Oven Floor Design

[Grotto Bali]

I poured the slab/table for the oven and will start building the actual dome in a few weeks. Yesterday I went to a pizza restaurant who had a wood-fired oven and noticed they built the fire in the center of the oven in a "trough" about 16" wide and 3" deep. On either side of the trough were the actual cooking surfaces. This seems like it would be less messy as actual fire/ashes are below the cooking surfaces. What do you think about this design?

I'm building a 48" dome for a restaurant which will cook flat bread, tapas, baked potatoes, roasts, grilled meats/veggies, stews, bread & dessert. It seems that the trough design would be good for grilling, by placing the iron grill across the trough. But I'm wondering whether there are any cons to this design and whether it would work for my application.

Thanks

[KasinH]

Re: Oven Floor Design

How do they get the trough cleaned out? Do the old ashes just accumulate in there?