The question of the ideal oven size is often in the minds of chefs and avid cooks. Whether for a bakery, restaurant or home use, the answer is usually the smallest oven that will meet your needs. However, some professions demand larger than normal ovens. Here are some tips to help you build the perfect oven tailored to meet your needs.

The first thing you need to consider is the material which will build the oven and how massive the oven should be. The material you choose will depend on how you intend to use the oven. The wall thickness will also depend on your intended use since the longer you need to maintain the oven at cooking temperatures the thicker the walls should be to retain the heat.

The frequency of use should also help you in determining the material as some materials are prone to typical wear and tear more than others. It is important to note that denser materials tend to be the best at retaining heat e.g. granite.

The next thing to consider is the oven insulation. Basic principles of physics dictate that once the oven gains a considerable amount of heat inside, the heat will start to radiate out of the oven. This may become a problem if you are unable to reach specified temperatures since the heat keeps getting lost.  The best way to counter this is insulating the oven so as to retard heat loss. Modern insulation is relatively cheaper than the oven material making it a good investment since it will help you cut on energy costs.

Building a large oven can be quite complex depending on what you want. Go over your requirements with your contractor so that you get what you want. Finally, when the building process is over, bring the oven to baking temperatures to enable its first use.