Converting an indoor fireplace into a brick oven

[deltadoc]

I wasn't sure which was the best forum to post this but here goes:

I am eyeing my brick facade fireplace in my living room which currently has a fireplace insert installed in it.

The insert is old, and rather than replace it, and realizing that the brick facade is '50's style (read: Out of Style), I was wondering if anyone has ever tried converting their indoor fireplace into a brick oven. In Minnesota the warmth is nice, we're going to burn wood anyway, so why not cook with it too? I would also like to put a door on it, so that warm air doesn't escape up the chimney when the oven is not in use!

Any ideas, suggestions, input, etc.?

Tx!

doc

[ladyyoung98]

I wasn't sure which was the best forum to post this but here goes:

I am eyeing my brick facade fireplace in my living room which currently has a fireplace insert installed in it.

The insert is old, and rather than replace it, and realizing that the brick facade is '50's style (read:  Out of Style), I was wondering if anyone has ever tried converting their indoor fireplace into a brick oven.  In Minnesota the warmth is nice, we're going to burn wood anyway, so why not cook with it too?  I would also like to put a door on it, so that warm air doesn't escape up the chimney when the oven is not in use!

Any ideas, suggestions, input, etc.?

Tx!

doc

←

i know this may sound silly but have you thought about contacting your local home depot? they seem to have a lot of knowledge not to mention so many do it yourself classes, if they dont have that kind of knowledge they are in a positon to possibly know where you can get that information.

Edited October 25, 2005 by ladyyoung98 (log)

[jackal10]

http://mha-net.org/msb/html/bakeoven.htm

http://www.fourgrandmere.com/asp.net/main....e.aspx?langue=2

Old style ovens were built into the back of an inglenook fireplace.

To use the oven a fire was lit in the oven, and the smoke came out of the door of the oven and went up the chimney.

You might consider a wood burning range instead.

http://www.cosi.co.uk/prod01.htm

http://www.heartlandapp.com/Classic/Woodbu...model_2603.html

http://www.goodtimestove.com/kitchen_range...ing_ranges.html

[Mssmltzr]

I actually work as a baker in the Old Salem bakery, which is featured on the MHA-Net website. I was actually surprised to see that some brick ovens require that you have a live fire while baking the bread/pizza, etc. At my bakery, we let the fire burn down to coals and ashes, rake the coals and ashes into a small pit in the oven, and then allow the oven to drop to the appropriate temperature. Therefore, the hot bricks bake the bread, not fire itself.

Well...there's my two cents.

[deltadoc]

Reviving this thread because I have FOUND what I was looking for!!!!

www.tulikivi.com is a Finnish manufacturer of soapstone fireplaces, fireplaces with ovens, and even stoves and ovens.

They're beautiful, and one will go perfect in my living room. Has an ash box at the bottom, a firebox with glass window so you can watch the fire like a regular fireplace, and then above that is a little alcove with door, which is your brick oven!

A little pricey, but hey, in Minnesota, an outdoor brick oven can only be used maybe 3 months of the year, but an indoor one can be used all year long, and especially in the cold winter months when we're burning wood in the fireplace anyway, we can bake pizza, sourdough loaves, buns, all kind of things. They even have a baking pan that fits into the oven so you can bake other things too!

And there's a local distributor not too far away in the Twin Cities!

doc

[Carolyn Tillie]

That's just freek'n gorgeous, man!

[McDuff]

Holy lally columns! We're talking some serious weight here. How pricey are they?

[deltadoc]

Holy lally columns! We're talking some serious weight here. How pricey are they?

←

Very pricey! I didn't see anything with a fireplace/oven for less than $13k, and I suspect that doesn't cover installation either.

doc

[Jason Perlow]

Somewhat related, but how about turning a brick oven into a bedroom?

Do You Know the Muffin Man Was on West 20th Street? (NY Times, July 28 2006)

"In New York City, where buildings may have layer upon layer of construction dating back generations, it seems that behind any wall there could be tucked a bit of history — a tomb, a hidden staircase, a lost library — or something else.

Mike Kinnane and Kerry McInerney peeked behind their basement wall and found an oven. A very old oven. And it belonged to a very well-known baker.

The room-size brick oven, about 15 feet from side to side and another 20 feet from front to back, belonged to Samuel Bath Thomas. Yes, that Thomas. The Thomas of nooks and crannies."

Edited July 30, 2006 by Jason Perlow (log)

[Stu-i-moto]

Reviving this thread because I have FOUND what I was looking for!!!!

www.tulikivi.com  is a Finnish manufacturer of soapstone fireplaces, fireplaces with ovens, and even stoves and ovens.

They're beautiful, and one will go perfect in my living room.  Has an ash box at the bottom, a firebox with glass window so you can watch the fire like a regular fireplace, and then above that is a little alcove with door, which is your brick oven!

A little pricey, but hey, in Minnesota, an outdoor brick oven can only be used maybe 3 months of the year, but an indoor one can be used all year long, and especially in the cold winter months when we're burning wood in the fireplace anyway, we can bake pizza, sourdough loaves, buns, all kind of things.  They even have a baking pan that fits into the oven so you can bake other things too!

And there's a local distributor not too far away in the Twin Cities!

doc

←

Ahhh - the Tulikivi. These are indeed beautiful pieces of craftsmanship. A good friend has one in his house near Lake Tahoe (sans pizza oven); I looked into getting one installed in my house in San Francisco when I was going through a mojor renovation/rebuild and could pretty much do anything I wanted. I really wanted this oven - they are highly efficient - I've experienced this personally.

I talked to the distributor/installer (one and the same out here). In the end, I didn't do it, for the following reasons:

1 - There is a lot of prep that needs to be done to the site in order to accomodate this stove. You wouldn't believe how heavy it is - so it either needs to be on concrete slab or it needs to have reinforced flooring beneath;

2 - In the words of the distributor, "You would heat yourself out of your house." Unfortunately (or fortunately), San Francisco doesn't have the kind of blistering cold that would make a soapstone oven useful. Just using it to make awesome pizzas was not enough to justify.

Hope that helps -

[deltadoc]

1 - There is a lot of prep that needs to be done to the site in order to accomodate this stove. You wouldn't believe how heavy it is - so it either needs to be on concrete slab or it needs to have reinforced flooring beneath;

2 - In the words of the distributor, "You would heat yourself out of your house." Unfortunately (or fortunately), San Francisco doesn't have the kind of blistering cold that would make a soapstone oven useful. Just using it to make awesome pizzas was not enough to justify.

Hope that helps -

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Well, yes, i was wondering how good the oven part was. I assume you were talking about the combo oven and fireplace unit rather than the standalone oven they also offer?

In Minnesota, I certainly wouldn't use it today. It is 104 F! Talk about weather extremes!!!

Might make a pizza today and throw on my sidewalk just to see what happens!

But in the cold (-30 F) Minnesota winters, the fireplace/oven might work out pretty nice, doncha think?

PS: Fortunately, I already have a concrete base for the existing fireplace and with it is an entire wall of brick, fireplace, and heavy fireplace insert. I was thinking maybe not having the entire wall made out of the Tulikivi soapstone, but putting in one of those floor-to-ceiling firewood niches!

tx,

doc

Edited July 31, 2006 by deltadoc (log)