10 Things To Know Before Buying an Oven

Interested in getting a wood or gas-fired pizza oven, but not sure where to start? Forno Bravo can help! We’ve put together the following guide so you can know what to expect, and avoid unwanted surprises. Our goal in this article is to arm you with the information you will need, along with several helpful tips, to assist you with your decision-making process, so you can buy and install a pizza oven with confidence.

Ready? Let’s get started.

1. DIY vs Fully Assembled

First, decide your oven type. Some people prefer to take the full DIY route for the satisfaction of building an oven from scratch. Others like to buy theirs finished and pre-cured, so they can start cooking ASAP; modular kits fit in between.

TYPE 1:  POMPEII DIY PLANS (Full DIY)

If you’d like to make your own brick oven, it’s a big project, and building it will take a while. Significant research, planning, and material sourcing are required. If this sounds exciting instead of scary to you, great! We have a free guide to help you get started with a DIY Pompeii Brick Oven build. These plans have been field tested and used by people from around the world to successfully build brick ovens.

Download Pompeii Plans Here

TYPE 2:  MODULAR OVEN KITS

On the other hand, if you want to substantially streamline the building process while retaining the ability to get hands-on with your oven project, our modular oven kits are the way to go.  You can still personalize and integrate your oven’s exterior look and shape into an existing or new indoor or outdoor kitchen, but you will save weeks or months over a full DIY build! Plus, the interlocking seams, cast dome, ultra-premium insulation, and robust cooking floor ensure baking performance and durability you can count on for years to come.

TYPE 3:  FULLY ASSEMBLED OVENS

The third option is for those who are not into DIY projects, and want to start having pizza parties right away! Working with the design team, a fully assembled oven is customized to match your choice of finishes, colors, shapes, and patterns, but the labor and craftsmanship happen at the factory, not your home. You will prep your space (countertop or reinforced pad for a stand,) while we prep the oven. And after installation, (and with the pre-curing option,) you can be cooking the same day! Fully assembled ovens come in stucco, tile, and steel finishes in a variety of looks and sizes.

2. Location

WHERE TO PUT YOUR OVEN

Your next choice to make is where you would like to cook:

• Fully outdoors
• Under a covered patio or pergola
• Indoors

Also, take the following into consideration for the best experience:

• Shade
• Common wind direction
• Prep space
• Guest traffic flow

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Venting

If you are putting your oven indoors or under/through a patio cover, be sure to talk to our sales team for assistance in beefing up your venting components to match building codes. They can help guide you!

Smoking Out the Neighbors (or Yourself)

Sharing a meal with a neighbor is better than sharing your smoke with them. Be careful to place your oven in a neutral location that is not too close to a fence or a window.

3. Access for Installation

 

OBSTACLES?

Closely related to location is access. Brick and refractory pizza ovens can be quite hefty (especially the larger models) and thinking through your installation in advance is a critical step in picking your oven. The oven will be delivered to your home curbside, but then moving to its final location is up to the new owner.

For backyard installations, forklifts, pallet jacks, and engine hoists are good options, depending on the oven size and your fence line. You can also use a crane to lift the oven over the house or fence. Commercially, most restaurants have wide openings for easy load-in of equipment. But for those contending with a small access point, buying a modular kit (or a commercial knock down model) are fantastic solutions.

MODULAR OVEN KIT SOLUTIONS

This is a great option if access is limited in your space. Just set up your base, unload the individual pieces, put them together, and customize the exterior of your oven as much as you want! Written directions for assembly are provided in the owner’s manual, or we have an easy-to-follow, assembly demonstration video available as well. (More on customization later.)

Note: The maximum weight of any one piece of the kit tops out at about 200 lbs, so each piece fits through a standard doorway and can be moved with just a few friends.

4. THERMAL MASS AND HEAT RETENTION

In layman’s term, thermal mass refers to the oven’s ability to absorb and reflect heat from fire. Both the thickness of the dome and the material it is made of impact the oven’s thermal mass.

AVOID BAD DESIGN

For example, a badly designed oven, with an extremely thick shell of the wrong material, and/or poor insulation can take up to 6 hours to heat, and will have lousy heat retention. Why?

• If one side of the dome is hot, while the other side is cool, heat is going to keep migrating toward the cool side, and the oven ends up lukewarm.
• On the other hand, too little thermal mass means that even if the oven heats up fast, the heat dissipates quickly as well, keeping chefs scrambling for fuel instead of focusing on their food.

5. HEAT UP TIME AND SIZE

TIME CONSIDERATION

Heat-up times and cooking volume are based on 3 things:

• Floor size
• Dome thickness
• Amount of insulation

With our advanced refractory and insulation technology, some of our ovens take just 20 minutes to heat up to 700+ degrees! Plus, all Forno Bravo refractory ovens stay hot for hours, gradually coming down in temperature for different styles of cooking with no additional wood required.

A good way to think of a pizza oven is like it is a big battery and heat is the energy — the bigger the battery, the more energy it holds, and the slower it releases it, but the longer it takes to charge up.

For example, a compact Primavera60 cooks 1 pizza at a time (in ~2-3 minutes,) but is ready to go in just 20 minutes. On the other hand, our big Vesuvio110 takes longer to fully fire (50-90 minutes,) but can bake 5 pizzas at a time and will cool down much more slowly!

6. FLEXIBLE FUEL OPTIONS – WOOD, GAS, WOOD-GAS COMBO

MULTIPLE FUEL OPTIONS

Traditional brick ovens are fueled by firewood only, but our ovens can use wood, gas, or a combination of the two.

Note: Our smallest ovens use firewood only, because there’s just not enough space to safely install the gas system components and cook too.

The gas and wood-gas combo fuel options can come in handy, especially for restaurant owners, because of the ease and flexibility of these fuel sources.

For example, chefs can set the temperature and heat the oven with our powerful, modulating gas burner for convenience, but add wood during service for additional flavors and ambiance!

Home chefs also enjoy using the gas burner (residential version) to quickly and cleanly get the oven going with the press of a button. This way, they can prep the ingredients while the oven heats, for a faster, easier evening meal. No muss — no fuss.

7. DOME SHAPE

The best wood fired cooking works in 3 ways: Conductive (from the floor,) Reflective (from the dome,) and Convective (from the moving air.)

THINGS TO WATCH FOR 

If the top of the dome is too high, you may have extra space to be able to cook tall things in your oven, but the drawback is that pizza will bake slowly and unevenly.

On the other hand, a very low dome allows you to cook pizza faster, but sliding in a grill or baking a loaf of bread without burning it is a headache.

GETTING THE RATIOS RIGHT

Fortunately, 16 years of working with Italian and American designers, and assisting thousands of customers and chefs has taught us a lot about great wood fired cooking. It has helped us dial in a robust and versatile design that has proven itself over time.

PIZZA, STEAK, FISH, GRILL – MAKE ‘EM ALL

We found the right design ratio that allows you to do it all — to make great pizza in just 2-3 minutes, and at the same time bake bread, grill steak, roast turkey, and much more. (We even had a fellow bake a 28lb Pink Grouper in his Toscana80.)

8. CUSTOMIZATION

There are two ways to customize your oven:

1. Give Us a Call To Inquire about Design Ideas and Options

We can guide you through the customization process. We have many beautiful colors, tile patterns, stucco colors, and venting options to choose from. (You can also explore many of these options on our website and in our catalog as well.)

Want something other than the many standard patterns or colors that we offer? We can also fully customize your oven to add a logo or other unique design elements.

2. Use Our Kit

Starting with our modular kit (which includes the oven core, floor, insulation, and venting), you or your contractor can then tailor the finish and oven shape of the oven to fit your space. This is the best route to take if you want to go all out on customizing your oven to coordinate with your indoor or outdoor kitchen, or landscape plan.

Check out some sample designs below or visit the gallery on our website, or our social media pages for even more ideas:

9. Practice Before You Host

We recommend getting comfortable heating your oven and making pizzas first before inviting friends over. The last thing you want is to be learning how to use your oven while guests are waiting for food. Here are some things you’ll want to practice for fluent wood fired cooking;

• Starting and maintaining a fire
• Sourcing your dough (store-bought or homemade)
• Flattening and stretching your dough
• Placing and turning the pizza in the oven
• And more

Thankfully, we offer many free tutorials, articles, tips, and recipes on our website and YouTube channel for you to use to get started, or to expand your knowledge and skills!

10. Buying Process?

ONLINE OPTION:

• Shop our Online Store 24/7 for all of our ovens and accessories;
• Get a no-obligation quote through the Fast Quote Form on the website;
• Research “all things wood fired“ on our Website and Forum – it’s the most extensive pizza oven site out there!
• Use our “Ask Us” page to email us a question and we’ll get back to you by the next business day.

PERSON-TO-PERSON COMMUNICATIONS:

• Call our Customer Service Team at 1-800-407-5119 during business hours (Monday – Friday, 8AM – 4:30PM PT) for questions, quotes, and phone orders.
• After hours, leave a message, and a team member will return your call quickly;
• Use our “Ask Us” page to send a message or question, and a team member contact you;
• Prefer to work with a Dealer? Call or email the team (Sales@FornoBravo.com), and we’ll connect you with a Rep in your area who offers the design, installation, or training services you need.

In Closing

On a final note, although rare, some jurisdictions require special approval for certain situations. Don’t hesitate to reach out to Forno Bravo, and we’ll point you in the right direction.

Our customers and community mean everything to us, and we are here to help in any way we can. Still curious? Click an image below to go deeper!

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Selection Wizard