New Oven- I want to Gauge Interest

[anthony2173]

After purchasing an oven from a company near my home in Northern Ca, I volunteered to help promote their product. I found that the oven price was not in-line with what most recreational pizza makers are willing to pay.

They have recently come up with a new design and I wanted to see if this group feels it is priced appropriately at $1,395.00.

The 28" oven weighs about 500 pounds and is pre-assembled on a pallet. It has an inswool ceramic fiber blanket under the refractory dome, refractory cooking floor, propane burner, stack, cap, oven door and comes with a peel and brush.

The oven can be used as is or finished once placed on a stand or kitchen island.

At $1,395.00 do you feel that this would sell..

[scott r]

If the company can offer proof of an even and fast bake (via video) I think it would be easy to sell at that price. How much would shipping be around the US?  I think that could add up to a lot.... right?

[Bill/SFNM]

I would also be concerned about the track record for durability of such an oven. What does the manufacturer recommend for a maximum cooking temperature and how has it been constructed to ensure many years of trouble-free operation? Material failures from rapid expansion/contraction as a result of high-temp baking is something that concerns me about these type of ovens.

Bill/SFNM

[Amir]

The price is sure attractive.  I am not aware of any gas units that sell for less than $5K but then again, they are quite a bit larger.

I worry about fit and finish though.  The unit in the picture doesn't look that great in that department.  The dome doesn't seem symetrical.  The floor seems awfully thin (half inch?).

The issue with cost is that by the time you put this unit in a kitchen, you wind up spending another $2K.  So at the end, it is still an expensive purchase and as such, the quality needs to be there.  As others have suggested, cooking performance will be paramount if looks aren't .

[mbusse]

If I was able to aquire this product shipping included to the midwest for under 1500.00 and still intact, I'll take one.

My concerns are similar to the others, quality of the product, ability to maintain quality
for an extended period of time.

The oven would need to be able to achieve high heat that could be consistently held in the 1000F range.
Room enough for a 16" or 18" pie.

I too would like to see some samples baked in the oven. Pictures and videos are great marketing materials.

UPDATE: After reading the first post again, and this time noticing it was gas fired, I would rather spend 300.00 for a 2stone and achieve
the same results. If this unit can also be wood fired and achieve the specs above, count me in. I am going to make the assumption that it is too small to be wood fired.

Mark

[anthony2173]

If I was able to acquire this product shipping included to the midwest for under 1500.00 and still intact, I'll take one.

My concerns are similar to the others, quality of the product, ability to maintain quality
for an extended period of time.

The oven would need to be able to achieve high heat that could be consistently held in the 1000F range.
Room enough for a 16" or 18" pie.

I too would like to see some samples baked in the oven. Pictures and videos are great marketing materials.

UPDATE: After reading the first post again, and this time noticing it was gas fired, I would rather spend 300.00 for a 2stone and achieve
the same results. If this unit can also be wood fired and achieve the specs above, count me in. I am going to make the assumption that it is too small to be wood fired.

Mark

It actually can be wood fired and I would bet a paycheck that it can take 1000F heat all day long with the dome staying cool enough to touch. Although I think you would need to bring the wood to coals before cooking. It is cast from a thick refractory concrete, covered with the inswool and then covered with another coat of refractory.

The model shown is the first off and has a high heat granite floor which is why it looks thin. The actual floor starts in the black pan just above the pallet it's pictured on. I imagine that the actual oven floor is 2.5-3.5 inches thick. The model offered at 1,395.00 comes with the refractory floor.

As for durability, they offer a lifetime structural guarantee. Having been around these ovens for 9 months I have not seen a single crack.

I had the opportunity to fire this up today and can tell you it cooks every bit as good as the 48" oven I purchased but cost's thousands less.

I appreciate the feedback and will pass it along.

[abatardi]

Although I think you would need to bring the wood to coals before cooking.

Is that fine to do with a gas oven -- have a wood fire going in there also?  would there even be enough room for the gas burner, a wood fire, and a pizza? 

[Amir]

Is that fine to do with a gas oven -- have a wood fire going in there also?  would there even be enough room for the gas burner, a wood fire, and a pizza? 

Every high-end gas oven that I have seen (Earthstone, Woodstone) allow you to have wood and gas at the same time.  However, they take care to put protective material in front of the burners as to avoid them getting clogged from wood fire/soot/etc.  They do advise that you keep the fire far away from the burners.  That is doable in a 50+ inch oven.   But in a 28 inch?  I would think that is hard to do and one is going to have clogged burners.  I also wonder if this unit is UL/ETA listed and has all the normal safety measures for fire going out, etc. that commercial units have.  If it is like a gas BBQ without these measures, then I would be worried about saftey of it.  On a gas BBQ, I can see the mechanism and can make sure it is performing well.  In an oven like this, is harder to do that and without the right electronics to detect flames, one would be taking chances, especially with an indoor appliance.

Still, I think gas provides convenience and if done right, a smaller and lighter unit should do well....

[anthony2173]

The oven I originally posted was destined for the inside of a backyard fireplace so the dome was not finished. I have attached a picture of an oven that was finished over the weekend that better represents the $1,395.00 oven.

The 48" oven I bought does have a thermostat and double safety on the gas. The $1,395.00 oven is not configured in this manner but can be at an additional cost.

I went down at lunch today and took a video of the oven pictured in action. The owner likes to cook close to the flame but I think you will see that with a 12" pie there is still a decent amount of room remaining on the cooking stone.

After 30 minutes of heating time the floor was at 606 degrees and the dome wall just outside the burner never went above 121 degree's.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSPmXL1OCvQ" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSPmXL1OCvQ</a>

[Amir]

Thanks for the video.  It is pretty informative and the unit here seems better finished on the outside.

Question though.  There are pretty large gaps in the floor tiles and in the dome casting.  I also see ragged edges in the floor tile and what appears to be small rocks which have come lose.  The edges of the floor where they meet the front bricks also has rough and open gaps.  As you know, air gaps don't conduct heat so the floor stays uneven.  And cracks the dome lead to heat loss or worse.

Seems to me some of these are easy to fix.  Standard high temp/high pressure floor tiles are pretty stright and sharp edges.  Why are theirs so ragged in contrast?  Do they cast their own and they are breaking when they come out the mold.  Or is the heat causing failure?

Overall though, I think they are on the right path I believe to make a much more accessible unit for general public.  If they can improve the quality on these front, then they may have something good.  I know I might bite (pun intended ) and get something like this for our primary house where we currently don't have room for a larger unit.

Amir

[Amir]

One more comment if I may .  The flames seem to be going out on the good partions of the burner.  This is especially visible toward the end where the last quarter seems to have no flame.  Not sure what would cause this other than lack of pressure for such a large burner.  I have not noticed this on commercial units which use smaller burner tubes but much taller flames.

[anthony2173]

The gaps you are seeing is due to the oven being cast in four separate pieces. The pieces are then fit together, covered in refractory an inswool ceramic fiber blanket and another coat of refractory. As for the flames, I did notice that in the video as well but it wasn't apparent when cooking.

The floor of this oven is 3.5 inch refractory that is cast in 4 sections. I have had my oven well over 900 degrees for extended periods of time burning both wood and gas and have had no failures at all.

The oven was put together over the weekend and the video was taken Monday so there were a few things that needed to be finished. Overall the oven is pretty much bullet proof which is why I bought one.

Living in Northern Ca I was able to visit a few different companies that sell ovens and this was the only company that guaranteed it would not crack no matter how hot I decided to cook.

Again, I appreciate the feedback provided by the forum and will pass the comments along.

[Bill/SFNM]

I would not be interested in an oven, especially a new one, with a deck that looks so poorly made. Perhaps it is the quality of the video. If so, you might want to post a better photo. IMHO, the deck needs to be perfectly smooth to ensure trouble-free loading/unloading of the pie.