First Post here :)

[Tman1]

Re: First Post here

SDDUC,

You can't get much easier than what I did. Check my link at the bottom of this post.

[Lburou]

Re: First Post here

You have my e-mail....Lets talk some more

[SDDuc996]

Re: First Post here

I'm making a lot of assumptions as I respond to your query:
1) It may be a short lived installation
2) It may need to service a larger group of people in one firing
3) It will be used for more than baking pizza
4) It may be hard to find some of the 'usual' components
5) Who knows what other variables you are dealing with

Of course, the consensus here is that a domed oven is the best all around oven style for the homeowner. Serving more people at one time, or, in a location that may not be there in a year, you may choose to consider another style oven. Aside from building an oven on a trailer, you might want an oven like This or This.

Whichever oven you choose, try to get some insulation under the cooking floor of the oven. That will provide the extended cooking time you will need for the larger groups. The information on each phase of your oven build is available here, I trust 99% of the advice I've seen given here.

Well, there you have a stab in the dark, HTH.

Thanks for the reply.
1. It will be here as long as Americans are on this base. Obviously I cannot
go into details about where or how long.
2. We're not going to build it for general use. We have another base to go
to for dining. This will be more for "morale" or whenever we have the
supplies to do it. That being said, between 2-20 people intermittantly.
3. It would basically be used for pizza, maybe Na'an at times.
4. Definitely hard to find usual components. I'm hoping for a "caveman build"
or something that if need be we could have one of our terps buy locally.
5. We're definitely NOT in an area where supplies can be easily obtained.

I've got a 1' x 3' patch of Kentucky Grass I've taken over nurturing for a
friend so we definitely try to keep our morale up. Building a brick oven would help. I don't think baking supplies will be too big an issue as one of our guy's
has a hook-up at the DFAC (dining facility).

Any info on an easy build would be appreciated.

[Lburou]

Re: First Post here

New to the forum and to brick ovens and masonry.
I am currently in Afghanistan and we've been talking about building a brick oven on our base for morale reasons. It also helps that one of our guys use to own a pizza place in New York and said he'd "do it up right".

I'm trying to find some of the easiest designs, so that we could make one easily here.

I have a friend in Kabul...Lives at Qxlxx. He has built one of the FornoBravo ovens and has vast building experience....He is consultant to my build and can help you if you want some input. PM me for the particulars.

Its a small world

[Tscarborough]

Re: First Post here

Baghdadis buying up clay ovens - USATODAY.com

[Tscarborough]

Re: First Post here

Make a beehive of dried laid mudbrick with an angle iron for the door opening support. Just look around, I am sure there are plenty of them there.

[Lburou]

Re: First Post here

New to the forum and to brick ovens and masonry.
I am currently in Afghanistan and we've been talking about building a brick oven on our base for morale reasons. It also helps that one of our guys use to own a pizza place in New York and said he'd "do it up right".

I'm trying to find some of the easiest designs, so that we could make one easily here.

I'm making a lot of assumptions as I respond to your query:
1) It may be a short lived installation
2) It may need to service a larger group of people in one firing
3) It will be used for more than baking pizza
4) It may be hard to find some of the 'usual' components
5) Who knows what other variables you are dealing with

Of course, the consensus here is that a domed oven is the best all around oven style for the homeowner. Serving more people at one time, or, in a location that may not be there in a year, you may choose to consider another style oven. Aside from building an oven on a trailer, you might want an oven like This or This.

Whichever oven you choose, try to get some insulation under the cooking floor of the oven. That will provide the extended cooking time you will need for the larger groups. The information on each phase of your oven build is available here, I trust 99% of the advice I've seen given here.

Well, there you have a stab in the dark, HTH.

[SDDuc996]

Re: First Post here

New to the forum and to brick ovens and masonry.
I am currently in Afghanistan and we've been talking about building a brick oven on our base for morale reasons. It also helps that one of our guys use to own a pizza place in New York and said he'd "do it up right".

I'm trying to find some of the easiest designs, so that we could make one easily here.

[cabsauv]

Re: First Post here

Hi Lburou,

I like many I too spent many hours of planning and reading, the FB site is the best in the world. I was amazed that there are so many like minded people around the globe. I'm a tradesman, but not a brickie, it has been almost an obssession over the past 12 months but to light that first curing fire over the weekend was a real buzz.

You've made a great start; given that you've found FB all your questions can be answered.

Best of Luck,

Regards,

[Lburou]

Re: First Post here

Lburou,

I started out just like you are. I scoured the internet for plans and ideas. I found NOTHING that came close to the comprehensive plans that FornoBravo provides for free.

This forum is very much biased towards the Pompeii Oven design and I think with good reason. Before I built my oven I had NO masonry experience. I am an avid do-it-yourselfer but have never tackled a project like this. Many others here have much less experience with tools than I. The really cool thing is that all of us who built using the Pompeii plans have working ovens. And they work AMAZINGLY well.

We often have visitors to the forum who built ovens based on other plans (or no plans!). They ask us why their ovens aren't performing properly. Almost all the problems other builders experience could have been eliminated by following the Pompeii Oven plans.

You found the right place for Wood Fired Oven info!

:epiphany: I feel myself being drawn "to the Pompeii side".

[Ken524]

Re: First Post here

Lburou,

I started out just like you are. I scoured the internet for plans and ideas. I found NOTHING that came close to the comprehensive plans that FornoBravo provides for free.

This forum is very much biased towards the Pompeii Oven design and I think with good reason. Before I built my oven I had NO masonry experience. I am an avid do-it-yourselfer but have never tackled a project like this. Many others here have much less experience with tools than I. The really cool thing is that all of us who built using the Pompeii plans have working ovens. And they work AMAZINGLY well.

We often have visitors to the forum who built ovens based on other plans (or no plans!). They ask us why their ovens aren't performing properly. Almost all the problems other builders experience could have been eliminated by following the Pompeii Oven plans.

You found the right place for Wood Fired Oven info!

[Tscarborough]

Re: First Post here

The FB plans are best practice, to the point of massive overkill on certain aspects for certain areas of the world, like DFW.

If you want localized best practices for a particular aspect of your build, consult your local suppliers and trade associations.

The best investment you can make is simply to grab a beverage and read through the posts on this board. There are many threads with step by step builds, including many pictures.

As for other plans, I can tell you from a professional standpoint that there are no better ones than the free ones offered here, and there are many out there that are not really that good, if not downright wrong.

[Lburou]

Re: First Post here

snip.... I spent a lot of time on this site reading as much as I could about each stage of the project before I bought any materials.

Once I was comfortable about the next phase I would buy only the materials needed to complete that portion, and then repeated the process many, many times over.

Foundation, stand, slab for dome, dome, insulation, vermiculite/cement over dome, counters, stucco, painting, tile, finishing touches. snip

Thanks, I'm an analytical person also, I must gather a lot of information before I act.

Go big Red!

[Lburou]

Re: First Post here

Welcome!

The plans are here:
Brick Oven Plans | Build an Italian Brick Oven

They are located in the FB store. You'll walk through the purchase process but you won't need to enter a credit card.

Once you download the plans, read over them a few times and start reading discussions on this forum (I spent months reading before I picked up my shovel). There are as many ways to build an oven as there are builders.

As for best practices, you absolutely won't go wrong if you follow the plans.

Good luck and keep us up-to-date on your progress!

Extremely helpful, Thank you!!

Any more plans out there online?

[Ken524]

Re: First Post here

Welcome!

The plans are here:
Brick Oven Plans | Build an Italian Brick Oven

They are located in the FB store. You'll walk through the purchase process but you won't need to enter a credit card.

Once you download the plans, read over them a few times and start reading discussions on this forum (I spent months reading before I picked up my shovel). There are as many ways to build an oven as there are builders.

As for best practices, you absolutely won't go wrong if you follow the plans.

Good luck and keep us up-to-date on your progress!