Introduction
1
7
LE PANYOL OVENS AND THE
LEGACY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Fire: The most primal element of the human
experience. Universally compelling, it draws us
near with light and warmth, offering comfort,
safety and sustenance. Cooking with fire is the
combination of sacred ritual and survival, and
ensures our continued survival as a species.
When our ancient ancestors began to render
their food more digestable and, of course, more
palatable with fire, they took a giant step forward.
The enduring artifacts of history, the spit, tripod,
brazier and earliest of all simple ovens, bear
testament to the primal need and desire to harness
the energies of fire in ever-more sophisticated ways.
What we have left of the earliest ovens is just
enough to learn about the social structure of the
communities that used them. Vitruvius, a Roman
hisrorian, recorded the shape and proportions
of the ovens in use during his time. Little has
changed in the overall design of wood burning
ovens since Roman times, mostly because little has
changed in the way wood burns.
Any fire requires oxygen to burn, and in turn
it must also be able to expel the products of
combustion. Therefore, an oven must be designed
to “respirate” evenly, efficiently feeding oxygen to
the fire while simultaneously discharging exhaust.
Every simple, unassuming Le Panyol wood
fire oven core is actually the product of precise
proportions and thermal mathematics. The size
and height of the door relates directly to the oven
chamber depth and height, which allows the fire
to draw fresh air in over the hearth to the back of
the oven. There, a happily fed fire expels flame
and hot exhaust gasses fully and evenly over the
dome, warming it to provide reflective and radiant
heat for cooking and baking. The heat then rushes
along the ceiling, coming forward in order to vent
through the throat at the front top edge of the
oven entrance. The result of these carefully refined
proportions is a fire that burns strong and clear,
evenly warming the hearth and dome with radiant
energy while simultaneously fostering perfect
convection airflow within the oven chamber.
An oven with too low a ceiling will force the
incoming oxygen against the outgoing exhaust,
creating turbulence that inhibits both flows. The
result is a fire that fails to burn vigorously and
instead smolders weakly at the back of the oven.
Conversely, a ceiling that is too high will not give
the hot gasses enough downdraft to ensure even
distribution and venting. In such cases, the fire
will actually smother itself with its own exhaust.
Over the course of 150 years, Le Panyol has
adapted the original proportions devised by the
Romans to modern culinary standards. In the
process, Le Panyol has moved from creating ovens
composed of individual “refractory” bricks made of
the “Terre Blanche” to producing a modular core
kit that is easy to assemble and outperforms its
predecessors.
The new kits are a testament to the reputation of
“Terre Blanche” de Larnage as the optimal material
for any and every type of cooking and baking.
For the better part of 1,000 years the clay drawn
from the earth in this one special spot in one
special corner of France has been dried and fired
to create an earthenware product that is uniquely
“semi-insulative.” This means that it is of balanced
density and porosity, and has the capacity to store
Summary of Contents for LE PANYOL 66
Page 1: ...Construction of the Le Panyol Wood Fired Oven...
Page 6: ...1...
Page 10: ...10...
Page 16: ...16 Notes...
Page 24: ...24 Notes...
Page 36: ...36 Chapter 4 Assembly of the Le Panyol Oven core Models 66 and 83...
Page 38: ...38 Notes...
Page 39: ...3 Assembly of the Le Panyol Oven core Models 99 100 5 39...
Page 50: ...Chapter 5 Assembly of the Le Panyol Oven core Models 99 and 100 50...