Vesuvio80 Offloading and Placement

[BoDiMuccio]

I have recently purchased a Vesuvio80 oven (wood only) with metal stand and it should be arriving in a few weeks. Any tips on offloading and placing the oven would be appreciated. I'm planning to rent a Telehandler that can handle at least 5,000 pounds. But if anyone has bought this oven or one like it and you have any general advice on the arrival and placement process, I'm all ears.

[SableSprings]

Welcome BoDiMuccio! I built my oven but was interested in your question. In looking at the description page of the Vesuvio oven in Forno Bravo, I noticed at the bottom there is a YouTube video showing how to set the oven on the stand. Looks like it will answer your question pretty well. My only comment is that it appears you really want to be absolutely sure of where the oven is placed since the stand doesn't appear to have any caster system. I guess I'd want to consider if I could add some heavy duty caster wheels...just a thought

For your convenience, here's a link to that YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=cCm-cKz8Bzk

Good luck!

[BoDiMuccio]

Thanks, Mike. Yes, I've seen that video. Unfortunately, I have to drive my oven through some yard and then be able to extend from the vehicle out and onto my brick patio. So I can't use a standard forklift or even skid loader. Therefore, the Telehandler. Anyway, it doesn't appear that the home Vesuvio assembled ovens are all that popular yet amongst users in this forum ... I don't see a lot of posts. But any observations, best practices, land mines to avoid regarding initial placement and start-up of a new Vesuvio would be welcomed.

[SableSprings]

I suspect you've thought of several of the following items, but hopefully at least one will be of help

As to placement of the oven, here's some things to consider;

Consider prevailing winds. If possible, place the oven so the "normal" wind DOES NOT blow in the front.

You will get smoke either from the front or the chimney upon startup (or if your wood is green/damp). Nice not to have that smoke get trapped under a deck cover or wafting into the house through windows or open doors.

Pizza fires can shoot out pretty hot exhaust and sometimes embers. Think about a chimney cap with mesh sides to reduce cinders. Don't place the oven so that the chimney is under any flammable materials (tree branches, deck covers, etc.)

You will get some occasional embers that pop out onto your deck. Be prepared for food and fire stains in front of the oven - BBQ pads or those inexpensive foam flooring squares work well to protect that area. The squares are inexpensive and easy to replace if/when you too many burn marks.

The metal feet of the stand may rust or impress on your deck (if it's wood). Consider rubber/plastic foot pads underneath each leg (or heavy duty casters).

Easy (and close) access to/from the kitchen - counter space near the oven is extremely valuable. You will find that having counter space for your toppings and a place to stretch out the dough as well as knowing where to set/cut/serve that finished pie is important.

Leave enough space in front of the oven to allow you to work the oven without putting the end of your peel through a window or wall (or whacking someone sitting at a nearby table ).

Plan for enough space to work the oven with people all around you (everyone wants to watch).

Have a stand/rack for your peel(s) and other oven tools. The head of the metal peels can get very hot, I like a bucket of cold water nearby so I can cool my banjo peel occasionally.

You want to have easy access to your covered wood supply and a path/plan to dispose of ashes.

Even though your oven is "finished", you should still go through the curing process. The cast refractory still contains moisture that needs to be (slowly) driven out...don't plan a big pizza party for the night it gets put into place. Use the curing fire process to get a feel for using the oven...lots of good eats can be prepared with temps far below what's used for pizza.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[BoDiMuccio]

Thanks so much for these thoughts, Mike. This will be my second outdoor wood fired oven. The first one, which I had many years of great success with, was a starter kit. So I do have a lot of experience, but it's good to have some reminders of the really important considerations. It'll be going in the perfect spot, wind wise, kitchen proximity wise, wood pile wise. I will be sure to check back in with some pictures, etc. The oven does come pre-cured, but I agree it'll be a good idea to complete the curing process. Thanks for that tip!!!

[LucasPeri]

Hello, have you got your oven already? if not I have some tips. I have just placed mi Napolino 70 (one size smaller than your V80) with a similar scenario. I rented a crane and I got it in place in just 30 min.

[BoDiMuccio]

Yes, delivery and placement went very well. We had to rent a Telehandler to place the Vesuvio 80. It's been cured and used twice at this point. I think I have some further curing to go, however ... it's not retaining heat quite like I expected, but believe it will improve with each firing.

[SableSprings]

Pizzas look fantastic and I really do love the look of that oven. I will be interested in how much it will improve (heat retention) as you continue to use it. How long does it take to bring it up to pizza cooking temps? Are you planning on baking with residual heat...i.e. bread, roasts, turkey..., etc.? I'm assuming there is an insulated door or is it just a "sheet metal" door that came with the oven?

[BoDiMuccio]

Thanks Mike. I take VPN very seriously. Currently it's taking 2.5 or 3 hours to get up to temp (800 floor, 950 dome), but falling somewhat below rather quickly. The pizzas in the picture were made with something around 750 floor, 850 dome temps, I'd estimate. Acceptable, but not ideal. I definitely cook other things in the oven, particularly bread ... have done a bit of bread already (the next day) and it turned out very well. After having been up to temp late into the evening, I'm seeing morning temps in the 300 to 350 range, based on the door thermometer. The door included with the Vesuvio is not insulated, rather just a sheet metal door. Anyway ... any thoughts or guidance appreciated.

[UtahBeehiver]

IMHO, building an insulated door will help you maintain heat from the night before. I find that my oven temps that were in the 600-700 F the night before are still in the 500 range the next morning and my door only has about 1.25" of CaSi board sandwiched between 316 SS. Make you door out of thin wall SS, not carbon steel or aluminum, the thermal conductivity of SS is substantially lower than the latter. If I were to build a door again I would make the insulation core at least 2" thick. There is a thread on the forum showing various type of doors that have been made. For lower temperatures, ie 300 F or less, some members have been using wood.

[SableSprings]

Here's a link (below) to one nice thread on oven doors. As Russell noted above, not having an insulated door makes a huge difference in trying to retain oven heat. I have two oven doors, one is a lightweight sheet steel door for use while "active fire cooking--pizza" or bread baking where I need to one-hand the door while bread dough loading. The other door is insulated stainless steel (heavier) and used during firing and constant temperature baking (where it is used to seal the oven chamber).

https://community.fornobravo.com/for...ur-door-thread

p.s. I don't know what you meant by VPN in your post #9 above. I have a network background and all I can come up with is Virtual Private Network

[BoDiMuccio]

Mike, VPN stands for Verace Pizza Napoletana or "True Pizza Napoletana." There's an actual organization that certifies pizzerias all over the world for upholding their standards. http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/en/. As you know, the door is irrelevant for pizza making. For heat retention overnight, sounds like an insulated door would certainly be better. I'll check it out.

[Lozanoe]

hello all, can anyone tell me if Forno Bravo sells an insulated door or do you have to make one to have better insulation. thank you so much in advance!