Bakstehuset på Ask, Askøy – A 30-Tonne Wood-Fired Oven

Story Visit · 2026Photography: Taste Norway · retouchedSee on the map 4 min read Curated · not paid for

Bakstehuset på Ask, Askøy.

The bakery in the garden

In 2013 the Magnussen/Kvarme family built a wood-fired bakery at Ask. The plan was to bake a little, locally. They had not planned for several thousand people to find their way into the garden.

They did anyway. Bakstehuset is now one of those places people travel to simply to eat something good. Baking happens in full view in the small ochre building, with old grain varieties, sourdough and long proving times.

Mariann shaping sourdough loaves on the bench in the bakery — Mariann shaping the day's loaves.

The oven

At the centre of it stands the oven. Thirty tonnes, wood-fired, built by Ivar from the design of his great-great-grandfather's baking oven on Tysnes.

It is fired with spruce the day before baking begins. Then it is emptied, washed and made ready before the day starts. Focaccia first, while the heat is highest. Danish pastry last. Everything in the same oven.

It is not an efficient way to bake. It is a way that produces a particular crust, and that requires somebody to be up the day before.

Five generations

Mariann is head baker and runs the place. She is a qualified master baker and pastry chef with 35 years behind her. Ivar built both the bakery and the oven.

The children grew up with the baking as part of ordinary life. Andreas is a fifth-generation baker and has been on the Norwegian national baking team. Maria is training as a pastry chef. Marta has worked the counter since she was a child.

Mariann holding two finished sourdough loaves in front of the wood-fired oven — Mariann with the day's bread. The oven door and peel behind.

The grain

Bakstehuset has its own mill and grinds the wholemeal flour on site. They use old grain varieties and flour from small Norwegian mills.

It is the part of the craft customers rarely see, and the part that decides the most. The flour sets the limit for what the dough can become.

Mariann outside the bakery, the painted sign on the wall behind her — Mariann outside the bakery.

Staying a while

You can come for a sourdough loaf or a cinnamon bun. But it is easy to stay longer – coffee in the greenhouse, fresh baking on the table, and the sense of having found a place that is not trying to be anything other than what it is.

Why it is here

Authenticity
Baking happens in full view. The bakery was built in the garden, not designed for an audience.
Story
An oven built from a great-great-grandfather's design, by the man who runs the place.
Quality
Sourdough, long proving, and flour ground on site from old grain varieties.
Unique experience
Thirty tonnes of wood-fired oven, lit the day before. Focaccia first, pastry last.
Local value
Five generations of bakers, and a bakery several thousand people travel to.