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Building a Neapolitan Pompeii Oven

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  • #16
    By the way, I've remade the door with a fresh pour of perlcrete and better coverage of the corners with flashing. With a proper cure it does not leak bits of perlite and it seems to provide good insulation - my last few times using the oven were a bit rushed so I took less temp measurements, I'll try to report back on that later. I also covered the outside with a thin piece of finish plywood and it looks a lot better. More pictures to come soon.

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    • #17
      progress

      OK, here are pictures with the metal roof and the "brown coat" of stucco on the front. Also a picture of the finished door.

      Still to do - complete the brown coat in a few places, chimney cap, tuck point the rear of the chimney, brick the base, and concrete counter to the side of the oven.

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      • #18
        me piace molto...

        Ciao Maver,

        your oven construction looks very neat, I admire the work that's gone into the trapezoid cuts of the higher-order bricks!

        But I am most taken by your dad's elegantly simple design - pleasing to see a round hearth, and even the stand approximates the radial supports I'd mentally 'prepared' for my putative Pompeii oven...

        Sfortunatamente, my wife, Bianca, won't let me even mention the word 'stone oven' any more so my planning has to stay sotto la tavola, so to speak :-)

        In bushfire country, I will have to spend a lot more thought on the chimney and the best available spark arrester, I'm sure...

        Cheers,

        Carioca
        "I started out with nothing, and I've still got most of it"

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        • #19
          Thanks for your kind words.

          I know code around here requires that a sphere larger than 1/2" in some states and 3/4" in others can pass through the oven. I have purchased a metal grate with 1/2" diamond openings to install as part of the spark arrestor but have not installed it yet. I'm not sure that it's really needed as the few sparks I see with seasoned wood don't really leave the oven chamber with the vent off the front. I'll probably still place the arrestor there to be sure I'm not a bad neigbor.

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          • #20
            any reason for NOT placing the stack in the middle?

            Hello Maver,

            while we're on the subject of stacks: your father's oven has the chimney smack in the top centre of the dome - is there any advice AGAINST it?

            Reason is, I rather like that placement, compared to the often elaborate 'ante-chamber' with stack in the front of the dome...

            Cheers,

            Carioca
            "I started out with nothing, and I've still got most of it"

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            • #21
              Reasons against

              No retained heat baking (you could do it, but you'd need to install an effective damper to retain the heat), also concern that you lose heat out of the hottest part of the oven (the top of the dome). His oven is only slightly larger than mine, and may suffer from less insulation, but the heat up time is signficantly longer in his oven. He usually plans to begin heating the oven 3 hours before pizza and even then it's a struggle to achieve and maintain high temps for a less than 3 minute pizza. I think his is closer to 4-5minutes (guessing he reaches 650F). I've been reaching 850 in about an hour lately and pizza are about 1 1/2 minutes. I burn much less wood than he does and am more inclined to use the oven, where he usually just fires it when having company.

              It does look very elegant though .

              I suppose if you really want the appearance of a mid dome stack you could drop the flu about 6 inches down below the dome's upper level and install a damper. You would lose some central oven height as well as continuity of radiation. It may also disturb the convection effect of a brick oven. I think James has a standard warning against deviating much from the classic design of the italian brick ovens - they are designed this way because they work.

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              • #22
                thanks, you are a champion!

                Hello Maver,

                these are excellent reasons to go against the aethetic grain! You've instantly nipped in the bud a very dangerous deviationist idea...

                It does look elegant, but (the trailing but is an Australian affectation, generally used by 'Westies' - as we northern beaches inhabitants called intruders from the less salubrious western suburbs of Sydney).

                Cheers, and thanks again from a usually taciturn Teuton (you wish!)

                Carioca

                NB: typos due to the delayed effects of half a bottle of excellent Lindemanns Winemaker's Reserve Padthaway Chardonnay 1999, polished off with Bianca to celebrate my taking her 13-y-o St George multifunction oven to the tip! (She's bought a new one at a third of the price while I scheme to set up that Pompeii type stone oven...)
                "I started out with nothing, and I've still got most of it"

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                • #23
                  I wish I could sort out which are Lindemann's typos and which are Aussie affectation. Charmed. Congratulations on a new oven, here's to hoping it cooks poorly and raises the value of bricks in your household!

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                  • #24
                    more progress

                    Here are pictures of the brick colored concrete slab on the side of the landing along with the concrete countertop (I think I still will acid stain this a bit more red) and the beginnings of the finish coat of stucco. The finish coat recipe (2 parts sand, used white sand, and 1 part lime) is much easier to manage than the brown coat mix (4 parts sand, 1 part portland and 1 part lime). I used finer sand in the finish coat, but I think it is primarily the higher lime content that helps.

                    The concrete counter was poured "upside down" in a form made of melamine for the "top" and a 2" chair rail trim piece for the sides. It has a fair amount of pattern due to air pockets that I filled with grout but it is also very smooth.
                    Last edited by maver; 10-27-2006, 02:08 PM.

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                    • #25
                      Brickwork facing

                      I've been holding off on updates because my progress has been slow lately. I finished the brick facework for the oven 2-3 weeks ago but have not had a chance to continue along the sides or complete the chimney cap (thinking a brick arch).

                      Made pizza last night for a few guests, only using Caputo now, no more experimenting with alternatives. Bought the big bag from Fornobravo last week.

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