castmaster xl for a madpizza/bread baker??

[ilovewales]

hi

i found your forum tonight ,researching for a birthday present for my husbands 40th birthday!
we live in a rented house, so can't build an oven, and he is mad about baking breads, pizzas etc, so i thought it might be a good pressie for him,so started looking into it...
i was reading about the castmaster xl chiminea pizza oven, that i saw on ebay.. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CASTMASTER-OUTDOOR-GARDEN-XL-PLUS-PIZZA-OVEN-CAST-IRON-CHIMINEA-CHIMENEA-/280867230461?pt=UK_Home_Garden_BBQ_s_Accessories_LE&hash=item4164fdd2fd
some of the guys on this forum seem to like them and bake good things in them...
a couple of questions:
1) i also want it to double as a CHIMINEA HEATER , so when its colder, and we just want to sit around it, we can use it that way too...i assume it will be fine for that also...

2) i don't know whether it is worth paying the extra £50 for the chimney extension, or just getting the castmaster xl without it and save the £50??? is there any good reason for the chimney other than looks???

3) would it be better than this kind of thing : www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hacienda-Steel-Pizza-BBQ-Oven-Chiminea-steel-BARBEQUE-Barbecue-GRILL-NEW-/170821910503?pt=UK_Home_Garden_BBQ_s_Accessories_LE&hash=item27c5c77fe7

having to pick something without my husbands opinion makes me nervous, so i thought i would ask you guys for opinions instead,if anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

[cannyfradock]

Hello I Love Wales...so do I. Welcome to the forum.

Please have a look at this blog from a good friend of mine from Taunton.....who bakes pizza's.....and much more from his Castmaster.

He is PM friendly and always glad to give advice...

nobreadisanisland.blogspot.com/2011/04/amusing-clay-oven.html

The link may take you to a clay oven part of his blog, but if you click on....home...or something it will take you to his journey with a castmaster.

Hope you get some more feedback on Chimenea's.

Terry

[ilovewales]

thanks for your reply!!!

i have looked at his blog already..! i found the old forum by googling, and read some of the old posts on there!

[Breadandwine]

Hi ilovewales

I'd never seen that Hacienda chiminea before - I have to say it looks pretty good.

It's got several advantages over mine:

I like the steel doors and hinges - mine, unfortunately has broken on one side, although it's still usable with care.

Looks like it has an oven thermometer in-built, which is a great feature. The wheels make it much more manoeuvrable.

It looks altogether a more professional job. I can't see the weight of it, but it's got to be lighter than mine (I take mine up on the Quantocks once a year).

I think if I was buying one today, I'd go for the Hacienda.

HTH!

Cheers, Paul

Ps. Forgot to say - what a lucky husband he is!