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chris11895

Pizza Oven?

12 years ago

Has anyone done a wood burning (or other fuel) pizza oven in their kitchen? I did a search and couldn't find any references on here but figured someone must have done this. My kids have gotten totally into making pizzas from scratch and we're starting to think maybe we should be adding something into our new kitchen plan. I found a lot on-line about outdoor fireplaces with pizza ovens but not so much about the indoor kitchen. Anyhow, if anyone has done this please post your pictures and let me know if you like it. Or if you know of sites or resources for this, please post the links because either I'm not searching properly or there isn't much out there on indoor pizza ovens :-)

Comments (24)

  • 12 years ago

    If you'll perform a google search for "indoor wood burning oven", you'll get several choices.
    Wish I had room for one myself.
    They're great for pizza, bread, and almost anything else you put in a conventional oven.

  • 12 years ago

    Chiefneil has a wood burning oven...he isn't in the FKB but he has posted recently. If you send out a plea perhaps he will answer . c

  • 12 years ago

    We have a stone insert called a Hearthkit that functions as a pizza oven. It stays in our bottom electric convection wall oven, and takes a good 45 minutes at 500 convection to heat up (it has it's own thermometer that measures the temp of the floor), but it if we take the time to heat it properly, the pizzas cook in about 5 minutes.
    I've made lovely artisan breads, and I'm told it's the secret to the perfect apple pie.
    It's four pieces: a large flat bottom, and two short curved sides, and a rack that fits inside it. It should be set on a rack as high as it will fit,so that the roof of the oven is close like a pizza oven.
    I think it also came in two sizes, so you need to make sure it will fit your oven snugly.
    We never take it out unless we're cooking something really tall that won't fit, which isn't very often because we'd just use the range in that case, although our range is huge and takes forever to preheat.
    Anyway,I don't know if they still make them,but I'd recommend a Hearthkit in a minute to anyone considering this.

  • 12 years ago

    I know a mason who builds them. I would do it in a minute if I had the funds, he does gorgeous work. I know he has made a number of them, and also commercial and outdoor ovens. Another option is a masonry heater with an oven.

    The Masonry Heater Association is a good place for some basic info.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Masonry Heater Association

  • 12 years ago

    We have a Mugnaini pizza oven in our kitchen. We have done things a bit backwards though. We weren't ready to do our kitchen renovations but wanted to do something that would be fun for the whole family. We removed a woodstove from a brick hearth in the kitchen and had a mason install the kit from Mugnaini. It was not an inexpensive project:) The oven has not been completed cosmetically. We just wanted it up and running. It's been 3 years and tons of fun. John at Mugnaini was fantastic to work with.

  • 12 years ago

    Thanks for all of the suggestions!

  • 12 years ago

    Hi Chris, We just got through installing a fireplace/pizza oven in our kitchen.A pizza oven is called a black oven because you put the coals or wood right into the oven and then scrape them to the side to cook. We installed what they call a white oven. A white oven is heated from the fireplace below and as long as you have heat from the fireplace, you can cook in it.It gets up to about 1000 degrees.It is called a contra flow heater. It will heat the house and maintain the heat. Here is a picture of it with the first firing. If you need further info, I will be happy to give it.

    View all

    Get your own

  • 12 years ago

    Wood Stone makes residential pizza ovens.
    Trailrunner, I think you could put one through its paces with all of your bread and bagel baking.
    They're in Bellingham, too!

  • 12 years ago

    schmaltzy: my SIL and BIL are in Bellingham ...not me LOL. Now PNW for this girl...too dreary :) I would love a pizza/woodburning oven outside by our pool area but DH thinks we wouldn't use it enough. I have a neighbor who has one and uses it regularly but even though I have hinted , I have never been invited...sigh. Thanks for the compliment on the breads ! c

  • 12 years ago

    Michael Chiarello has one in his ;) Link below

    Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen with a pizza oven

  • 12 years ago

    I built a wood fired pizza oven as part of an outdoor kitchen project:

    I used the free instructions from Fornobravo.com, and heavily leveraged the wonderful, helpful forum community over there. Most of the builds on that forum are for outdoor WFOs, but I know some people have done indoor ones, either in their kitchens or for commercial ventures. They're incredibly friendly and helpful over there, and I highly recommend checking it out.

    I have to say, I LOVE my WFO! It makes absolutely amazing pizza, I can entertain a crowd of 20 for about $40 in style, and it's just *fun*. With one fire, I can cook pizza the first night, artisan breads and bagels the next morning (oven is still about 500 degrees), calzones, leftover-ingredient-lasagna that evening (about 375 degrees the second night), and long, slow roasts and such on day three (about 225). One fire, three days of cooking.

    And it seriously makes the best Thanksgiving turkey ever!

    We just installed our double ovens inside on Sunday, but before that, it was seriously amazing to be able to cook my turkey, roast my green beans, warm the mashed potatoes, bake bread, and cook the stuffing all in the 42" diameter WFO. At once.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Forno Bravo Wood Fired Ovens

  • 12 years ago

    mod...I have that turkey roaster ! Now I wish I had that kitchen ! How about if I just bring the bread doughs and pizza toppings and wine ??? Love your pics. You have a fantastic spot. ( are you near AL ) :)

  • 12 years ago

    Phoenix, Arizona, I'm afraid, Trailrunner! I guess you'll just have to build your own. ;-) I'd never done any masonry before in my life, and my dome is rather...ahem...rustic. But I was in Pompeii in 2010 and peeked into the wood-fired ovens in the preserved bakeries there, and my brickwork looked just as good as theirs, and those ovens have been standing for thousands of years. It made me feel a lot better. ;-)

    The WFO was my baby. My husband thought I was nuts, but I became obsessed with the idea and did it all myself. While I was pregnant. Now he loves it, of course--he gets to play with fire and show off his dough tossing skills, after all!

    I'll link the thread on the Forno Bravo forums where I chronicled my build, if you're interested. Lots and lots of pics there.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Mod's WFO build

  • 12 years ago

    Mod, I am so glad to hear this! I have been wanting one for years and years! I am certain I can do it, but need to convince my skeptical hubby. I even own a cement mixer!

    I've been drooling over those Forno Bravo ovens for years. It really heartens me to know your dome is "rustic" but works. Summer 2013 project....

  • 12 years ago

    dough recipe ??? I am always looking for a new one :) I love the apron and legs LOL. We have been to Phoenix a couple times . I rode right through there on my bike in 2010. We rode Hwy 60 FOREVER !! Stopped in Peridot for lunch one day after we left Phoenix. Had to ride the whole reservation in one day as there is no place legal to stay. Crossed into CA...and then on to San Diego. Great pics and info...,mabel...you got to post if you do this. c

  • 12 years ago

    That outdoor kitchen is amazing....how cool that u built the WFO by yourself!

  • 12 years ago

    I installed a LePanyol in my remodel, which is wrapping up so if I can figure out how to do it, I will post pics soon. Le Panyol is distributed in the US through Main Wood Heat, www.mainewoodheat.com. They were very helpful and easy to work with. Before I committed, however, I took a class in cooking and baking with a wood stove at the wonderful Stone Turtle Cooking School in Lyman, Maine. They have a Le Panyol in their kitchen. In the weekend class we made everything from baguettes and cinnamon rolls to mussels and leg of lamb. I can report that the pizzas I made in my own oven the other weekend were awesome.

  • 12 years ago

    Wow - that is awesome, Modthyrth! I'm going to check out the Forno site. I also would love a new dough or pizza sauce recipe :-)

  • 12 years ago

    I use the dough recipe from the Forno Bravo site ( http://www.fornobravo.com/pizza/pizza_dough.html ). Since you cook around 900 degrees, you need a high hydration dough with absolutely no sugar. It's incredibly simple, but absolutely delicious!

    For sauce, just crushed tomatoes. There's a brightness to the flavor that you just don't get with a cooked sauce. The Neapolitan standard is hand-crushed San Marzano tomatoes, but to get those, I have to drive 20 miles and pay $6 per can. I've found that the crushed tomatoes with basil from Fresh and Easy is *fabulous*, and costs only $1 per can. The store is 3 miles from our house, too. If there's a Fresh and Easy in your town, definitely give it a try!

  • 12 years ago

    Wondered how the dough is "tossed" when it is high hydration. I can only toss it when I do a dryer version ...and my toss is no where as pretty as that pic :) I agree on the sauce...never cook mine anymore...mince lots of fresh garlic and basil and that is it. Nice thread ! c

  • 12 years ago

    I forgot to mention that using the Caputo 00 flour makes a huge difference. It just stretches gloriously! Bread flour works nicely, but the we like the Caputo so much that we went and bought a 50lb bag so we wouldn't risk running out. It's that good.

    We mostly stretch on our knuckles, and let gravity do a lot of the work, but Drew usually does a couple tosses for show. ;-)

  • 12 years ago

    I'll second the Caputo 00 flour and its extensibility. It's like magic! However, when we make pizzas inside in our regular oven when we can't get to the outdoor oven in the winter, we go back to regular flour (though still a high-hydration formula). Without the high temps of a pizza oven, the Caputo seems to result in a tough crust (for us at least).

  • 12 years ago

    I am a novice at pizza making so these tips are great. I am looking forward to getting my hands on some 00 flour and San Marzano tomatoes and trying again. The dough recipe I used the first time was Wolfgang Puck's. It is on both foodnetwork and epicurious websites. We all thought it was delicious.

  • 12 years ago

    OK, I know this sounds like an insane idea, We love pizza! This solution was so simple, cheap and utterly a joke when my husband and I first came up with it many years ago before the idea of marriage, or new kitchen was even born yet. I went to the local home store. Purchased a dozen unglazed eight inch floor tiles. Put them on the oven rack. Preheat while prepping. The tiles were less than a dollar a piece. I don't have to wash them because the heat from the oven turns any residue to ash. Just brush with a dustpan brush (only for the oven) when the tiles are cold. If I'm doing a turkey or baking, I just remove the tiles & put them back in if we're doing pizza. The bottom crust is so perfect! Preheat to 500F then turn it back to 450F when the pie goes in.

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