Wood Fired Oven FAQ

What can I cook in my wood fired oven?

People were cooking in wood fired ovens long before gas or electricity were used to heat food so the only thing that will limit what you can cook in your wood fired oven is your imagination.

The Wood Fired Ovens that we manufacture and supply have been designed to allow you to cook with the door closed so that you can maximise heat control. That means that you can use them for stewing, roasting, baking, frying, smoking, grilling and just about everything else.

Do I have to ‘burn’ or ‘break in’ in my wood fired oven?

Yes you do. All brick and refractory cement ovens have to be ‘burn’t in. Our largest wood fired oven holds over 100 litres … or 100kg … of moisture after manufacture. This has to be expelled by ‘burning in’ the oven in order that the refractory cement can be fully cured. The curing process is carried out over three days with a very, very low fire.

Instructions for ‘burning in’ come with all our ovens.

Are your ovens built with brick?

No. Although we can build ovens out of brick we prefer not to. Solid brick ovens take many hours to reach the right cooking temperature and that means that brick ovens are far less time and fuel efficient than those made of refractory cement.

All brick ovens have to be repaired and they let binding cement fall into the food. Our ovens on the other hand can be cooked in after just 45 minutes pre-heating and they’re made with a one-piece dome and that gives you a healthier internal cooking environment.

Do your ovens smoke?

All wood fired ovens smoke. Once it is cured you will find that it will smoke for the first five to seven minutes each time you light it.

Your oven may also smoke if you are burning green or wet wood in it or the burning chamber is receiving too little oxygen.

What can I do – I don’t have much room in my yard?
I don’t have vehicle access to the area where I want my oven to be located?
What can I do – I want my oven built on my second storey balcony?

All these questions are similar. We have small ovens to suit smaller areas and we can custom build on-site. After much experience we have designed mechanical and physical methods of building ovens anywhere. We have built them on two-storey levels and even transported them in lifts within buildings to reach a site.

I am renting or moving soon and I want to be able to take my ofen with me?

Our ovens can be supplied with stands and wheels. Any of our ovens can be made so that they are portable. Stands do come at an extra cost.

Do you make gas ovens?

Yes we make gas ovens and can also retro-fit gas to existing ovens.

Can we have our oven outside without a cover?

Yes … our ovens have been designed for the outdoors.

Rain, wind and sunlight do not affect our ovens and you can even have your oven in a position where it gets watered every day and it won’t be damaged by its environment.

Some manufacturers sell plastic covers to protect their ovens but this is not a good idea for concrete ovens. Covering an oven with any sort of covering hinders natural water vapour transmission and that’s vital for all concrete products. Covering your oven also promotes the growth of bacteria and mould.