Bake Oven

Outdoor Oasis and Bake Oven Project

Wood-fired bake ovens are a great way to cook fantastic meals inside or outside (especially pizza).
After you've tasted crispy homemade pizza from a bake oven you'll never go out for it again!

We build both site-built brick ovens and assemble and install pre-cast ovens such as Forno Bravo for residential and commercial applications. We will work with the city codes officials, your architect, designer, and builder. We can also design the finish work for you. The process takes several days to several weeks, depending on size and materials used and of course, how the exterior is finished.

Step 1: The oven base is built out of block and a pre-cast cement lintel is installed on top to support he weight of the oven. Step 2: Several layers of different types of insulating material is installed to keep the heat inside the oven. Step 3: The firebrick floor is laid.
Step 4: The oven walls are built up with firebrick. You can see this is going to take a lot of masonry. Step 5: The oven dome is built of of firebrick over forms. This gets a little tricky because the brick need to be installed very close together in this arch patter. Step 6: Block walls are built on the sides and back, the cladding is poured around the top, front and back of the oven to keep the heat inside. Step 7: The front face and chimney are installed. Here the front face and arch are finished and the chimney is in place. The chimney/flue is a decorative chimney pot from Sandkuhl Clay. The wood bin is finished (under the base)

Pizzas cooking in the oven at 700 degrees The one on the left is crisp and ready to come out.
Gene pulls a yummy pizza out with the pizza peel

A "Mr. Bill" pizza fresh from the oven!

The bake oven is almost completed. It still needs a second coat of stucco, paint- and the bricks will be acid-washed.

Gene built this stone pond and fountain for our backyard patio. We still have to add plants and fish.

Our backyard oasis is nearing completion. A raised herb garden is at the right of the entrance and plantings include sage, rosemary, thyme, dill, basil, garlic chives, onion chives, and three types of oregano. All the necessary herbs for an Italian cook!

The rest of the garden has Jasmine trees, roses, lilies, evergreens, hyacinth, and clematis with ground cover. The garden shed will be painted soon and shutters and window boxes installed.

Working with a wood-fired oven takes a little practice, but it is well worth the effort. Some of our favorite moments are having friends over to make their own pizza - and it is a sure hit at any party. We have learned how to bake homemade breads in the oven, too, and I must say that it tastes much better than bread cooked in a regular indoor gas or electric oven. We've also tried our hand at roasting chicken and turkey, vegetables, and casseroles, and they come out great.

The oven must be "fired" to heat it before baking. Sometimes that means firing it the night before an event, then adding wood in the morning and then a couple of hours or so before the cooking is to begin. We use pallet wood to get it started, then add oak. A thermometer is placed inside to check temperature. Ideally, you want very high temperatures to cook pizza - 700-800 degrees or so, but we have cooked them at 600-650 and they come out fine. Then we crack open the door to let heat escape and get the temperature down to 375 -400 to bake bread. After the oven is cooled down to below 200 I dry herbs in it. You can add woods like apple or hickory to add flavor to the food.

Most of the time all of the coals are removed before baking, but for a larger party with lots of pizza being cooked, we leave coals in the back to keep the oven hot.

I'll be posting some of my favorite recipes here soon, but in the meantime, you can get some great ideas at www.fornobravo.com.