By Jim Buckley
Masonry ovens have been built in American homes since the first colonists landed in New England in the 17th century and before that when the Spanish settled in Florida and the Southwest in the 16th century. Surprisingly there weren’t many differences between the ovens built in New England and the ones the Spanish built because oven traditions date back much farther – to at least Roman times. (Read more…)
The Bread Builders, Book Review by Jim Buckley
Daniel Wing and Alan Scott have written a great book on bread making and oven building entitled The Bread Builders. It’s a definitive work, extensively researched and required reading for anyone planning to build a masonry oven or bake bread in one. (Read more…)
**Special Note On Installing Chimney Pots on a Wood Fired Oven: Caution. Be aware that clay chimney pots may be susceptible to thermal shock when installed on fireplaces or appliances with a short chimney stack of less than four (4) standard length flue liners due to the close proximity to the heat source.
Eighth and Hays Wine Bar and Brick Oven
Homestead, PA
(Testimonial letter from a customer)
I reached out to Superior Clay Corporation about their 48” Oven I bought through my local dealer (Atlas Clay & Metal). The oven had some cracking, which led to part of the dome, and walls to fall into the oven. We love the oven, and use it every day. It heats up quickly and holds the temp really well. The food always comes out tasting great!
From our first conversation, the reps at Superior Clay were responsive and serious about correcting the issue. They made a trip to the site to make a determination on the best solution, and offered me a couple of options. The option I went with involved entering through the backside of the oven to chisel out all the brick and block and replace the damaged components.
Superior Clay’s reps were able to work around our schedule and complete the job so there was no interruption in my business. Our restaurant’s main food supply goes through the wood fired oven, so this was no small feat! Their work was clean and efficient! In the end they determined the failure was due to an installation error (no room for expansion) which we did not see in the instructions. The customer service provided by Superior Clay gets and A+ rating from me!
-Joe Ducar
Owner
8/8/2018
