris across the entertainment area. I incorporated a ash slot and bin to reduce ash & coal problems when I cleared to bake.

So, you're going to have to plan/think about these basics:
1) wood storage and/or how to bring it into the room
2) oven burn/venting air-if you don't have a system to supply air for the firing, it will try to suck it from the room cracks & crevices. Not enough available air and smoke will come into the room.
3) plan enough space around the oven for access behind it and to allow you to work in front (my peels are 5-6' long and you don't want to whack a guest in the head )
4) plan for coal/ash removal (and the occasional pop of an ember into the room from a pizza firing)
5) you'll want good access to your kitchen or prep room
6) are there any zoning/planning issues of doing something like this (remember, don't mention open fire to planning folks...they don't understand what these ovens are).

I hope this helps a little. I bake bread (15-20 loaves) on Fridays for my neighbors but I don't know what kind of community baking house you envision. I've baked pretty much everything in our oven - roasts, chickens, turkeys, bread, cookies, Biscotti, roasted veggies, potatoes, pots of beans, souffles, pizza of course, etc. - so sky's the limit but you are going to want some serious planning under your belt before you begin. Lots of help here and we all will be interested in answering questions to make this project a success

[SableSprings]

Alex, here's a link to pretty much what you're thinking about doing...lots of pictures and he did a really great job!

https://community.fornobravo.com/for...d-lots-of-pics

[Brotalex]

Thank you for your reply Gulf and SableSprings, I appreciate it, yes lots to think about it, and we learn the more my husband and I are looking into it, the more we realized the many options there are, and that none of the pizza ovens are alike. So we really need to figure out what is important to us and what works for us.I think we might lean towards and outdoor oven due to the dirt and wood needed to be brought in. , and yes I would be the one whacking people in the head with the pizza peel or even putting the peel through the windows, that is a very good point! Our sunroom will be an extensions to our living room, and not our kitchen, so maybe not all to handy. I didn't mean to build a "community" bake house, when I lived in Germany my parents used one in our town and baked 20 + loaves, this pizza/bread oven will be just for us our family. I would love to bake maybe 5-8 loaves at the time and use it for pizza baking and and cooking. I really appreciate this forum, this is so wonderful that people are so willing to help and share their experience. We have a mason meeting with us on Tuesday so we need to have a bit of an idea what we would like. I attached 2 pictures of oven designs we like, thanks again Alex

[Gulf]

Alex,

Those are some very fine looking ovens. However, with WFO's, "beauty is only veneer deep". Most masons can build a very pleasing looking oven. But, they may not know how to build an efficient one. You mentioned the many options that are out there. If you are planning to build a pompeii oven, there ain't really that many options on how they should be disigned internally. If you haven't, downloaded the Forno Bravo oven plans please do so. Take a look at some of the builds that have been documented on this forum. Below is a cross section of my oven. I am including it just to show how a well insulated oven is cocooned (separated) from the supporting slab and atmosphere with insulation. It would be a good idea if both you and your mason know exactly what makes this design work.

[Brotalex]

Gulf, I guess I should have also mentioned that we are thinking about a Forno Bravo assembled kit not a Pompeii DIY oven and build the housing around it, simply the reason you mentioned, that we want to make sure it is efficient and is working properly. We have friends that had one build and exactly that happened, it did not work, smoke coming out the front etc..... so I hope I am on the right board forum? We also need to do research which would be fitting our needs. Thanks Alex

[Gulf]

If you haven't seen it, the Forno Bravo Youtube channel has some very informative videos for the installation of their kits. Forno Bravo also has a great sales and support team that may help you decide which model is the best for your needs. I am linking them into this discussion. moderator Alex_FB .

EDIT: If you decide to install a Forno Bravo, it would be great to see it's progress here in this thread or in a build thread in the Forno Bravo Oven Installation forum.

[SableSprings]

Alex, do think about having a reasonable overhang of roof in front of the oven. If you intend to do any baking and there's rain involved, the drip line from the roof can quickly become a major issue for the person working the oven (not to mention the prep and/or cooling space) Also, be aware with the foot traffic to/from and in front of the oven you are going to want a surface that doesn't have (or will develop) raised corners & edges to trip on, nor grass that will turn into a mud pit

Glad to hear that you'll be considering a Forno Bravo kit...cause on the forum we've had a lot of input regarding masons who think a good oven is simply firebricks on top of a slab...and the resulting oven is pretty much a working failure. I agree with Gulf, watch the kit installation videos.

Just an FYI for oven size, I helped a friend install a Casa 2G90 several years ago and I've used it to easily bake four good sized loaves of bread at a time...and we've also successfully baked a suckling pig. As I mentioned before, my oven's a 39" diameter and I prefer 5-1.5# loaves or 5 baguettes in a single load, but can get 10 baguettes in and have still be able to do 3 successive batches...prep space is my biggest limitation now. The biggest problem with larger batches of bread is simply the loading/unloading of the loaves (if the oven is too packed).

[Brotalex]

Thank you Mike, since this post we have come a long way and our plans are taking shape, we decided to order the Casa290 and will do an outdoor free standing oven, with a pavilion close by also work and counter space. The oven will have a bigger overhang, Germans do like big overhangs on their buildings looks nicer and has purpose, I will attach a picture I have found, I absolute love and hope my oven will end up looking like this.
Quick question, I assume the Casa290 does not come with an oven door, do we make it ourselves, I guess it needs a oven door? Also do you recommend lights on the eave of the overhang or the oven front? thank you Alex

[SableSprings]

I think you'll love the oven Alex! The Casa2G90 I helped install several years back did come with a door. It's not an insulated door, but I have used the oven and that door to cook many a loaf of bread (and even a suckling pig). I suspect long term you will get a second door that's insulated...lots of folks on the forum have built one and shared their design. I do think you will need some sort of lighting...seems like I would sometimes start baking in the late afternoon of a winter's day and by the end of the bake it was really difficult to see. Not only difficult to see in the prep area but almost impossible to see inside the oven.

Of course if you're doing pizza the live fire gives you all the light you need, however with a no-fire bake (like with bread), it gets very dark in the oven as dusk sets in. I have a BBQ LED light (AA batteries) on a long flexible neck that I rely on when it's dark outside. I personally think having a rope light under the eaves will give you a great evening "look" to the oven and help you see what you're doing...and some sort of light that you can shine into the oven (without holding ) is really important.

Looking forward to your progress on this great project.

[Guest]

Hi, when you purchase any of our oven kits they do come with they oven door. =] So theres no hassle with having to make your own!

The only oven kit that we do not include an oven door with would be our Pompeii oven kits due to the fact they are more custom to the skill leave of the customer and no Pompeii will be exactly the same as the next.

If you would like to place an order of have any questions feel free to give me a call and we'd gladly go over any questions with you.

We also have technical support on hand for any build questions.

You can reach me at 800-407-5119. Thank you and hope this helped!!! =]

-Lizzy