“My guests and I swooned when we took our first bite of the perfectly roasted, lusciously moist bird. It was drop dead amazing; in fact, as good as any chicken I had in Paris. . . I keep the insert in my own oven permanently because I plan to use it for just about everything.” -- The Hartford Courant

We can't promise swooning... But we can tell you that stone hearth cooking is a fundamentally different way of cooking and baking. And with the new HearthKit, you can put a true hearth oven in your kitchen quickly, easily and affordably.

How HearthKit works: Hearth ovens have more mass so they maintain a steady even heat that is released into all foods baked on the hearth. When baking in a hearth oven, three heat principles are at work: conductive, radiant, and ambient. The three work together to form a hearth environment. Conductive heat is cooking in direct contact with the heat source; the heat moves vertically through the food. Radiant heat emanates from the roof and sides of the oven, while ambient heat fills the oven cavity and determines the length of the baking cycle.

Multi-Mode Heating: Conventional modern day ovens use only ambient and minimal radiant heat. Some ovens have been improved by circulating hot air with a fan inside, also known as convection. However, without conductive, radiant, and ambient working together, it is impossible to achieve a hearth environment. Conventional ovens have very little mass and cool rapidly, causing them to continuously cycle on and off in an attempt to maintain a steady temperature. As a result, oven temperatures can swing up to 75°F and subject food to frequent high blasts of uneven heat. This is where the hearth oven outperforms a conventional oven. In short, HearthKit solves the challenges of the modern oven with eons-old, time proven methods.

Ancient Concept, Modern Construction: The key to a hearth oven’s great results is the unique ability of the stone mass to absorb heat and redistribute it evenly. Pressed at over 175 tons from cordierite, a strong, proprietary blend of earthen materials, HearthKit is fired at over 2,300°F and has excellent conductive properties. HearthKit features two slightly curved sidepieces and a thick, tapered base designed to form a chamber much like that of a wood burning beehive or brick pizza oven. This balances the heat in the oven and releases it evenly back into the food, making it possible to safely bake or roast at higher temperatures without burning, or to slow cook more gently and evenly at lower temperatures. Thus, three types of heat — conductive, radiant and ambient — work together allowing you to cook your usual dishes with superior results; meats and poultry cook evenly and quickly, retaining their juiciness while breads with fabulous crusts rise to their fullest volume.

Read Testimonials: Click to jump down to testimonials from HeartKit users.

More Info: Click here for the HearthKit FAQ, answers to frequently-asked-questions about the HearthKit by Hearth Kitchen.

Often permanently constructed in a fireplace, the hearth oven was not portable. With urbanization and the industrial revolution in Europe, space and wood became scarce and coal became the fuel of choice. Smaller portable ovens were needed. In the 19th century, access to less expensive metals and industrial production techniques led to the invention of the metal cooker— the first modern home oven. Portability, price, and relative lightness made such metal cookers the norm.

"It gives me confidence. The precise heat ensures superb baking results every time. It's the brick oven I've always wanted - the oven that every cook deserves. …it is the most important piece of new kitchen equipment since the Cuisinart." -- Rose Levy Beranbaum, Author of The Cake Bible

"…the pizzas from the Hearth Kit are excellent. The dough sprang up perfectly and had a bumpy, blistered surface from the fast rising steam." -- Michele and Charles Scicolone, Authors of Pizza, Any Way You Slice It

Over the years, I've tried various recipes for baking nans none of them satisfying, until the Hearth Kit came along. The heated ceramic base becomes part of the authentic flavor and texture of the nan, distributing a mellow fragrance that permeates the soft, moist, puffy nan, just as it should be. Furthermore, you can taste the sear and sizzle in every bite of tandoori chicken and tandoori leg of lamb. I highly recommend the Hearth Kit for my native tandoori-style cooking. Laxmi Hiremath,
Author of Laxmi's Vegetarian Kitchen; Classic Indian (2004 John Wiley & Sons)

“My guests and I swooned when we took our first bite of the perfectly roasted, lusciously moist bird. It was drop dead amazing; in fact, as good as any chicken I had in Paris. . . I keep the insert in my own oven permanently because I plan to use it for just about everything.” -- The Hartford Courant

“The Hearth Kit has been getting a lot of press these days, and for good reason: …I don’t have space to describe each of the dishes I tested, but the effect of the Hearth Kit was immediate and striking.” -- The Boston Globe

“The Hearth Kitchen producers had their insert tested by a bunch of well-known culinary personalities across the country and have some glowing testimonials. . . pizza, prawns and a freeform apple pie. . . using the (HearthKit). The food was, predictably, fabulous.” -- San Francisco Chronicle

“Now, … you can get stone-oven results at home using an oven insert called the Hearth Kit.” -- Sunset Magazine

"Even though I am a professional baker, I do not have the capability of producing the kind of baked goods at home that I do in my bakery. However, on Father's Day, I made bread in my home oven in the Hearth Kit. The crust was wonderful and thick, and to my surprise, the bread was as good as if it were baked in my professional deck oven!" -- Jean-Yves Le Bris La Gourmandise Bakery, New York City