Heating with propane

[cedar56]

I have been using a back-yard wood fired oven since 1999...lots of great pizza, bread, turkeys, you name it!....until about a month ago when local fire bylaws changed and I can no longer burn wood. Ahhhghhhghhghh! The burning bylaw does allow charcoal briquettes, lump charcoal or gas. After a couple of expensive attempts with the first two fuels (neither achieved the oven temperatures that I was used to with wood) I am thinking of using some form of propane burner. My current plan is to design some form of pipe burner that runs the length of the oven floor with a venturi air intake and safety shut-off valves outside the oven cavity (something like this one from Charles Hone Inc. http://www.charlesahones.com/gas_burners.htm).

Anyone have any experience with using gas or thoughts on design?

[dmun]

I don't know where you are, but in the UK, anthracite coal is considered a smokeless fuel, and produces immense heat. Serious pizza in NYC is coal fired. You need some kind of grate to allow for air from the bottom of the fire, and the volume of ashes is somewhat greater. It might be worth a try before digging up the yard for a gas line.

[james]

Hey Cedar,

Where are you located and who wrote the law? I am wondering if the wood-ban covers fireplace, but not ovens. I have had interactions with various departments where they admit that their concern is wood as a heat source -- which does cause an air quality problem, but not with wood burning ovens. The ovens are used much less frequently, and burn more efficiently than a traditional fireplace. So, they have not included ovens in those laws.

Do you think you can ask them to clarify if your oven qualifies?

I have some thoughts on propone, but they come under the heading of "if all else fails". Before then, hopefully, someone can explain their faulty logic.

Good luck, and let us know what happens.

[FlGator]

Propane is unlikely to provide the smoky dry heat and would not produce results like wood. I would suggest a big bag of charcoal for show and continue to cook with wood.

Silly laws deserve silly responses.