Hello from New Zealand

[Richardnz]

Hi There,
My summer holiday project (i'm a school teacher) has been to make a brick oven. I wish I'd discovered this web site earlier as it's been quite a journey of discovery to date and I suspect a lot of my questions would have been quickly answered by viewing the resources on the Forno Bravo site. I thought I'd attach some images and notes on my oven project in case any one else is interested in building a brick oven without having to re-mortgage their house.

Regards
Richard

[wemme]

Re: Hello from New Zealand

Hello, What sort of oven are you building?

[Millie.T.Cook]

Re: Hello from New Zealand

I am curious as well.

Thanks

MC

[Richardnz]

Re: Hello from New Zealand

Hi There

Apparently the design of my oven is called a "barrel vault" basically like a barrel cut in half vertically and placed on it's side with a entrance arch and flue. I've made it from regular clay bricks after reading a library book suggesting the 2000 C degree heat at which a clay brick is fired is not likely to be exceeded by the heat produced by the fire in a wood fired oven. I don't think I could have convinced my wife that the expense of fire bricks was justified. ($7 NZ each).

From my reading on the Forno Bravo site it seems that the barrel vault design is inferior to the dome shapes ovens for quick heating and pizza cooking but possibly superior for bread baking as the retained heat capacity is greater. I'm keen to try both.

Regards
R.

[james]

Re: Hello from New Zealand

Hey Richardnz,

The idea that a barrel vault oven is better for bread is a common misunderstanding that we are always trying to clarify.

The round, dome oven is perfect for bread and much better at home bread baking than a barrel vault oven. The round oven is faster to heat up and more efficient with wood -- and it can bake more bread than you could ever need.

The only place to use a barrel vault oven is in a commercial bakery -- making hundreds of loaves of bread each day.

Pass the word. :-)
James