Hi, We are considering integrating a wood fired brick pizza oven into our new kitchen/remodel. We will need (I believe) to remove the lower part of our current brick chimney to install the oven and hearth. Has anyone here installed one inside your home? Interested in installation expense and how easy/difficult it was. Also, what brand did you get and are you happy? Love the flavor of cooking pizza, bread, fish, etc. with wood and this would add nice ambiance to our kitchen. Any advice would be appreciated!

Has anyone ever put a brick pizza oven on/by a deck? I believe that given the weight it would generally require a slab foundation. We are building a new deck and I would love to incorporate a brick oven but would love to hear anyone's experiences or idea. thanks

Sounds like fun! And doable. Like Linda i've done it as well...for more than 50. She spelled out the process and details...similar to my method. Do a trial run for fun with your daughter if possible. Decide what different toppings she would like to serve and make a listed plan. It is a great do-ahead party food. Pre-made dough from a pizza place or store bought. Maybe trial three and pre-bake, then freeze the day before. Prep your toppings ahead as well and have ready in containers. A trial run will let you see and calculate how much of everything you need. Heavy freezer zip-locks work well for ingredients as they flat-pack nicely in the fridge. I have a ton of the aluminum pizza pans but four should be fine. And i have four of the Ikea 20inch cutting boards...10 dollars. I use a big chef knife for cutting but i also have a couple good wheels so others can cut as i usually head the assembly line and oven. Pre-baking does give a head start....i only did a bit more than half as, as Linda pointed out, once the first 1/2 dozen are out, the production slows down a bit. Usually someone likes to get involved and wants to attempt to toss and form some crusts. (i did not have a ton of freezer space back then). I only bake two at a time...using the two middle positions for the racks....start the first on the lower middle 5min, move to the top to bubble, and add the second below, take out the first, move the bottom one up, while prepping the next.... Every oven is different, even set at 500...with heat escape and shifting, mine take 10-12min. I overdo the topping varieties as everyone here likes it. But i start with a couple simple ones, just sauce and cheese, then one with a meat, then the vegetarian, then get fancy and see how it goes. Some kids like it simple. I also make printed cardstock labels folded like a tent so the veg and the others are on the correct serving board. And I get a small pack of gluten-free tortillas and the big 12inch flour tortillas for the 'adult' thin crust i make. My cuisinart is small but has a side shoot attachment that goes right into a bowl on the side....it just has a grate and a slicer disc but that does me fine. Another quick easy snack...a popcorn bar. Made ahead with sides of a butter warmer and bowls of parm, a spicy mix, and a sweet cinnamon one, (yuck, but kids like it)...i have a stack of those folded popcorn boxes but have used brown paper sandwich bags with the top folded a bit...(that was a barn setting and we printed the wedding couples design on them). cute and cheap.

Hard to explain until you have one in hand to experiment with. I replaced my vintage double wall oven with a single side door oven and a built-in steam oven a few years ago. Controlled steam is superior for so many things as mentioned above. All veg, even a simple root veg or potato, has so much flavor. I re-heated frozen lasagna that I made last month...as good even better than when first made. We rely so heavily on roasting/crisping for flavor but often not needed. If I want that it is a quick 3-4 min under the broiler for toasting/roast flavor. Two different dishes, a protein and a rice veg, on separate trays, can steam simultaneously without crossed flavors. Even guessing at time/temp seems to be very forgiving. It does leave a bit of moisture behind that needs wiping, but leaving the door open overnight will keep any microbial mess from forming. As well as the water reservoir. For those new at steaming, leave the reservoir out of it's slot to air dry. My kitchen is tiny hobbit-like so no counter space. Niente, nada. Not even a toaster. I use the broiler. A small wall oven is so efficient and right at eye level with a big clear door.