brick vs. pre-cast

[texman]

Re: brick vs. pre-cast

i cant add to the discussion other than, one of my favorite things about the wfo is watching the dome clear. There is something about the individual bricks hand laid and radiating 900 deg of cooking power. i guess it is a pride thing. I would be very tempted to buy a precast, if i had to do this again. But having the brick oven now, it is a reason to never move.

kinda of off topic, but here is a precast from Sam's Wholesale club. $799 and 362# on wheels. It has a strange chimney placement, towards the rear looks like. No idea if it works, just interesting to see the wfo being mass produced.

Texman

[vertigopilot]

Re: brick vs. pre-cast

I am planning on building a Pompeii oven this spring/summer in north central Indiana.

I have started researching and am wondering if there is a consensus as to whether brick is better than precast?

Cost?

I know install time is faster with precast but I would enjoy the craft of building the oven. Really curious if one is less expensive than the other?

If I went with brick, is there a certain type of firebrick I need to ask for?

what is the name of the insulation board used under the oven floor? what type of re-seller would have this?

This is my first post on this forum, so please pardon my newness here, but I would find it slightly odd to consider buying a pre-cast dome kit simply to save time in the build of a pizza oven. I just completed construction of my first barrel-vaulted brick oven and found that the construction of the firebrick core of the oven was only a small part of the total construction time. In my case, 1 day out of a total 21 day build. Using a pre-cast kit instead of firebrick would have reduced the build time by only 1/2 a day at best for me, but would have driven up the cost several fold.

Admittedly, I haven't yet built a round-domed brick oven core yet, so perhaps those require significantly longer times to build.

[Tony Ripepi]

Re: brick vs. pre-cast

Hello All,

Great information and significant help in my thought process to starting the build of my WFO. I grew up in a Concrete Block manufacturing plant (built, owned and operated by my Dad) and no rookie to brick laying etc. I see the project starting with pouring the pad (rebar etc.), laying up the block, Pouring the pad for the WFO underlayment, placing the insulation pad , placing the floor of the oven, etc. as returning to skills from my childhood/early adult years.

I was thinking of using a wood structure to form the dome and then when is ready to fire simply burning it away once the brick has had a chance to cure. And then the finish/insulation to make my wife happy with the appearance.

Am I missing anything and looking for input on the wood support for the dome.

Tony R.

[texman]

Re: brick vs. pre-cast

Tony

the problem i see using wood support is cleaning the dome on the inside of the excess mortar and being able to visually inspect the brick placement and alignment. Look at the forum for the "IT" indispensable tool. easy to build and makes a great dome and it works. It is proven hundreds of times in the forum and i am one.

[the_dr_masuess]

Re: brick vs. pre-cast

I agree with tex. Although it may be pretty simple to build with the wood in place and then burn upon completion. It will hinder your ability to clean out the interior joints and make the oven look nice and pretty. The outside... doesn't matter so much... but the inside you will see on every cook. Just a thought.

[deejayoh]

Re: brick vs. pre-cast

Ovens don't cure w/o heat - and low & slow works best to avoid cracks. Seems to me a first fire that burns up a wooden form inside your oven is going to get pretty hot pretty fast. I suspect you will end up spiking the heat and cracking your oven.

If you have experience laying bricks you'll have no need of a support for anything but the entry arch and closing off your dome. Most of us never touched a brick trowel before building an oven and did it without any sort of internal support except an IT as Texman mentioned.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: brick vs. pre-cast

Its fairly easy to use a curved wood template (barrel or pompeii) to align each brick as you mortar, and makes cleanup a breeze. Like Dennis said, except for the last few (vertical) courses, the bricks remain surprisingly secure 10 seconds after placing and need no further support.

[Tony Ripepi]

Re: brick vs. pre-cast

Hello All,

Been gone for awhile but, had a recent experience with a WFO that was built in a relatives back yard. The oven was built in a traditional way according to how they built them in Mexico. The oven did not get to the 900 degree temperature levels that I had experienced with other WFO that were designed and built like the majority of the ovens on this site.

It worked for the overnight whole goat that was roasted but, using it to cook pizza was difficult. The pizza dough itself was purchased from a local Fresh Choice market , was cold and not of the quality that I would have used. We did not have the brushes to clean the bottom of the oven and sweep the fire to one side and with the center chimney did not operate the way I have experienced. The pizza was tasty but, needed small metal pans to cook, everybody was happy but, I know it can be much much better.

This is the WFO that I mentioned in earlier posts built with the wooden arch inside and then burned out and you were all correct, I did not like the appearance of the inside while I was cooking. They did use refractory brick but, covered the inside with a layer of mortar.

Not a critique of other ovens but, I wanted to share the experience and get comments from the group.

Tony R.

[RandyJ]

Re: brick vs. pre-cast

If you have experience laying bricks you'll have no need of a support for anything but the entry arch and closing off your dome. Most of us never touched a brick trowel before building an oven and did it without any sort of internal support except an IT as Texman mentioned.[/QUOTE]


I had no experience when I started and used nothing other than my it tool. All the way to the plug I had no trouble with the bricks falling. So you really don't need a form, the IT tool will help perfectly align all your bricks and if you mix the home brew mortar right it has a ton of hold right away.

Randy