Le Panyol construction and Stability Getting Started Discuss Le Panyol construction and Stability in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Hi, Rob, Welcome. Use of gas in home ovens is not recommended. Gas may accumulate in the dome and create ...

[dmun]

Hi, Rob, Welcome.

Use of gas in home ovens is not recommended. Gas may accumulate in the dome and create a disaster upon ignition. Commercial gas ovens have many redundant and expensive safety features, and are used by professionals in a commercial environment, not a backyard with kids and pets.

Most woodburning restrictions have an exception for what are essentially backyard barbeques, because they are periodic quick fires, rather than the smoldering smokers that woodstoves usually are. Check with your local government.

FB is a California company. James should know more about this.

[Rob BU]

hmmm.

This is surely not a concern I have heard before.

For one thing, propane sinks, and would go out the door.


R

[BigSteve46]

Originally Posted by Rob BU

Indeed, this is a most enlightening exchange--and civilized too! Remarkable site this is.

It does seem that both the Le Panyol and Forno ovens are time tested quality products.
Doubtless there are many others.

I want to use both gas + wood. (Burning of wood is soon to be restricted in parts of California, and may be outlawed in some areas).It seems that a few oven makers have fancy controlled gas units (I suspect pricey, and more often used in commercial units, while other mfgs seem to suggest a simple pipe with holes, similar to the kind used in fire places. These would lack the auto-shut-off safety feature, are not thermosat regulated. Any experience here?

Rob BU

Does anyone have info or experience with a residential gas & wood fired pizza oven beyond responses already provided?

[dmun]

Hi, Big Steve, and welcome.

Nothing has changed since I wrote this paragraph in January:

Use of gas in home ovens is not recommended. Gas may accumulate in the dome and create a disaster upon ignition. Commercial gas ovens have many redundant and expensive safety features, and are used by professionals in a commercial environment, not a backyard with kids and pets.

Nothing is likely to change anytime soon.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f28/...oven-4393.html (Using gas to fire the brick oven) heres an interesting post regarding this discussion...

Cheers
Mark

[dmun]

Thanks for that link Mark. Just as a side note, the gentleman to whom that was addressed was building an oven in a commercial bakery, in a desert country without much in the way of firewood.

In a reply, Cajunknight put his finger on the key question for those looking for gas ovens:

Or you could leave out the hassle and find a blodgett on ebay at a fairly reasonable price.

I stand by my statement about backyard gas ovens. If you can get firewood, why would you want one?

[james]

Here is the standard FB position.
James

Why You Should Not Use a Gas-Fired Oven at Home
We do not recommend gas fired ovens for homeowners for three reasons. First, there are some serious safety issues. Pizza ovens are small and enclosed, and even a small leak can leave enough gas in an oven to be unsafe and capable of exploding. Our commercial gas-fired ovens have very sophisticated burners, controls and shut-offs that minimize risk, and they cost $4,000 by themselves. The scope of the safety problem is very large, with the possibility of a life-threatening explosion.

Second, commercial gas-fired ovens are operated in a commercial setting by professionals. We have concerns about a potentially dangerous gas-fired oven being operated by friends, neighbors or even children. Even if a problem were to never occur, the stress of worrying about oven safety would detract from the enjoyment of owning a pizza oven.

Third, a gas fire has less potential energy than a wood fire, so gas-fired ovens take a long time to heat up from scratch. Gas does a good job of holding a commercial oven at cooking temperature because those ovens never fully cool down. Still, it can take hours for a gas burner to heat up an oven from a cold start -- which is what homeowners do with their ovens. The Forno Bravo wood-fired ovens heat up in about 45 minutes, which is why they are so popular.