Thinking about second build - learnt plenty from first attempt (UK)

[Colin Frissell]

Around 10 years ago I built a pizza oven. I lived in a very densely populated area which influenced a lot of decisions and impacted on my enjoyment and use of the oven.

Im about to move to a much more rural area where I’m further from neighbours etc.

One of my concerns first time was the dust from cutting fire bricks to form a Pompeii shape so I opted for a barrel vault. Next time I will definitely go Pompeii because I think they look better and perform better.

The first time I was told by others to make the oven a certain size and it was too big! They insisted I needed size to allow for parties etc but I never used the back half of the oven! I will keep the next one smaller to allow it to heat up quicker.

Insulation!!! Following the insistence by others to make the cooking area larger I was shocked at the size as it got bigger and bigger, in an already small garden. I put one quilt of insulation and some vermiculite-cement mix on top but it wasn’t very thick and I didn’t insulate the back wall and other awkward areas such as around the entrance. Ultimately this won’t have helped with warm up times or keeping in heat for overnight cooking or preserving heat for another fire a day or so later.I will add much more insulation and also add a metal insulated door with adjustable vents and a thermometer.

Damp - Britain is very damp and long winters of rain sitting on the brickwork “roof” will have penetrated. The insulation quilt may actually have been soaking for all I know. I am going to build roof over my dome next time.

Chimney - I only added a chimney in the last year and it revolutionised the experience - better draw and no smoke in my eyes!

More care taken with the floor so the pizzas and peels don’t get snagged on uneven bricks. Ideally use a tile or something more uniform and hard / smooth for the oven floor.

Ensure I find a good supplier of wood - when I first started I got wood that wasn’t adequately seasoned - adding to the smokiness!

I’m sad to say that the first oven I only used a few times in the first few years after I finished building it, and then not for around 8 years before really enjoying it in the last 6 months before I sold the house! This was mainly due to it being too smoky to use with so many neighbours around me and having to burn around 3 sacks of wood for around 3 hours before I could cook on it!

I wasn’t a member of this forum first time round so going to do plenty of research now whilst I wait to purchase the house.

CF

[UtahBeehiver]

Nick JC from the UK did a very nice cast build. Look at his thread.

[Colin Frissell]

Nick JC from the UK did a very nice cast build. Look at his thread.

Thanks - his build post is very informative. What is the consensus on Pompeii vs cast dome? Do they perform similarly?

[UtahBeehiver]

Both work well, key is good insulation. Davis S is our resident cast oven expert and he does these type of ovens commercially. So you can look at his posts or reach out directly to him.

[Colin Frissell]

Am I right in thinking cast ovens heat up quicker but possibly don’t retain heat quite as well?

I’ve notice a lot of commercial wood fired pizza ovens seen inside restaurants etc seem to have a wide shape but a flat / squat shape that doesn’t dome up very high. Does this style have a name? I’d imagine it reflects the best back into the base of the oven and onto the top of the pizza much better

[david s]

There is little difference in thermal conductivity between castable refractory and firebrick, so any difference in performance (heat up times or heat holding capacity) relates to the amount of thermal mass. Because typically, but not always, a cast oven has thinner walls than a brick oven, it’s heat up time will be faster, but also has less thermal mass for extended cooking time. Brick ovens require the thickness of the brick to retain structural integrity at the mortar joints, whereas cast ovens can be made thinner. Of course the thicker the dome, whether it be brick or refractory, the greater the increase of fuel requirement.

The lower dome, generally called Neopolitan style (after those ovens in Naples) is more suited to quicker firing times for pizza, as the dome is closer to the food being cooked. The drawback is the form is not as structurally stable as a hemisphere and arguably not as efficient as a combustion chamber.