Contents:
On a Scott oven, the firebox is "floating", i. So, even if there is some small amount of movement, you should be fine. As noted in another post, these ovens can even be transported. The hardest part is making the transition between the arch and the door lintel.
That may take you a while to puzzle out, but it's not impossible. Everything else is standard brick laying. I'd say the plans are worth the cost. While you can probably squeeze enough info from the book, it's set out a bit clearer and more concisely in the plans. IMHO, generally, it wouldn't be worth trying to move an oven, since it would likely be cheaper, net, to just build another one in your new location. So I called a stone guy we know. He builds outdoor stuff, patios, kitchens etc.
I think I will order the plans from Oven Crafters. The stone guy said if he looked at the plans he could get with a concrete guy and see of the slab will work. My husband is leaning toward mounting it on a trailer. But I am just not sure I want to do that. I agree that moving it is not the best cot effective idea. Plus I think if you built it the second time you would fix and things you didn't like in the first version.
I will probably have to conract out most of the work though. I will keep you guys posted on how things shake out. Check out some of the ovens at the Forno Bravo site. You could cast your own pieces out of refractory concrete but it would be very time consuming. In general, brick ovens are built to retain heat by storing it in the mass of the structure.
Thus, most are permanent and not well suited to trailer-travel. For what it is worth, here is a page of Forno oven's on trailers that are used for catering. I've seen a local community oven in use, which was built using brick and mortar based on one of Alan Scott's plans. I cannot imagine it being moved by anything other than an Earthquake or a jack-hammer.
That being said, Ovencrafter's also lists some 'trailerable' plans online but I've not seen a photo of one. But, if you consider your constants: The structure to hold the oven, whether your oven is a pre-fab or mason constructed, will be the same as will the enclosure. So you're starting out with a fixed, albeit unknown, cost for those two items. If you are doing it yourself, it's a no brainer, as the most expensive part of the build will be the labor.
If you have a mason friend that will 'take care of you', again it's an easy decision, but if you're paying mason's wages, I think the costs are going to be closesr than you'd imagine. Especially if the mason is not well versed in building ovens. I built mine from scratch, spent very little money, but did many hours of research to try to do it right.
That being said, from what I've learned throughout the build, there are a few things I would do differently on the next one, or the additional one! I would love to have a wood fired oven, so I've been reading the recent posts with interest. It sounds like most of you have built your oven or had someone else build it for you. I have been looking at a few options, including the Forno Bravo Primivera , which has the advantages of coming ready to use and being completely portable.
It's on the small size 24 inch baking area , but I just bake for my family of 4, so I think that would be OK. Peter Reinhart said on his blog that he has one but hasn't had a chance to use it yet. The other option I've thought about is a wood cook stove , like this one offered by Lehman's Hardware in Kidron, Ohio. The advantage to this one would be that I have been wanting to get a wood stove or fireplace installed in my house, and you can cook on the stove-top, too.
I wonder that the oven would get hot enough to make really good bread. It seems like if it hit degrees, your house would get too hot. So, any thoughts on which way to go? As much as I'd like to have a WFO, building a brick oven isn't in the cards for me at the moment. So I ordered the plan package 1 from Oven Crafters. I really don't want to put the oven on a trailer. When I said I wanted the real deal- I should have said I wanted a real wood fire oven, on a slab, made of bricks the whole thing. I think they are very beautiful as well as extremely useful. So I asked the lady at Oven Crafters about my slab and I will see what she says.
I think we can do most of the labor ourselves. I am just concered about building the dome. We may have to get some help on that. Thank you to everyone here for their excellent input. I will keep you posted on how the building goes. Im sure it works I would think they are talking about 8" pizzas The wood cook stove I think thats a total waste of money For a little more money you could build or have a pizza oven built Isn't this also what the majority of people do that have the ovens!!
I think that has a lot to say in it's self! I was very surprised that PR had ordered that little oven Im sure he had his reason!! This is only my opinion All my advice is really think about your money Your going to hate this If you don't have an oven that heats up to Have any of you considered building a mud oven? I did, two summers ago and it's great and inexpensive. The most expensive part was the firebricks, and I bought way too many. Kiko Denzer has a great book on it:. My only complaint is I don't get to use it enough. It takes about hours to heat to make pizza, but hold the heat for hours.
I've baked pizzas and breads in it. Some folks make casseroles and roast meat also. Here's a picture of it;. Al, this looks like just the ticket for me. Cheap like me , easy to build for those of us who enjoy home projects but were blessed with 10 thumbs , something that can involve the whole family my 11 and 5 year old girls would love it, especially since it involves "playing in the mud".
I added the book to my Amazon cart; I'll buy it the next time I place an order. Tell me more about yours: Hi Phyl - I hope to build a mud oven myself this Spring been saying that for 2 years, hopefully it will happen for real this time. Kiko Denzer's book is great, in addition, you can find a brief article he wrote on the technique at the Mother Earth News archives here.
Also, Susan at Wild Yeast has built a beauitiful one that you can see here. The mud oven, although requiring time and labor, is something I can handle myself and I am fortunate to have all the raw materials I need on my land. Mountaindog, maybe this could be the year for both of us to build an oven! Besides, my father-in-law is a retired engineer and he loves doing stuff like this.
The book is very long on information. The author has clearly never met a fact he did not like. It is hard to tell who is writing. One gathers that it is not Scott, but if that is clarified anywhere, I missed it. It is much shorter on advice, but there is a lot there.
This book may leave some readers wishing for more instruction and less dumped information. Brick oven book recommendations please. I should probably give this a better review Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Thankyou Mizrachi, I logged on to Amazon and looked up the book and added it to my wish list. Small-scale commercial bakers seeking inspiration, the most up-to-date knowledge about the entire bread-baking process, and a marketing edge. Apr 15 - 9:
It is shortest on instruction. It may be the nature of baking itself. But there are no true recipes, no inch by inch plans, no step by step instructions, but there is much discussion of baking that comes close, and much discussion of oven building that comes close. The best description is that the book contains many guidelines, outlines, and lists of decision points and things to watch out for.
There is a fair amount of attitude in the book. Much of it is hero worship. The hero in this case might be the mythical 19th century or earlier baker that produced a better and healthier product than is generally available today, but there are other individual heroes in the book that the author seems not to want to question. The authors seem to be experts but not masters.
This "How To" book follows the authors experience building a masonry wood fired oven based on the plans found in the popular book by Alan Scott and Daniel . Editorial Reviews. www.farmersmarketmusic.com Review. In recent years, a revived and burgeoning interest in From the Wood-Fired Oven: New and Traditional Techniques for Cooking and Baking with. From the Wood-Fired Oven: .. My Experience Using “The Bread Builders” Book, or How I Made a Masonry Wood Fired Oven · Greg Orth.
Thousand of years of baking and oven building have evolved a mass of knowledge that the authors can repeat, but not distill. I suppose the true master bakers out there are spending their time masterfully baking bread and not writing books. This book may leave some readers wishing for more instruction and less dumped information. The writing is entertaining in spots, and pedantic and ineffective in others. There are many passages that will be clear to experts but not to others.
I think this accounts for the large number of 5 star reviews. They are written by people very familiar with either baking or construction. The author does not claim that the book will teach masonry, nor will it teach basic baking. However, some very close reading will be needed if one wants to use this book to actually do anything. The best thing about the book is the total atmosphere. In fact, if you are planning to open a small bakery and save the world, then you must read this book.
More than anything else it will give you a very clear picture of what you are up against, what level of dedication you will have to supply to the project, how much learning you will have to do, and what amount of time and planning it will take. There are "visits" that the author takes to surviving establishments and these are very revealing. Best individual piece of advice in the book: Good read for the intended audience, but it will never be a stand alone book for that audience.
I should probably give this a better review This book tells you everything, and I mean everything, about bread and bread-making, except how to make bread. The science and theory of bread and bread ovens is exhaustive and thorough, as well as the stories of bread bakers across the country.
I drop my rating only because I would have loved to see two things included in the book. First, it would be an easy add to include favorite bread recipes and products; a natural progression from all the book's lead-up. Secondly, it would have been great to have some sample material quantities listed for the recommended oven constructions. I like the book, but the 'praxis' dimensions were left out. I felt like I was set up to go purchase the 'next book' coming to press.
This is a fantastic book for bakers interested in sourdough and other naturally leavened breads not that commercial yeast is unnatural, but The book has terrific information about building good dough and about building wood fired ovens. The book makes artisanal baking easy. Moreover, they cover important technical topics in such an accessible way, you'll become an expert without even knowing it.
What do I mean by that? The authors really get into the how and why. Before you know it, hydration ratios, protein content in various bread flowers, exponential population growth as it relates to starter quantities, strain characteristics and how they impact proofing times, proofing temps, and retardation It all totally make sense to you, and you begin to understand why your bread turns out the way it does and how to tweak it to perfection.
And here's the thing The writing is so conversational that you'll love learning that stuff. I have been making sourdough baked goods for 30 years, and have a dozen or so books on the subject. Scott and Wng seem to have gotten all of the process correct. This book may seem a little heavy for some, but the information is summerized for those that are not interested in all of the details. However it is all there for those that want it.
The last section detail how to build a modern optumized wood fired brick oven. This section explains in detail the engineering that goes into a brick oven.
I find that my one meter pizza oven needs about 15 pounds of dough to generate enough humidity to give the crust I want in my WFO bread. Since I am not a commercial baker, that is way more than I typically want to make. Even a smaller Scott, however will probably need eight pounds. There are those who will probably say spraying will solve the problem.
My experience says it is NOT the same result. My largest problem is where to put the WFO. I have 40 acres to choose from. It would be nice close to the house but I have plans to move the house to a nicer location off the road and I have locations that would be nice but I don't know how it would work there or if it weren't just out the back then would I tend not to use it as much.
So here is the crazy part, I was thinking of making it mobile. Build it on a trailer and move it around and not worry about this permanent fixture. The good part for me is I have equipment that can move it to a permanent place once I find where that is. Any guesses on how much a WFO weighs? I'd need to keep it under 7, lbs if I want to pull it off the trailer. So I would be interested in your thoughts. There exists ovens on wheels already. I have seen them pulled around and parked at city events where bread is baked and sold to the crowds.
A Brotfest portable oven. You can get lots of ideas just from the pictures, like putting the oven on a fork lift pallet and such. Note the sturdy trailers or wagons under the ovens.
Click at the top of the page for the English version then click on the Baking village. Skip to main content.