Massachusetts Brick Oven Project

TBO's work is done.  Awaiting interior house finish.

I just finished an indoor brick oven in Hopkinton, MA.  Being indoors, it's face is the feature of the kitchen and because of the dynamics of interior spaces it has combustion air channels.  These are the source of make-up air.   When interior ventilation systems are operating, air is drawn from the house to the outside (like in a bathroom fan or a range hood fan).

air channels supplied by duct via the
basement to the outside

In order for air (and smoke) not to be pulled down the chimney when the oven is in operation, air must be supplied from elsewhere.  Not only does this provide the needed air, but it provides it in the correct place for perfect draft.
See: http://truebrickovens.blogspot.com/2014/01/brick-oven-combustion-air.html

Face prior to veneer. Air channels are small openings
to the left and right of mouth.

As far as I can tell, my incorporation of combustion air channels is a first in current brick ovens.  It is standard on all my indoor installations along with a custom damper.  Both can be closed.

custom damper

This most recent oven was built in collaboration with the owners; they supplied stones from places in their travels or memory that were incorporated into the stonework.  The keystone on the face is Irish limestone containing coral.  The owner are mostly Italian, but unbeknownst to me they have some Irish blood.  This is pretty universal anywhere near Boston.  The small round stone over the keystone was found by their son when they went to Italy.

Brick Oven Operator's Manual

TBO 54" Bakery oven in progress

When I complete a brick oven for someone, it's good for them to get to know the way that these devices work.  For some years, a conversation, either by email or phone, would ensue in which I would walk them through the steps from the first firing to the first baking.  If possible, I would be there for the first firing.

As the number of ovens and the distance between my home and the project increased, I found this impractical.  I wrote and placed an Operator's Manual on my website: truebrickovens.com.  This is a printable PDF that new brick oven owners can keep nearby, at first for learning and later for starting the fire:).

Owner lighting the first fire in a TBO 36"

Using a brick oven may seem daunting at first; you've got a fire that is supposed to heat the bricks.  This doesn't happen instantly.  You then have to measure the temperature of the oven, rather than read and adjust a digital control; this is done easily with an infrared thermometer.  Then you have to cook food using flame and heat that you have created.

TBO 36" first fire

It is my guess that after five firings, this will seem natural and easy.  You will begin to develop observational skills that may even allow you to dispense with the thermometer.  Either way, you will have learned your oven.

If you are tempted to use the manual to start the next few fires, wait; someone may want to try your oven.  Having the manual will give them the confidence and the safety they need to begin.

Brick Oven Revival

I started building brick ovens well into the revival of the U.S. interest in this ancient cooking device.

Brick ovens have been in use in old colonial houses, in native American communities, and in specialty restaurants in the U.S. for hundreds of years.  The popularization of brick ovens has been aided by cooking shows, food and home magazines, and by the word-of-mouth that occurs when one idea reaches escape velocity.

People often think of the brick oven as a luxury item, and to a certain extent they are correct.  Affording a genuine brick oven can be expensive.  The post on this blog entitled, "Brick Oven Cost" is the most visited of the more than 300 posts you'll find here.  In include myself when I state that most of us spend money on what we feel enriches our life (vacation, entertainment, education, shoes:).

Anyone can have a wood-fired bake oven, whether brick, cob, or cast refractory.  There are price-points for everyone.

For me the central reason is the process.

Process part one is my involvement with the food.  Fresh bread is a vacation, an entertainment, and an education in experience.

Process part two occurs when I bring my friends into the mix.  We bond over the elemental way that the food is made.  We eat together.  We talk about the origin of our sustenance.

The process reaches in both directions: backwards towards the growing of food, forwards to how we want to slow down and smell the bread.

When may say that the French and the Italians really know how to enjoy life.  We may envy them their pace of living.  Both countries abound in brick ovens.  You can't enter a town without finding a brick oven in many houses (cities aside).  Brick ovens have never been a fad in those countries.

Revival is the correct word.  As we say in Maine, "La bella vita!"

The Community Brick Oven

Community Brick Oven in Audrix, France on market day

TBO Portable oven modeled after the Audrix oven belonging to 50 Local of Kennebunk, Maine

People occasionally ask me if I've built any 'community ovens'.

We agree that these are brick ovens intended for members of a neighborhood or small town who want to gather and bake bread together.  This is a very old tradition.  I stayed in a tiny town in the Dordogne region (Perigord) of France that had a functioning brick oven that was fired weekly for the farmer's market day.  France has a network of paths that wind through woods, fields, and towns.  These 'randonnee' http://about-france.com/tourism/long-distance-footpaths.htm are marked and easy to follow.
http://truebrickovens.blogspot.com/2011/10/urval-dordogne-community-brick-oven.html

Sheehan Gardens' TBO portable oven 

I found it remarkable that upon entering even the smallest village, the community brick oven was identifiable, even when it hadn't been used in a century.  Some brick ovens were associated with the town church and it is reported that there was a 'fee' for townspeople to use it.

Going forward to NOW, it is difficult to imagine most organized towns funding and permitting a community brick oven.  We are a mobile population.  We buy our bread at primarily from supermarkets, sometimes from bakeries, and rarely from farmer's markets.

Baking in a TBO oven at the Kneading Conference

I recently spoke to someone interested in the community oven concept.  I recommended a portable oven of sufficient size to allow approximately 60 loaves of bread to be baked in three consecutive batches.

Portability would allow the oven to be transported between 'member communities' either weekly or even from one day to the next.  A portable oven might be paid for by a small group of organizers or a single patron, thus eliminating the tedious process of finding a site, building the stationary oven and then protecting and maintaining it.

In many climates, the oven could be stored for the 'off season'.

A brick oven for public use could help us rediscover community and the pleasures of fresh baked bread.

Annaberg Sugar Plantation Brick Oven

Annaberg has one of the most highly visible and easily visited historic brick ovens in the US Virgin Islands.  I recently sailed there.   Less visible ovens can be found everywhere in the islands, beside roads, in many old buildings in Culebra, St. Croix, Tortola, and St. Thomas.  I found them in Antigua,  Guadeloupe, and St. Maarten.

 These oven follow traditional forms yet some, like the one shown here at Annaberg Sugar Plantation, are relatively rustic.  Others are spectacular elements in towns, obviously part of the daily life of inhabitants.

Note that the interior of the oven has recent ash on the floor and a roof that is low.

The Annaberg oven continues to be used for historic festivals.  

Fact Checking Your Brick Oven

What are the real stats on your brick oven?

  Excluding appearance, which can range from industrial through space age, there are five stats to pay attention to when comparing brick ovens.



#1 Shape.  The shape and proportions of a brick oven effect function.  Dome height can vary from Napolitano 'low vault' domes
to classic 'Pompeii' shapes.  Low vault domes are
best for broil situations and are suited to pizza.  Pompeii or higher domes are more versatile, encompassing pizza as well as all other baked, roasted, slow-cooked, and smoked foods.

#2 Mass.  The thickness of the dome is where the heat of the fire is stored and released.  Cast refractory domes that come in kits tend to have thinner shells thus less mass.  This will work if you want quick high temperature.
Fire brick domes, such as the ones I build, are 4.5" thick and store a great deal of BTU's.  For restaurant and bakery ovens I double that thickness (9") creating an oven that will stay very hot, loosing only 100 degrees in 24 hours.

#3 Insulation.  The BTU's (heat) that the wood fire puts into the mass of the oven will be lost to the atmosphere.  Slowing the loss down requires more insulation.  The floor of the oven MUST be isolated from the heat-sucking masonry it sits on.  I use 4" of Foamglas, a porous high temp block.  One inch ceramic board insulation turns to mush when wet.  A less expensive below-floor insulation can be cast using vermiculite and Portland cement.  Most commercial oven shells come with 2" of blanket insulation.  I recommend 4-6".  The extra expense is repaid in efficiency.  This is true for your home but that's another big topic.

#4 Draft.  Ovens that have flues need a chimney that will draw the smoke up and away from the user.
The height and diameter of the chimney determine the draft.  For interior installations, I build make-up air channels so that the combustion air is coming from outside the house.  Without these, other devices in the house may suck air down the oven flue causing smoking.

#5 Fire.  Dry hardwood is a must.  Wet wood is inefficient.  Softwoods, such as pine, spruce, fir, hemlock, and cedar have very light ash and short-lived embers.
Since you want the fire in your oven, rather than consuming your house or yard, conforming to code standards regarding distance to combustibles is essential.

Whatever oven you end up with should have the best aspects of the above factors.

136K Brick Oven Visits

doug's dome

doug's dome via phone and email

This blog gets about 2000 visits a month.  Most of those are to posts dealing with construction of true brick ovens.  I've provided information on every detail of the process so that owner-builders who want to tackle the job can do so with accurate guidance.

David S.'s oven with TBO help

136,000 blog visits does not make me an internet star.  It doesn't even register on the meter.  Yet, for a  niche market such as brick ovens, it adequately acknowledges the 300 plus posts to date.

I've gotten hundreds of emails requesting advice, concerns, and once in a while regrets on ovens built without the technical knowledge to make them work properly.  I respond either by email or phone.

complete oven with woodbox

I also understand that in the SPAMified world we live in, people who might leave comments or send me the results of their application of information found on these posts, shy away from making their addresses visible.

I don't like getting emails that I haven't asked for and I don't broadcast offers, solicitations, or birthday greetings to blog visitors I don't know.  If you comment on a post or if you pass on thoughts (as happens in forums), I'll thank you once and be silent.  That's the promise.

Comment examples:

Built by a bloke in Western Australia
after we talked on the phone

I wanted to go to a village and see the beauty that a stone roof can give to all the houses there. I love the fact that it’s more durable and that it adds to the curb appeal of the house. Your photos are getting me excited about the roof installation that will start next week in my new house. I wish I had a stone roof. Haha! 

“If your oven is stoked properly, you will use very little wood but get a very fast temperature rise.” – This is one of the things that you must consider in making your own brick oven. Proper stoking of the oven will make it more efficient and allow you to maximize your wood.

Such a nice information about authentic brick ovens. I also got some information about high temperature insulation. Which is very helpful for my upcoming project.




 I hope this helps up the comment column count from about 30 to who knows.  You can even comment on this post, like, 'Stop whining Neufeld and write more posts!"

David Neufeld
Spring 2016