Saint Paul Bread Club
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Private Ovens
Private ovens, are just that. Ovens that people have built or bought for their use. The ovens might be used for making pizza, bread, or both.
Dennis Tank’s Clay Oven
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Dennis Tank and his oven were covered in a Taste section article in the StarTribune.
Dennis built a cob oven in his back yard, apparently using the plans provided by Kiko Denzer.
Kim Ode’s Brick Oven
Minnesota
Kim's oven has appeared in several newpaper and magazine articles, but only in the background.
Kim learned how to build the oven (an Alan Scott design) at North House Folk School where other people have learned as well.
Darrold Glanville’s Brick Oven
Long Branch, Minnesota
Darrold’s oven is another Alan Scott design.
Gallery of Darrold Glanville’s Oven Project
Steve Carlson and Paul Stevens by Darrold Glanville's oven on Oct. 4, 2008.
Dennis Castle’s Brick Oven
Lake Mills, Iowa
Dennis Castle lives in northern Iowa. He bought an oven built in the class at [North House Folk School](http://www.northhousefolkschool.com/classes/Foods.htm) and had it shipped down, and then added onto it.
Note the protective roof on the oven. This would keep the baker dry even though it might be raining.
Ed von Holtum’s Brick Oven
Arden Hills, Minnesota
Ed was kind enough to send me a spreadsheet showing a breakdown of all the parts that went into building his oven.
Nathan Moore’s Brick Oven
Winona, Minnesota
Nathan Moore and his students built a brick oven at Winona State based in the ideas from this site: [The 1-hour Brick Oven](http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~dac/projects/BrickOven/Instant_BrickOven.htm).
There are some pictures and accompanying text on his blog (follow the link to “Older Posts” at the bottom of the page). A few photos of the oven are on Google Picasa.
I have condensed a more complete explanation into this summary. “He” refers to Nathan Moore, and “they” refers to Nathan Moore and the students in his thermodynamics class (Physics 345).
The base is made out of 3 - 4 courses of pre-cast foundation block. As a hearth base and outer wall, he used 4” by 8” by 16” solid pre-cast concrete blocks. The oven chamber is lined with 4x8x1.25” firebricks. The oven roof was mixed and cast using Rutland 601 to form a rough barrel ceiling.
To add thermal mass to the arched roof, they arranged a layer of discarded patio blocks on top of the arch. To prevent smoke from leaking out the sides, they caulked the cracks in the structure with Rutland’s “refractory cement in a tube,” which melts if it rains.
They built a wooden frame around the oven and covered the frame with aluminum flashing. They filled the volume between the masonry core and the outer metal jacket with 5 - 6 bags of vermiculite. This insulating jacket allows the oven to retain much more heat and bake more successfully. After about 2 hours of constant firing, the oven is ready to cook pizza, which takes about 90 seconds per pizza to cook.
Because of a visit by a building inspector, Nathan Moore had to remove the oven in 2009.
Fritz Bogott’s Cob Oven
Northfield, Minnesota
I received an e-mail in August, 2009 indicating there is a new cob oven near Northfield. Fritz Bogott wrote:
As of a few weeks ago, we have our cob oven up and running at our home in Northfield.
Fritz’s blog (now gone) had a link to a site with a more complete depiction of its creation.
Kalina and Nelson Brick Dome Oven
Saint Paul, Minnesota
I received an e-mail in November, 2008 indicating there is a new oven in Saint Paul. Larry Kalina and Marilyn Nelson sent me pictures of the construction and completed version of their new oven.
This oven is unusual in the sense that most of the brick ovens in the Twin Cities seem to be Alan Scott designs.
This oven is one of the Forno Bravo Pompeii ovens.
Marcia Roepke’s Brick Oven
Saint Paul, Minnesota
I received an e-mail in November, 2008 indicating there is a new oven in the Merriam Park neighborhood. Marcia Roepke wrote:
I live in St. Paul and I have recently (nearly) finished a bread oven in the Merriam Park area. You can check it out on my blog: http://mybreadoven.blogspot.com/
Nathaniel and Mary Shelton’s Brick Oven
Minneapolis, Minnesota
A couple who live in northeast Minneapolis came to the slice meeting at the Harvest Moon. They told me they have a brick oven and sent me a link to some pictures they made of their project.
Lara Holland’s Brick Oven
Mound, Minnesota
The bread club forum received a posting on July 15, 2010, from Lara Holland, where she post a link to pictures of her oven project.
This oven is one of the Forno Bravo Pompeii ovens.
Lara was kind to host the 2012 Saint Paul Bread Club picnic. Some pictures of her oven are included in an SPBC photo gallery.
James Kirchoff’s Brick Oven
Stoddard, Wisconsin
This gentleman has an oven in western Wisconsin (somewhat south of la Crosse). It was started in 2009, and is functional.
This oven has been used for pizza, and Jim is working on his sourdough breads.