NORRIDGEWOCK -- Maine Wood Heat Co. Inc., which sells high-efficiency wood-burning stoves and ovens, centers its business on hearth and home.

Growing up, co-owner Cheryl Barden spent hours playing with a hammer and nails on her father's office floor. Her father was a carpenter, as was her grandfather, she said.

When she and her husband, Albert, opened a stove business in 1976, they displayed their wares in their dining room. As a baby, their son, Scott, would crawl around the stoves.

Now Scott Barden is a partner in the three-way-owned family business, and his children play at being office managers, giving him pretend bank statements and invoices, he said.

The business, located out of the Bardens' home on Father Rasle Road, imports, distributes and assembles environmentally friendly, wood-fired ovens and masonry heaters around the United States.

Used for commercial or home baking, the core of the Le Panyol oven is 100 percent organic. It is constructed with a clay called terre blanche, or white earth, quarried in Larnage, France. The clay is found no where else in the world, Scott said. Compared to other oven materials, such as terra cotta, firebrick or concrete, the clay is more efficient and durable, and it does not distort the taste of food.

Although the tiles on the inside of the oven come from France, Cheryl said she tries to keep other parts of the business local. The copper for the top of the ovens comes from Barry Norling in Norridgewock, and the trailers used to transport the ovens come from North County Trailers in Fairfield.

Maine Wood Heat ovens are used at a variety of places across the U.S., including three Greek Orthodox monasteries, the San Francisco Baking Institute and King Arthur Flour Company in Vermont. In Maine, the Borealis Bakery and Bistro in Portland uses a Maine Wood Heat oven, as does Paolina's Way in Camden and Mother Oven Bakery in Bowdoinham.

While the ovens provide fire for food, the company's masonry heaters provide fire for winter survival. They say the heaters are more efficient than an average wood stove and the low-temperature radiant warmth is easier on the skin and sinuses. And, "Maine has a lot of wood," Cheryl said.

The ovens and masonry heaters are not cheap, but the Bardens insist they are worth it. An oven runs between $7,500 and $45,000, depending on the size. The masonry heaters cost anywhere between $13,000 and $100,000. Scott said he has clients who see returns on their ovens within one year.

After the Bardens started their business in 1976, they realized they needed to learn more about efficient wood-burning techniques. So, in 1978, with Scott on their backs, Cheryl and Albert traveled around mainland Europe and Scandinavia to research masonry heater and oven traditions.

"When we got to Finland, that's where we found a wood heat technology that was in line with what we wanted to see in terms of burning wood cleanly and efficiently," Cheryl said. "It's been a snowball ever since."

But the U.S. does not have the same heritage as Europe, to give the ovens and heaters the same grounding or recognition, Scott said. "The pace of acceptance in this country is generally very slow," he said.

Still, Maine Wood Heat has continued to grow over the past three decades, and a large part of the business revolves around education. "A big component of our business that people locally may not understand is that we are trying to be educators," Scott said. People may contact Scott, Cheryl or Albert to learn on site how to assemble the stoves and ovens, and there is information at the company's Web site, www.mainewoodheat.com.

"We find that we are making a connection," Cheryl said. "The ovens and heaters are the heart of a home. They are the centerpiece for community gathering."

One of their clients in New Hampshire gives away 90 percent of what he bakes to his neighbors, Scott said.

Scott owns his own wood-fired oven and said he has get-togethers where everyone brings something to put in the oven. It takes two to three minutes to cook a pizza.

"If someone has an oven, they tend to want to share it with people," Cheryl said. "It really brings people together."

Erin Rhoda -- 474-9534

erhoda@mainetoday.com