Which oven suits bread and pizza?
2 min read
A well-designed wood-fired oven can do both: pizza with strong heat from the hearth and bread baked gently with stored warmth. We begin by asking what you most enjoy baking and how much needs to fit at once. That determines the chamber, storage mass and construction.
Leave room for the pizza fire
Pizza needs balanced heat from below and above. The hot stone cooks the base while heat in the chamber browns the crust and toppings. Pizza is baked while the wood is still burning. Afterwards, the heat stored in the oven can be used to bake bread.
Allow more than just the space occupied by a pizza. You also need room for the fire and for turning the food. If you are serving guests one pizza after another, easy access matters more than making the outside of the oven as large as possible.
For bread, the hot stone does the work
The solid baking chamber is first heated thoroughly. Embers and ash are then removed, allowing the heat to even out before the loaves go in. The temperature falls gradually as they bake.
With practice, one firing can serve several batches: pizza or flatbreads first, bread afterwards and perhaps a cake later. The right times and temperatures depend on the oven and recipe. You can get to know your own oven step by step.
Size it around what you bake
A few weekend pizzas do not need a huge baking chamber. If you regularly bake several loaves, more space and storage mass are useful. We tailor the size, working height and appearance to your plans.
The oven also needs a load-bearing base, a suitable flue route and weather protection. We establish early whether it will stand in the garden or form part of a covered kitchen. That leaves enough room to work, fetch logs and handle the hot oven safely.