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Post by itsafish on Feb 24, 2012 7:14:03 GMT
These pictures are of a disused bread oven in our local pub! the landlord has asked me to take a look at it and to find out if the oven could be fired up, its a vast oven 12ft deep 8 ft wide 13" high (internal) it also has a side door connected to the main oven with a sort of grill installed, and its all housed in its own external building. I have checked many sites on the internet to get more information on this type of oven and can barely find anything! has anyone on this forum ever worked with an oven this size? if so how much fuel and how long would it take to get this up to working temperature? Any information would be most grateful. Kind regards Lee Attachments:
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Post by itsafish on Feb 24, 2012 7:17:45 GMT
Tunnel under the main oven door ..... would this have been used for proofing the bread? Attachments:
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Post by itsafish on Feb 24, 2012 7:20:20 GMT
The huge oven is a work of art! and looks sound, could it be fired up? Attachments:
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Post by itsafish on Feb 24, 2012 7:24:07 GMT
The external building that houses the oven! in good condition and looks like it has kept the damp out. Attachments:
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Post by tonyb on Feb 24, 2012 9:20:09 GMT
Lee it does look one huge beast  Its not all that easy to see but it looks like it could be what I think they describe as a 'white oven' ie one where the fire is totally separate from the baking part of the oven. I'm not sure you could fire the oven up efficiently being so big a floor area but small in height. Where's the flue? You need to do a bit more investigation before I could add, but this size huge! and presumably was fired pretty much continuously, would cost an arm and a leg in wood these days to get up to bread baking temps, and possibly impossible to get to pizza temps. Very interesting though and look forward to more information. |
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Post by Fat Bob on Feb 24, 2012 11:08:11 GMT
It would not be easy but couldn't the oven be decreased in size internally to make it more operationally effective and efficient for smaller scale production?
There is a working farm (run as a musuem as it hasn't changed in over two hundred years) near where I live that has a large bread oven of similar size - they fire it for 24 hours before baking.
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Post by turkey on Feb 24, 2012 13:00:44 GMT
what a find I would agree it looks like a white oven, I would also question the chimney location, and its effectiveness. At the rear of the oven is there a hole down to the lower part? You can get smoke pellets used to check domestic chimneys, I believe they are quote cheap, these would be a much better test to further diagnose where the smoke will go, but be warned even these might smog the whole pub if the chimney is now blocked, but it wont be toxic and I think quick clearing as they are designed for small scale domestic checks where a blocked chimney is also quite possible. |
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Post by itsafish on Feb 25, 2012 8:13:36 GMT
Thank you all for taking the time to reply to my questions I have looked under the oven and there is no hole between the tunnel and the back of the oven floor? The flue is at the front just inside the door and goes up to a stack that can be seen against the back of the main gable end, this stack looks like its been rebuilt over the past 20 or thirty years and is short of the main ridge of the taller gable end (i presume it should go all the way to the top?) its also been capped of with pantiles. reducing the size of the oven to make it more efficient for firing is a non starter as the building is grade 2 listed and i wouldn't want to upset the local council  so i shall pass on the information you have given me and see what happens from there? Looks like it could be a lot of work to get this going, maybe they would like me to build a new one for them All the best Lee |
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Post by Fat Bob on Feb 25, 2012 12:05:17 GMT
Just because it is Grade 2 listed doesn't mean you cannot make alterations or additions. My house in UK was listed and had some ridiculous limitations. I wasn't allowed to remove any wall paper or paint over 40 years old, windows had various pane sizes,amounts but if replaced had to have 6.
But invite the Listed Buildings Officer around and have a chat - they like to be pompous and be strict on some things but surprisingly allow other things. Tell them what you'd like to do - they may insist you use old fashioned materials or some such thing but changes can be made.
They let me put two extra windows in and kindly allowed me to put a door into a room that had been bricked up and thus no access whatsoever.
After you have agreed and carried out alterations they will usually come and inspect - then you slip a few little extras in...
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Post by cannyfradock on Feb 26, 2012 12:20:45 GMT
Lee.....I also agree....what a find !!!
In all honesty, myself I would love to see something like this restored to it's former glory. Although you say the vent is just inside the dome, it may have been designed this way. Can you please, try to find out how old the pub dates back to and when the oven was installed. The people who built this would've been true masons, so as an initial guess....I would say this oven could be used again.
Good pointers from the chaps on a few initial check's. On the size of the oven, I would say it's a black oven (fired in the same chamber as the cooking hearth.
I am very fascinated by your find, so please keep us informed......and I would love to know those dates.
Terry
p.s......can you either tell us the name and location of the pub......or PM me that info.
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Paul
valid member
I Dare You
Posts: 45
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Post by Paul on Feb 27, 2012 21:49:21 GMT
These pictures are of a disused bread oven in our local pub! the landlord has asked me to take a look at it and to find out if the oven could be fired up, its a vast oven 12ft deep 8 ft wide 13" high (internal) it also has a side door connected to the main oven with a sort of grill installed, and its all housed in its own external building. I have checked many sites on the internet to get more information on this type of oven and can barely find anything! has anyone on this forum ever worked with an oven this size? if so how much fuel and how long would it take to get this up to working temperature? Any information would be most grateful. Kind regards Lee I understand why it might make sense that this is a bread oven but perhaps it originally started as a malting in a brewhouse. During the early part of the 19th century it was very common for pubs to also be breweries. The grains would be placed on a malting floor for 9 to 10 days to encourage germination and then they would be moved to a kiln where they were dried for 3 or 4 days. In the second picture can you see the two sets of bricks which would have been used to slide something in/out between the two rows of bricks. I would sugest the publican ask a brewing historian if this is the case. |
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Post by itsafish on Mar 4, 2012 8:09:46 GMT
Great detective work Paul! and your right..... i checked up on the history of the pub and it was a maltings in the 1800s but that part of building has now been demolished! i shall pass on your information to the landlord
Cheers Lee
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Post by itsafish on Mar 4, 2012 8:23:34 GMT
For all those that are interested the pub is called the "Brewers Arms" which i guess answers some of the questions about the oven! here is the website for the pub with contact details if you fancy a look at the oven and some great food. www.brewersarms-rattlesden.com Cheers Lee |
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Post by cannyfradock on Mar 7, 2012 17:25:23 GMT
Thanks Lee. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's interested in looking at the history of this oven.
The link didn't work.....so I tampered with it...now it works as a clickable link....hope that's OK.
Terry
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so i shall pass on the information you have given me and see what happens from there?
