Barrell vs Dome Design

[Fred.C]

Re: Barrell vs Dome Design

The way that I see it is if both ovens are well insulated the only difference is the that the barrel allows more heat out the door
Especially as the heat would bounce of the rear wall and straight for the door
Now by being able to deflect the heat down to the floor as the dome does is what makes the difference between the two

Regards
Fred

[Fred.C]

Re: Barrell vs Dome Design

RT
That’s how we improve
It doesn’t matter whether we need to or not
Also that’s halve the fun
I also am not a baker my main reason for the oven is to entertain

Regards
Fred

[james]

Re: Barrell vs Dome Design

Hi Fred,
Aren't hobbies great. They keep your mind active -- as we all get older. :-)

As you are looking to entertain and make pizza, roast, bake bread, etc. I would highly recommend the round dome. They are a lot more fun to cook in, and they work better for weekend/evening cooking. There is no problem with bread -- Mike teaches bread baking classes in Seattle in two Casa ovens.

[james]

Re: Barrell vs Dome Design

Fred,

I've made a couple a drawings that capture my experience try to do fire-in-the-oven cooking in a rectangular barrel vault oven. One problems using an oven that is deeper than it is wide is that there is nowhere convenient to put the fire. Also, the barrel shape doesn't circulate the hot air evenly. If you put the fire on the side, you end up with a one-pizza at a time oven, and much of the oven isn't useable. If you put the fire in the back, the front of the oven doesn't get any heat.

Everybody, let me know if the drawings make sense, or how we could improve them. After we get a few comments, I will permanently post them in a findable place.

Also, this is not an issue for retained heat baking -- such as the way Jim uses his oven at his bakery.

[jwnorris]

Re: Barrell vs Dome Design

<snip>Also, the dome shape doesn't circulate the hot air evenly.<snip>

Makes perfect sense, especially when looking at your diagrams.

And I think that you meant that the barrel shaped oven doesn't circulate evenly.

J W

[james]

Re: Barrell vs Dome Design

Fixed. Thanks.
James

[Fred.C]

Re: Barrell vs Dome Design

Thanks for that
Great job James

It is amazing how little space you have
I would also like to get a side view of how the hot and cold air flow between the different ovens if anyone can

Regards
Fred

[Archena]

Re: Barrell vs Dome Design

Um, wouldn't simply using two fires solve the problem? Assuming you actually need that much cooking space it stands to reason you'll have to use more fuel - any particular reason why the fire has to be all one mass?

Also, shouldn't a barrel shape result in a downward flow as hot air from the fire is displaced by more hot air and forced to follow the curvature of the vault? It would seem that lengthening the fire base (longer rather than round) could lessen the volume of cold spots by utilizing the barrel shape.

~shrug~ Dunno - just conjecturing out loud.