G'day from Adelaide

[vdubber]

G'day folks.

Mick from Adelaide here. Stumbled across this site after googling for info on brick ovens. looks to be a great resource. I've already read through the pompeii plans and a whole bunch of info.

Been planning on building one for a while now. Inspired by a trip to Pompeii and local brick oven guru Russel Jeavons's book 'your brick oven', I've finally decided to get moving on this project and make a start.

I've been collecting materials for some time now, and figure I will fabricate the rest as I go. The plan is to build an outdoor oven alongside an area to house the BBQ and somewhere to prepare food. I would ideally like a wok burner somewhere in there too, but will have to see how space permits.

At the moment I'm deciding on the size, Russell advocates an 1100mm (internal dimensioned) oven, but this may be a little large for the space I have. I'm planning on using it for all round general cooking, so I'm trying to figure out if a smaller oven may be too small for roasts? any advice here would be appreciated.

I've also been saving (salvaging) red clay bricks for the build, again Russell appears to suggest that fire bricks are not necessary, but reading through the info you have here, they seem to be the building material of choice. Any opinions on this are welcomed.

Probably got lots more questions, I will post them as I go.

Mick.

[buckeyebreadman]

Re: G'day from Adelaide

A relative newbie myself Mick.....all I can offer is Welcome!

[brickie in oz]

Re: G'day from Adelaide

G'day Mick.
Ive got Russell's book too, its a bit light on for info for mine, he also didnt use any under hearth insulation which is an absolute must have if you want to retain the heat in the oven.

You are off to a good start with getting the plans, dont forget to ask lots of questions.

Cheers, Al

[vdubber]

Re: G'day from Adelaide

Thanks for the replies.

Al. Just read through your build thread, got to say that's a great looking oven you have there, an inspiration for sure. Some very useful tips in there too. I noticed that you have a solid base, is this for the insulation properties? or just for looks? I planned to have an open base to give me somewhere to store the wood.

TIA

Mick.

[cobblerdave]

Re: G'day from Adelaide

Gudday
Current thinking on building the base as a wood stowage in the forum is that you include a couple of entrances. Firstly for ease of access ( no crawley to the back) and secound for flow through ventilation for wood drying.


Regards Dave

[brickie in oz]

Re: G'day from Adelaide

I noticed that you have a solid base, is this for the insulation properties? or just for looks? I planned to have an open base to give me somewhere to store the wood.

Purely for looks.

[TropicalCoasting]

Re: G'day from Adelaide

You cant beat designer logs in your wood storage area

[nissanneill]

Re: G'day from Adelaide

Hi Mick and welcome aboard.
Great to see another Adelaidian come on board, you're the 44th member I have on my list from Adelaide or specifically SA.
I too have Russell's book and spent some time down at his restaurant which he recently sold and has rapidly gone down hill. Russell always used the old common reds for his ovens and the ones in his restaurant had 2 x 50mm layers of clay pavers as his cooking surface for a busy commercial oven.
My oven is 1000mm diameter and i cook 5 pizzas at a time with no problems but you are pretty busy.
Where abouts in Adelaide are you located as I might be able to team you up with other member who can help you through your build?
Cheers.

Neill

[vdubber]

Re: G'day from Adelaide

Gudday
Current thinking on building the base as a wood stowage in the forum is that you include a couple of entrances. Firstly for ease of access ( no crawley to the back) and secound for flow through ventilation for wood drying.
Regards Dave

Dave that sounds like a good idea, I think I will look at incorporating an extra access hole in the base. I've already got a good stack of wood that I've been keeping for the oven which should now be nicely dried out, but I guess every little helps when drying new wood out.

Niell, I'm in Mile End, not too far from Thebarton Theatre. Shame that Russells restaurant has gone downhill, I was planning a trip there some day. Driven past it a few times but never eaten there.

I made a trip out to a couple of local BBQ / wood heater places today to see what was available as far as building materials went. Managed to find fire bricks at the wood heater place next to the brickworks market, but at well over $10 per brick I think its more than a little too steep. They said they could also supply refractory cement, but I dared not ask how much .

Niel, I did read in your build thread about the littlehampton pavers, might take a look into these for my base.

I think for the build I will stick with the clay bricks I've saved, firstly as I already have (lots of) them, but also they seem to work well enough in a commercial environment (Russells restaurant) so I'm sure they will be good enough for me. I'll wager that they are not the ideal choice, but I am a man of many projects and budget is a consideration for this one.

I will definitely look into buying some good quality bricks / pavers / what-evers for the oven floor, not only to get a smooth cooking surface, but also to help with the heat retention, likewise for the insulation.

I think initially I will build the basic dome, and then later add on the flue and insulation. This is for no other reason than I've got a bit of a deadline to meet and figure that it's the quickest way to be able to cook pizzas for my daughters 1st birthday in March.

I did manage to pick something up today - a pizza peel, for inspiration. Now I just need an oven to go with it.

Might try and get the area cleared for the base this weekend.

[nissanneill]

Re: G'day from Adelaide

Hi Mick

Might try and get the area cleared for the base this weekend.

Well mate, it's bucketting down right now so good luck. It might soften the soil, probably clay around your area, but will fill with water in moments with these showers.
Talking with the Littlehampton Brick Works, they sell 10 times as many tick solid pavers for oven builders than their firebricks. I have said this several times before that they either won't say or don't know the content of their firebricks. Their seconds are occassionally on sale for around the $2 mark.

They said they could also supply refractory cement, but I dared not ask how much

I would not use these materials but use the poor man's mortar. Too many fellow members on this forum have encountered severe cracking in their domes, and best of all it is very inexpensive. I have no cracks in my dome but you must be careful when building.
Check out your planned clay bricks by belting a few with a sledge hammer, if they crumble, don't use them but if theybreak without going into powder, then they are the ones to choose. Theses will be the ones that were closer to the fire when fired and are harder, The bricks that were well buried in the centre were used for internal bricks and you see where they have been wrongly used outside in the elements fritter away and self destruct over years.
There is a thread that I put up here on Russell's restarant:
http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f27/...alia-1930.html
Permathread #16 has photos of the inside and oven. There is a smaller one out the back where he cooked all the sweets.

Cheers.

Neill

[vdubber]

Re: G'day from Adelaide

Well mate, it's bucketting down right now so good luck.

Ha - yes - I was outside in that downpour, reminded me a bit of blighty (England for the non poms ). I could say I miss the weather from back home, but I'd be lying of course

Thanks for the tip on checking the bricks, I've already used a lot of them for pavers in and around where the oven will be built and did notice that some are crumbly, I will be sure to check them before I use them.

Took some dimensions down, will sit down later and see if I can draw up a bit of a layout.

[nissanneill]

Re: G'day from Adelaide

Planning is the key to success!
The more you do, the better and easier the task(s) become.
I had a neighbour who without my knowledge built a Pompeii with cement bricks. When I inspected the oven, which was about to be insulated, I advised him to demolish it and rebuild, which he did and now enjoys the outcomes of his pride and joy. See:

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f8/p...vers-8636.html

The best advantage of this and other reputuble forums is that if you ask questions, you will get often different and sometime complementary information, but those with the knowledge will chime in and get you back on track with logical and realistic reasons. Just be careful that you don't get information overload.

I've already used a lot of them for pavers in and around where the oven will be built and did notice that some are crumbly, I will be sure to check them before I use them.

The solid clay pavers are fired at 1200˚C and cost around 80c - $1 each, I would play safe as you only need around 160 for a 40" Pompeii dome, Cheap insurance for a sucessful project. You will only get your oven to around 500˚C and then cook your pizzas in under a minute, so they only get to half their manufacturing temperatures and less likely to spall. Russell has proved that with his ovens which were used commercially.

Cheers.

Neill

[vdubber]

Re: G'day from Adelaide

Planning is the key to success!

Couldn't agree more.

The solid clay pavers are fired at 1200˚C and cost around 80c - $1 each, I would play safe as you only need around 160 for a 40" Pompeii dome, Cheap insurance for a sucessful project.

I must admit at that price I am tempted to buy new, but think I will sort through what I already have and see what's good. I'm pretty sure that there will be enough serviceable bricks there to use. Plus I need to clear them out and the plan was always to use them in the oven build, that and recycling is good for my karma.

Will keep you posted of the progress.

[vdubber]

Re: G'day from Adelaide

Decided to start a build thread.

You can view it here - http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f51/...tml#post125398