Cal-sil oven

[Apaulo13]

Hi all,

Can an oven be built out of Cal-sil and coated in concrete? or something else? Hard pipe covering can be cut in wedges to form a dome quite easily. I've only seen reference to it being used to insulate bases, etc.

Kind of of like the pictures below.

(I realize these are metal cladded vessel heads.)

Thanks

[JRPizza]

An oven dome needs to be made of a material that will absorb heat and slowly release it back onto the food, not made from an insulating material like Cal-sil.

[Apaulo13]

True. But the insulation is designed to prevent heat transfer. Properly sealed you cannot tell the internal temperature of the insulation from the outside, meaning the heat would remain in the oven as it can't escape.

I'm an industrial insulator and do this for a living. My job is to keep hot things hot and cold things cold, at the same time by putting your hand on it the outside remains the ambient temperature.

[UtahBeehiver]

You are exactly right about the role of insulation. But I believe the JR is talking about CaSi or whatever insulation you work with, does not provide the thermal "mass" need to absorb and store the BTUs that allow the ovens to cook over long periods/days. BTW, if you can make the metal work skin work out, it will be nice looking.

[Apaulo13]

Yes we do the metal work too. Copper would be the way to go though.

Would it work for a pizza oven? I'm not planning on cooking for long periods. What about lining it with fire clay or something similar?

[JRPizza]

Yes, these are sometimes referred to as "retained heat ovens", and the less thermal mass you have the less heat you can retain. Here is what our FB hosts have to say about retained heat cooking.
https://www.fornobravo.com/brick-ove...-heat-cooking/

[Toomulla]

[QUOTE=Apaulo13;n399761]Hi all,

Can an oven be built out of Cal-sil and coated in concrete? or something else? Hard pipe covering can be cut in wedges to form a dome quite easily. I've only seen reference to it being used to insulate bases, etc

Cal-sil is not suitable for exposure to direct flame

[RandyJ]

There are a few ovens out there that work on the principal that you are talking about. Most I believe are done in stainless or something like that. The one that has a following that I know of is pizza party ovens just Google that and you will find them. For the price you can buy a pre made one I don't know if it would be worth the effort to build yourself unless the material is free. They are also portable. Just a thought.

Randy

[Apaulo13]

Thanks for all the helpful info.

Yeah the material would be free. Scraps leftover from a big job, just going to landfill. Cal-sil is light so it would be relatively portable for putting away when not in use.

Thanks again and if you have any other thoughts don't hesitate to share!

[shanxk8]

I wish I had found myself a free source of CalSil a few weeks ago

[shanxk8]

Hey apaulo,

Just to let you know as you mentioned in my build thread that you were mulling a build when you posted in my build thread. The bricks for my oven ran about $400, which I got from Brock White in Calgary. Another alternative for materials, including Fire Brick, is a fellow we found on Kijiji that is a Forno Bravo distributor here in Calgary. He is able to source some of the harder to find materials (of which you have the one I found most difficult: CF board). If you wanted to get prices for things he was very helpful. His website is https://cripplecreek.ca/pizza-ovens.html, and his name is Colin. (the page I linked has FB modular oven, but he has sought out supplies for various materials for me)

[Apaulo13]

Thanks for the info shanxk8!

I kinda like this idea for the chimney and I like the brick on the outside. He says it was only 2 years start to finish!

[shanxk8]

It seems like the link inserting tool is breaking for us both. Your link is just to "m.youtube.com" and the forum seems to have truncated the important bit at the end that gets to the specific video. The forum has been doing the same for me when i try to post links to pictures i want to post from the web.

james is this something we are doing wrong or a bug with the forum?

[Apaulo13]

I'll just copy it below. Old school cut and paste.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2vuY2kL5bw

[RandyJ]

That looks like Leemc oven. He has several videos of it in the video section of the forum. It is a unique oven setup.

Randy