Nothing gets the appetite going quite like a steaming hot, fresh-made pizza. Your mouth waters when you see the melted cheese, meaty toppings, and vegetable slices. If you're a longtime cook, you probably wonder what it would be like to make such a pizza yourself.
The good news is, that option may be available to you! All you have to do is purchase a pizza oven for your home.
However, this is much easier said than done. Finding a pizza oven involves several factors, such as installation and materials. Another factor you may not have considered is the pizza oven door.
Pizza oven doors make more of a difference than people often think. In this guide, we'll explore the advantages of hinged doors vs. freestanding doors. Once you decide on the iron door for your oven, you're one step closer to creating the best pizzas you'll ever eat!
What Makes a Good Pizza Oven Door
Before discussing whether a hinged or freestanding door is best for your oven, let's explore what a good oven door does. What qualities should you look for in your door to achieve the best results?
An effective oven door must, first and foremost, cover the vault of your oven. If the opening has an uneven or crooked space, a freestanding door pushed against the face of the oven will be your best bet. Although if you are having smoking issues it will prove incapable of sealing the opening to prevent the smoke issue. The same fact holds for an out-of-alignment vault.
A well-fitted door provides you with several abilities as the chef. It can help slow the rate at which your wood burns, block interfering wind, and stop the fire.
Benefits of a Hinged Door
In the old days, most pizza ovens used freestanding doors, regardless of whether it was a professional grade or home use oven. These days, that's no longer the case. Ovens now have the option for hinged doors that open to either the left or right.
Some ovens even utilize French door design, featuring two doors that swing open opposite one another. The question you may face is, why would you want to use a hinged door?
Greater Convenience
A hinged door provides much more convenience than a freestanding door. When you cook with a freestanding door, you need a counter nearby large enough to hold the door and withstand the heat from its metal.
With hinged doors, you erase this need. You can simply swing the door open and shut without a problem.
ADA Compliance
Another practical benefit of hinge doors is their ADA compliance. These doors allow enhanced accessibility for chefs in wheelchairs, as they don't have to reach above the drop-down door or navigate around it. Likewise, they don't have to worry about removing the freestanding door and replacing it later.
Increased Protection from Outside Threats
If you have a pizza oven outside, it remains open to several potential threats. Without a secure door, birds, squirrels, and other animals can enter the oven and eat the crumbs they find. Likewise, insects can invade the space.
Storms also remain a threat. The wind can blow unwanted debris into your stove, as well as washing out the interior. A hinged door serves as protection against all of these threats.
Since the door remains attached to the oven and closely fitted to the vault, it prevents external threats from getting in. This way, your oven remains clean and ready for use at any time.
Benefits of a Freestanding Door
While hinge doors have several advantages, their freestanding counterparts have their benefits as well. In this section, we'll explore those advantages in greater depth.
Increased Access to the Fire
One advantage of a freestanding door is that you can completely remove it when cooking. You have greater access to your pizza, allowing you more freedom in how you cook.
Removable doors also allow your oven to double as a fireplace. On a cool night, you and your family or friends can sit near the fire, roasting marshmallows and making memories.
Easier to Clean and Maintain
If you have a hinged oven door, the door remains attached to the oven at all times. In many ways, this is an advantage. However, the more you use your oven, the more wear and tear it causes your door to undergo.
Even if you have a cast iron pizza oven door that's immune to most damage, it still collects soot, ash, and other debris from the fire. Since most chefs prioritize taking care of their ovens, you'll eventually need to clean the door.
Cleaning a door that's attached to the oven can become inconvenient very quickly. Instead of dealing with such a difficult task, you can use a freestanding option. This way, you can remove the door from the oven and clean it with little trouble.
Offers Sufficient Protection for Your Oven
The thing that makes oven doors so necessary is the risk of outside threats. These threats apply to outdoor ovens, where your leftover bits of pizza present a buffet to squirrels and birds.
You can also press these doors tighter into the oven space during storms, allowing increased protection from debris and rain. As such, they remain practical options for your pizza oven.
Choosing the Right Oven for You
As you can see, there are several advantages for both hinged and freestanding doors for your pizza oven. The oven door you choose is a matter of preference.
If you want stylish fashion, convenience, and 24/7 protection for your oven, hinged doors are your best choice. However, a freestanding door can protect your oven from external threats and allow cooking advantages as well.
Whichever you choose, you can find our pizza oven doors for sale online! We offer a wide range of doors in several styles and makes. Check out our selection today!