50% of the population will be effected by the Smoke Control Act in England. In which it is stated that it is an offence to make a fire using an unlicensed fuel. This means that if you make a wood log fire you will be violating this regulation and make yourself liable for prosecution.

The only way to get around this regulation  using an unlicensed fuel is if the apliance in which you are burning the wood has been tested  by deffra  and  has been granted exemption.

Late in 2009 we took the huge steps to get our ovens tested and exempted under this act Not an easy task or a cheap one.

Passing this Test would mean that you could use one of our Ovens in any smoke control area in the UK and Ireland.

The good news is that after exhaustive testing all of our Ovens they have all met the criteria. It is now mearly an act of parliament and a formality but we understand that it is a lengthly process for our goverment to get the act through parliament.

I have been informed that most councils will accept the test results as conforming until the certification is issued.

What does this mean for you?:

If you are looking at building your own oven from scratch and you live in a control area, you will be violating the regulation as the oven will not have been built in the controlled environment. This applies to all brick-built and cob ovens as well as many pre-made segmented ovens.

If you live in a smoke control area then please consider the legal implication of building your own oven. We do know of people that have fell foul of this law and we do not want it to happen to you. There are currently only 3 manufacturers of Wood Ovens that are exempt of, which we are one and the only one that manufactures ovens in the UK.

Please support UK manufacturing! You will find it more affordable than Imported Ovens.

So give us a call if you have any questions.

Link to smoke control act .

• HOW BIG IS OUR MEDIUM PIZZA OVEN?
• Our Garden Pizza Oven is 4ft long, 3 ft wide and 2ft high. Please have a look at the tecnical drawings for exact sizes.

• WHAT OUR ARE WOOD BURNING OVENS MADE FROM?
  Each of our Wood Burning Ovens are individually hand made on a wire mesh frame from expanded clay and refractory cements.

• HOW MANY PARTS ARE THERE TO ONE OF OUR SMALL OUTDOOR PIZZA OVENS?
  The Small Wood Fired Pizza Oven comprises of: 1) The Oven Dome 2) The Oven Floor 3) 4X special  floor tiles 4) Oven Door 5) Chimney Lid
  
  
• WHAT OTHER ITEMS DO WE NEED FOR OUR WOOD FIRED OVEN?
  You will need :-1) A Peel , a flat shovel for getting Food into and out of the pizza oven 2) An Wood Burning Oven Thermometer so you know how hot the pizza oven is 3) A Coal Hook , so that you can move burning logs around inside the wood burning oven 4) some kind of stand to put the oven on.
  
  
• HOW HEAVEY IS OUR MEDIUM WOOD FIRED PIZZA OVEN?
  The dome of the oven weighs about 130 kg and can easily be moved by 3 people. The base of the wood burning oven weighs about 100 kg and can easily be moved by 2 people.
  
• WHAT DOES THE PIZZA OVEN NEED TO STAND ON?
• You can build your garden oven into or onto anything that can not burn. We would recommend that you use four 2 inch x 2 ft paving slabs as the base for the pizza oven to stand on. You can build below the slabs using any method of construction you wish from wood to rock.
  
  
• HOW HIGH SHOULD THE PIZZA OVEN BE OFF THE GROUND?
  The floor of the wood fired pizza oven should be at elbow height this will mean that you do not have to stoop too low to see into the wood oven and you will be able to have a good peel action.
  
  
• HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET THE PIZZA OVEN HOT?
  If the oven is dry when you start then you can start cooking pizza's in about 20 minutes. If the oven is wet when you start it may take up to 2 hrs to get hot.
  
  
• YOUR PIZZA OVEN LOOKS QUITE BASIC COMPARED TO OTHERS WE HAVE LOOKED AT? WHY?
  Many imported ovens are made of terracotta and need a lot of insulating to protect them from the UK Weather, and yet the functionality of the oven is exactly the same. Other than a coat of cupernol each winter you will not need to do any other maintenance to one of our Pizza Ovens .
  
  
• SOME PIZZA OVENS WE HAVE SEEN ARE COVERED WITH VERMICULITE OR OTHER INSULATORS. WILL THEY WORK BETTER THAN YOUR OVEN?
• The most important thing about any Wood Burning Pizza Oven is the shape and the type of cooking you want to do. Some of the more elaborate ovens take a lot longer to heat up than our oven, then they also retain the heat for longer. When we designed our oven we took into consideration that most people who use a wood burning oven in England recreationally, decide at about 11 or 12am that the weather is good enough to cook lunch outside , they then do not want to wait 3 of 4 hrs for the oven to heat up before they start cooking. By the same token when they have finished cooking there is no need for the oven to stay hot for 8hrs or more. With this in mind we have made our oven to heat very fast and still maintain a good heat for up to 3 hrs.
  
  
• CAN I COVER OR BUILD OVER MY PIZZA OVEN?
• Of course many people have purchased one of our ovens and then gone on to build an Italian Style with full insulation and a little roof. This would give you all the benefits of a very expensive Pizza Oven. It would also retain the heat for longer and use less wood you will also benefit by not having to waterproof or dry the oven out when you use it. See our customer Referals to see what some people have done  or if you have an idea of what you want your oven to look like then give us a call and we can help make that dream become a reality.
  
  
• HOW  MANY PEOPLE CAN YOU COOK FOR OUT OF YOUR 3 OVEN RANGES? 
  The number of people you cook for really depends on what you are cooking and how long you want to cook for For example I have cooked 85 10" pizzas in 2 and a half hrs in the Small Oven. Also I have catered at at a birthday party for 40 people over a 3 hr period cooking a slow roast pork joint and then pizzas .In the Medium Oven I  have catered for 120 people  cooking pizzas at the Tatton Park Flower Show. I have resturants that say they cater for over 100 covers out of the Large Oven.
• Having said that i just love cooking with the Medium Oven its a good size and you can cater for small family functions and big gatherings no problem.
  
  
• HOW FAST CAN YOU COOK A PIZZ?
• If you want to cook very thin Neapolitan Pizzas then run the oven very hot 350 degc -500degc and you can then cook one in about 45-90 seconds. I tend not to cook thick pie pizza as it is so much slower but thats just my personal choice. Thicker base pizza require the oven to be run at a lower temperature 250degc -300 degc and as a result will usualy take about 3-4 min to cook.
  
  
  
• WHERE SHOULD THE FIRE BE IN THE OVEN?
• This is a matter of your own preference, on our large and medium sized ovens. I always have my wood fire fire on the right of the oven just in from the door,this way I can add logs very easily the oven is then very hot at the back and cooler on the side opposite the fire. Some people like to have the fire right at the back, more difficult to maintain the fire but more effective for cooking 2/3 pizza at a time. In our small oven I always put the fire at the back.
  
  
• HOW HOT CAN THE PIZZA OVEN GET
• The best temperature for cooking pizza is about 350-450 deg  C the the fire cement  that we use is rated to 1300 deg for our domestic range and over 1600degc on the commercial and mobile range , so it is almost impossible to over fire the oven,once it is cured . I have had a customer phone me saying that the thermometer did not work he said that he had a huge fire going for about an hour and the needle had not moved , it was found that when the oven cooled a bit the needle came down from 750 deg c.
  
  
  
• I HAVE SEEN OVENS BURIED IN THE GROUND. CAN I DO THIS WITH ONE OF YOUR GARDEN OVENS?
  Yes you can , although we would recommend that you first cover it with some insulation and a waterproofing layer of plastic otherwise it really will take a long time to get hot .
  
• CAN I USE THE WOOD BURNING PIZZA OVEN TO SMOKE FOOD?
  The Pizza Oven makes a fantastic hot smoker. Simply heat the oven to your desired temperature, put the food that you want to hot smoke int the oven , put wet smoking chips onto the fire and seal the door and chimney. Hey presto fantastic smoked food.
  
  
• I SEE YOUR OVEN HAS THE CHIMNEY AT THE FRONT. OTHERS HAVE THE CHIMNEY IN THE MIDDLE. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
  All authentic pizza ovens will have the chimney at the front with the door behind it . The feed point for the chimney will also be lower than the top of the dome. This is very important the lower the better. Heat is caught in this dome section and regulates the oven temperature. If the chimney is in the middle of the dome the heat will just go straight up the chimney , no regulation , and no retention of heat. All round a bad plan so check that any oven you decide to buy does not have a chimney in the middle of the dome ! Also if the oven dome is made of several pieces make sure that they all cement together otherwise you will simply lose heat through the joins not to mention the heat swirls and eddies that you will get coming off an uneven inside surface. also check that the door closes behind the chimney if it closes in front of the chimney then you will lose heat up the chimney.
  
  
• HOW DO I CLEAN MY WOOD BURNING PIZZA OVEN?
• Due to the high heat that you will be cooking at the oven is mostly self-cleaning and any bugs or bacteria in the oven will be quickly incinerated. As far as wiping the ash out the way is concerned, I tie an old tea towel around the handle end of the peel and wet and squeeze dry in a bucket of water. Just before I start cooking I wipe the cooking area with this to get rid af any exsess ash or sand.
  
  
• ARE THERE ANY OTHER TOOLS I MAY NEED FOR MY WOOD BURNING OVEN?
  I would suggest you also get a brass bristled brush and wide stainless steel paint scraper. Attach these to either end of a broom handle this will help you get rid of more stubborn stains and burns on the cooking tiles should you bubble over. We have also launched a fire grate for cooking thin base pizza in a very hot oven the restaurants and mobile caterers just love it.
  
  
• CAN I EXTEND THE CHIMNEY ON A WOOD FIRED OVEN?
• Yes by extending the length of the chimney you will improve the over all performance of the oven. Easier lighting from greater draw hotter fire from greater draw,and it will keep the smoke out of your face.
  
  
  
• HOW LONG WILL MY WOOD BURNING OVEN LAST?
  Depending on usage, your oven should last a long time. For example our oven at home was installed in 2000 and is as good as new. It still gives me as much enjoyment now as it did when i first put it in. Keeping the oven dry will give it a longer life expectancy. Build a roof over the top and it should give a lifetime of enjoyment.
  
  
  
• SHOULD I WORRY IF I SEE CRACKS IN THE DOME OF THE PIZZA OVEN?
• The Dome of the oven has a primary wire mesh reinforcing and a secondary heat resistant reinforcing. Due to the insulating properties of the oven, if you make a big fire in the oven to get it going you will get some cracks and crazes. Although these are mostly superficial and will close when the oven cools down.
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• I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS WHAT SHOULD I DO?
• Give me a call I will be happy to answer them - Regards Jay Emery MD  and Manufacturer of the ovens 01905 621636
  
  
  
• DO WE MAKE BIGGER OVENS? 
  Yes! With our unique method of manufacture we can make ovens of almost any size! Please call if you are interested.
  
  
• DO YOU SELL ANY GAS CONVERSION KITS?
  We have looked into the possibility of supplying these kits but  unfortunately UK legislation and EC Certification make it impossible for a small company like ours to develop and certify such an oven. So you will just have to enjoy using the real stuff wood. But we are always looking out for new suppliers of gas burners. inIn all the tests that we have done over the years Wood still gets the oven hotter faster and if you use dry wood they burn smokless any way  so why try to fit a gas burner.
  
  
• CAN OUR OVENS BE BUILT INTO A DOMESTIC OR COMMERCIAL KITCHEN?
  Our Domestic Ovens are designed for outdoor garden use. But each of our ovens are also available as a commercial grade oven which can be installed indoors as long as you follow current building regulations for open fires. Please call us for more information.
  
  
  
• WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DOMESTIC AND COMMERCIAL OVEN? 
  The domestic oven is made from a medium density refractory and is not designed for constant use. It also has a 6" flue outlet. The commercial Oven is made from the highest grade of heavy duty refractory covered with an inch of medium density refractory it has a 7" flue outlet and 3 layers of reinforcing....... a fantastic oven that is being used across the country by satisfied client base of restaurants, pubs and mobile caterers. 
  
  
• WHERE CAN I GO AND LEARN TO COOK IN A WOOD BURNING OVEN?
• Contact Holly and David at Manna from Devon Cooking School - Fir Mount House, Higher Contour Road, Kingswear, Devon TQ6 0DE Email: info@mannafromdevon.com Website: www.mannafromdevon.com Telephone: 01803 752943 .
• David and Holly run courses on cooking in our wood burning ovens. They are a really lovely couple and also have a bed and breakfast so you can stop over after the course.
• Make sure yoy try Hollys Chocolate Brownies just hevenin a bite.
  
  
• WOOD QUALITY IS IMPORTANT SO WHERE CAN I GOOD QUALITY DRY WOOD? 
  Call Certainly Wood in Herefordshire 01981 251796. They deliver pallets of wood nationwide at a fair price and kiln dried too. Ask for Oak 10 inches long for wood burning Pizza Ovens please mention Dingley Dell when you call.
  
  
  
• WHY ARE DINGLEY DELL OVENS SO AFFORDABLE IN COMPARISON TO JAMIE OLIVER OR FORNO BRAVO OVENS? 
  At Dingley Dell, we hand-make each and every oven to order. We are a small UK Manufacturing Company that specialise in the range of products that we make. We are passionate about our products and have been making ovens in the UK longer than just about anyone. Most of our competitors buy and sell ovens and need to make margin to make it viable. We choose to deal directly with our customers and are therefore able to offer our products at "Trade Prices". So support British Manufacturing where quality counts!
  
  
• DINGLEY DELL OVENS ARE NOT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE TRADE WHERE CAN I VIEW ONE? 
  You are welcome to vistit our workshops near Kidderminster (by appointment only) where we will be happy to show you our range of products.If you want to try to cook a couple of pizzas then you can either bring your own dough or we can have some ready for you.
  Please bring your own toppings with you that way we can be sure to make somthing that you will just love.