Wood-fired oven at Chapelle Ste. Agnes Vineyard

On June 10th I drove up to Sutton, Quebec, Canada to help John Antony and Karena Meyer fire up their German-made wood-fired oven for an event they had planned for the next day. Chapelle St. Agnes Vineyard is their life work and I had enjoyed a visit back in January when the vineyard was buried in snow.
Although the weather didn't cooperate as planned (rain), the oven fired up well for bread sticks and loaves of bread. Later when it came time for pizza, I chose to bake them in the firebox as a 'white oven' (an oven where the fire is in a separate firebox beneath the bake oven) doesn't provide the flame over the pizza that gives wood-fired pizza its distinctive flavor and crust.
Everyone pitched in and we made over 100 delicious pizzas. Local desserts and wine was enjoyed by all.

The vineyard was spectacular, the guests charming, and as always John and Karena let us into the working of their remarkable venture of producing award-winning ice wine.

Check their website at:
www.vindeglace.com

Portable True Brick Ovens

The requirements of portable brick ovens are specific. They need to be structurally strong, contain enough mass for constant output of baked product yet within reasonable weight limits for common vehicles.
These photos are of  two portable real brick ovens, one 42" interior diameter and one 48" interior diameter.
Both ovens require V-8 vehicles for towing but both are on trailers with electric brakes.

My original portable oven (at left) used for the "Meet the Chefs event"  at the Northern New England Home and Garden Show along with green and stone benches I installed

More photos will follow as the 48" oven is finished with a veneer of brick and stone.

Brick Oven FAQ

I demonstrate my portable brick oven at Home and Garden Shows, at community events, and elsewhere.
Here are some of the most common questions that come up:
Q. Is there a fire under the oven?
A. Most brick ovens are heated by fire within the oven. The fire is first built under the throat (chimney) and progressively moved backwards as the fire progresses forcing the flames(and heat) to curl under the dome and leave the BTU's in the brick mass.
Q. How much wood does it take?
A. My 36" oven uses a 'laundry  basket' of dry hardwood to reach 800 degrees. Small amounts of wood are added when continuing to bake pizza and the residual heat can bake other foods for up to 30 hours.
Q. Does this have to be outside?
A. I've found that the ideal place (in a temperate climate) for a brick oven is in a three-season porch. This protects the owners from bugs and weather and extends the season at each end of the year.
Q. How hot is it in there?
A. Way hotter than a household range oven. Usually starting at 700 degrees for pizza and afterwards progressively lower temps for baking bread, roasts, casseroles, and puddings.
Q. Can I build one myself?
A. Yes, with some masonry skills and patience. This blog has featured progressive photos of ovens being built by myself, both portable and stationary.

Recent Brick Oven Events

It's been a busy spring for both oven building and demonstrating. The sequence of building photos resulted in the portable oven pictured here.






As an addition to past displays at the Northern New England Home, Garden and Flower Show, I collaborated with Maine Turf to create a sitting area and added stone benches from my stock of old split granite. The location provided afternoon shade and a friendly space for people to relax while watching the "Meet the Chefs" demos.





Chefs Jim Davis and Mary Ann Esposito demonstrated brick oven cooking as well as the breads and foccacia which I baked for sampling.

Brick Oven Dome Building, Part 4

Brick oven domes need insulation in order to retain the heat transferred from the fire to the dome bricks.
This can be high-tech fiber insulation or a composition of vermiculite.  In the case of ovens where the final profile is a dome, vermiculite and Portland cement are combined to form a layer that is both insulating and solid. The mixture is troweled on and shaped, in some cases using forms on the side to increase depth or shape the final oven style.

Note that a tremendous amount of moisture resides in the vermiculite/cement layer and needs to be slowly released when the oven is 'seasoned'.
Alternatively, a steel frame can be built that will support stucco or stone-faced walls and a roof allowing for the 'box' to filled with loose vermiculite.
Once the oven is finished none of the frame needs to show and the outside of the oven is cool to the touch even when the inside temperature is 800 degrees.

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Brick Oven Dome Building, Part 3

There is a point in building the dome when gravity prevents mortaring bricks without a form. Foam insulation was cut in curved wedges to support the succeeding chains of bricks.  This form rests on pieces that can be removed later through the oven mouth. The maximum size of each piece is determined by the width and height of the mouth.

As building progresses, wood wedges are used to tilt the bricks at the appropriate angle so that the dome shape conforms to the desired height. Once the wedges are removed the cavities are filled with refractory mortar and the wedges reused on the upper courses.  Bricks are cut at increasingly sharper angles and decreasing widths so that the radius of the chain is followed.

The goal at the top of the dome is to close the remaining space with a final key stone that applies outward and downward pressure on all the bricks.
This is what makes the dome shape stable as it expands and contracts in firing.

Brick Oven Dome Building

The floor of the oven is laid herringbone style with common firebrick and the dome bricks are cut from the same bricks.
Calculating (or drawing) the precise angle for the brick comprising each chain (the ring of bricks making up the dome) allows me to lay the bricks with thin seams. This strengthens the dome as each brick is locked into place while the mortar provides the seal and the adhesion needed to proceed rapidly.

The mouth of the oven is angled outwards so that access to the products while baking is maximized at the same time as the mouth of the oven is kept to the correct proportion for retaining heat in the oven.
This is very similar to the bakery ovens I found on my visit to the excavated ruins of Pompeii, in Italy.

The vertical bricks act as a door-jam and will support angle-iron for the mouth opening (in the case of this portable oven) or an arch (when this design is a stationary oven).