Any Cuisinart Brick Oven Classic Owners?
As summer approaches I'm looking for alternative to baking in-doors. I've made a few loaves on my charcoal grill, an iron Cajun number if you must know, and will probably continue doing so as I've had decent success. That said, it's not practical for every or every-other day baking.
I have a nice covered back porch and am considering getting a "mobile" electric oven. Of the ones I've seen, the Cuisinart Brick Oven Classic looks like the best choice, but the manual only has the exterior dimensions; I want the interior dimensions. Does anyone have them? Would this thing safely hold a 3.5 quart Le Creuset for example if I wanted to do no knead? How short would my batards have to be? Any information, recommendations or warnings would be much appreciated.
Ed.
Hi Ed,
I have one of these ovens. The interior dimensions measures 13 inches deep, 14 inches across, and 7.5 inches tall. It comes with two removable shelves. Given that your casserole would sit on the bottom shelf, you'd have approximately 6 inches of height to work with. My 3.5 Creuset fits with no trouble.
Barbara
Barbara,
Thanks so much for the information, very helpful.
Ed.
Did you try this? This sounds like a good solution to summer heat. Though, I really should try using my gas grill too.
Funny you should ask. I ordered one from Amazon just yesterday. I'll post back my thoughts after it has arrived and I've had a chance to kick the tires.
Ed.
Sorry for the delay in responding.
I ended up purchasing a Cusinart BRK-200 Brick Oven Deluxe and I've bee quite happy with it. It is a very viable option for portable hearth baking. They are available on Amazon for ~170 USD. Regarding hearth baking, there is unlikely to be enough room to place a pan of water inside this oven while baking. I have spritzed my loaves and the wall of the oven with an atomizer when putting them to bake. The door is narrow enough that a peel will not fit in, rather the shelf with the stone needs to be pulled out for loading. This works fine, but the shelf tends to slant downward and the stone is slick, so, to avoid dropping your dough, exercise caution while loading.
The oven has a maximum temperature of 500F and has convection mode. The oven seems to run a little hot and my loaves cook significantly more quickly in the small oven compared to my gas range. Typically I've been baking a 1lb, 10oz, final dough weight, boule on the included pizza stone. I find that turning the loaf during the bake is essential to getting even coloration. I'm not using convection.
The oven is nice to look at. The build quality is OK, but it's obviously not intended to be moved constantly, so extra care will be in order if that is your plan. The oven also doesn't have a pre-heat indicator, which seems like a strange feature to be missing.
It does have a very nice front window for watching your bread spring and keeping an eye on color.
I haven't tried baking no-kneed bread yet. My 3.5qt cast iron casserole will fit in the oven, but it's pretty tight.
I've also found a nice way to void my warranty and Ozark engineer steam injection at the same time which involves a old Krups espresso maker found at a yard sale and some copper tubing. To be clear, I am not recommending that anyone else do this. It's potentially dangerous and could lead to serious burns, electrocution or both.
That said, it makes really good crust. I've snaked tubing through the entrance for the crumb tray, which still fits in with the tubing in place and requires no alterations to the oven. I may opt to improve the design, but that would require such alterations.
I have no regrets about buying this oven, it's exactly what I was looking for.
Ed.