It starts with a good oven! Every now and then we get a call from someone with an oven that doesn’t get very hot, and they hope that the gas burner will fix the problem.  The fact is, it won’t.  If an oven works well using wood, it will work well with a gas burner.

There are 2 features of a good oven: firstly, the oven heats up to very high temperatures, say 650° F within a reasonable amount of time, say 60 to 90 minutes. Secondly, the oven is able to retain the heat for an extended period. If an oven fails in one of those two areas it is probably down to an inefficient design.

Remember, it starts with a good oven! If an oven isn’t working properly one or more of these features are missing:

Insulation

A good oven needs plenty of efficient insulation. The best type of insulation for a pizza oven is ceramic blanket on the walls, and ceramic board for the floor. Perlite mixed with concrete is not match and not an effective alternative.  

Thickness of walls

A dense refractory material high in alumina need only be 2” to hold heat for a long time. A wall thickness of more than 3” can be counter-productive, unless it is in a commercial setting.

Design

The age-old wood fired oven design features a dome with a low arch that traps heat so that warmth can be spread throughout the structure. Modern oven kits are designed with a vent in front for this reason. Some ovens have the vent placed at the apex of the dome, thereby allowing all the hard-earned heat energy to escape before the heat has done its job.

Get in touch with us to discuss your oven and how a gas burner can benefit the cooking process.