My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

[shuboyje]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

My oven is a little 30" low dome. It sounds like it is very similar in shape to yours just slimmed down. It performs great, will crank out 40 second pizzas at 1000F for as long as I want. I am a sheet metal worker by trade, so my oven has a huge vent transition that is very smooth. It gets all the smoke even on startup and draws like a champ.

You have many of the same ideas I do for low domes. Making the soldier course match the door height just seems to make sense. I am pretty sure that the naples ovens use a 3 centered arch that is modified to have a soldier course for their dome shape. They consider the shape a secret, but it is documented the height of the dome should roughly equal the diameter divided by 3.4 or h=d/3.4 . When laying out a three centered arch, the height is controlled by the width of the arch, ie the diameter. No matter what size I've found it always roughly equals h=d/3.4 .

[Grimaldi]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

The "secret" is the Fibonacci Sequence...the Golden Ratio.

Fibonacci number - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[dhs]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

I did come across the h=d/3.4 but no matter how I sliced it that seemed too low for the diameter I was working with. How low is your dome? Has anyone built a dome that low for a home oven?

Grimaldi, I have schooling in the arts and know the golden ratio from that perspective. I don't know if I can see how it all but loosely applies to what we are talking about here (1.61). That said, I don't doubt what you are saying though. When something just looks right, it usually is adhering to the golden ratio. Many things about this project just seem right. I may be missing the obvious.

[BrickStoneOven]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

The dome on my oven is 12.7" with the interior diameter being 43.5". The math on the h=d/3.4 is correct, it sounds like it would be to low but that is what it should be. I'm glad someone on here is building an oven like this, I haven't seen any on this site built how you are doing it. I think you can go lower. My buddy made his dome at 13.5" with a 42" interior diameter.

I saw the piece on you on the slice blog.

[shuboyje]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

I agree, love the low domes. My oven has a 13" dome. Being it was only 30" my door is only 14 wide, so I figured anything lower then that would just make the door too tiny. I hope to eventually build a 48" oven in the form of a three centered arch, making it roughly 14".

As for the golden rule...I just don't see it. On top of the fact that the three centered arch matches the numbers given perfectly, it is also a common arch shape that masons building the early ovens would have known from vaults and openings. It makes sense that they simply formed a dome with this cross section.

[BrickStoneOven]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

I measured my door the other day, its 17.5" wide.

[lwood]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

Maybe it is just what looks good. I built a 60" inch oven and figured that a geodesic dome that size would be way too high. I'm not sure why, but I did. So I decided to flatten out the dome and make the center of the dome 45 cm or 17 3/4". That's what looked good on my template. So my h/d=.295 just by chance, knowing nothing about Fibonacci Sequences or anything. I am very happy with the oven. From what they say, a low dome oven is good for cooking pizza. Is it better than a geodesic shape? I don't know, this is the only WFO in which I have cooked. But if the great Leonardo DiVinci had anything to do with it, I'm in on that. That columns/arch combination is very common in roman architecture so I suspect they also used it in their ovens.

[BrickStoneOven]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

My oven dome is flat on top. It goes up about 9" on the side and then curves a little to a flat dome.

[dhs]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

It would seem I could have gone quite a bit lower. That will have to wait for David's WFO#2. Compromises, compromises

[BrickStoneOven]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

How is the oven coming along? I want to see how that thing bakes, should be good.

[dhs]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

Unfortunately, progress was held up for a weekend. I was planning on picking up more mortar this past Saturday only to drive to Progressive Brick and find they were closed on the holiday weekend . I did layout the remaining bricks to get them cut and ready for when I had mortar again. Rest of the dome work should be a breeze. Sooooo... I am now looking good to finish the dome this weekend then let it sit for week before beginning the drying/curing process. Really looking forward to the first pie!

[dhs]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

A quick pick of the finished dome, YAH!

[MetalHead]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

Cool !!! Now for curing. I am interested in seeing how well it vents and holds heat. I am considering this design myself at this point.

[BrickStoneOven]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

Hows the oven coming along? You do a first firing yet?

[dhs]

Re: My Low Dome Pizza Oven Project

Yes, well curing fires. This past weekend was the first time with wood (had been using charcoal). Had a bit of a smokey mess on my hands but did some inquiring here and feel good about getting a low smoke fire going this weekend. I think I will be at full temps soon but this coming weekend will also be the first I have bothered to check the temp.

I'll post some more pics when I get the vent and flue attached.