Modular pizza ovens
I’ve added this blog mainly because not all these options are visible on the main website so I thought a blog post could expand on what is listed so you know that these options exist. We are lucky to be working with a company that took the modular concept and created a series of ovens based around the F950 as a core. Imagine having an oven made in two halves, front and back and you have the 950.
Now think of how one could make a larger oven from this basic configuration, yes you guessed it, just add interleaves between the two halves and bingo you have a whole new larger oven either in length or width. Genius!
As far as I know, Four Grand-Mere is the only company making such an adaptable range of ovens without adding too much expense to original cost.
Take that 950 and add a section of hearth and dome in between the front and back and you get a whole new oven just by adding an interleaf. The interleaf is made in the same way as the rest of the oven and just slots into position adding 22cm at its smallest, then 33 and finally 44cm, What one ends up with is a longer oven ideal for bread baking or pizza.
Take this modular pizza ovens idea and how about making it wider by turning the two halves into ‘wings’ and add an arch section in to make the oven wider than deep. You end up with our very popular ‘lateral’ ovens, the FT1350 and FT1500. These ovens are a god send for kitchens that have limited working space and need an oven that fits in-line with other equipment rather than sticking out as a long or round oven would.
Available in the usual options chamotte, brick and raised dome, they are a fantastic addition to the FGM range in our commercial oven options.
In addition to the interleaf idea, we also have a whole range of two door ovens that replaces part of one dome with another arch so access is possible via two doors, One door can be inside a room and the other facing outside or simply one used so customers can see through one end and watch their pizza being cooked through a closed glass door while the other faces the chef in a kitchen. I’ve done a whole separate blog about two door ovens so please check it out if you’re interested.
In short, modular pizza ovens have the huge advantage of making a new larger oven without the associated cost of having stock of every oven as the interleaves can be made when ordering the oven and makes better use of the moulds that already exist. Modular ovens as opposed to hand made brick ovens have existed for over 50 years but I thinkFour Grand-Mere have added a lot of functionality to the concept by making interchangeable sections and a logical use of shapes.
Those made from the traditional Italian orange-segment type of dome are more limited in their adaptability although having said that, Four Grand-Mere have a range within the SP series that you can add second doors to even though the arrangement is segments resting on a central key stone supported or hung from a steel frame.
The steel frame or multiples of, mean that larger, wider domes are possible without being self supporting, the whole weight being borne by a series of hangers and the load spread down to the feet of the frame resting on a steel table or masonry. In this way very large low domed bakery ovens are possible without having a buttress at the sides to take the load of a long arch.
Modular pizza ovens are here to stay and while there is a small market for hand made brick ovens, the convenience, ease and speed of assembly of manageable modules make them an ideal solution for the modern market