10 random questions as I look through this site:

[Janszoon]

Hello.

I have ALWAYS wanted a pizza oven. We currently have 'Pizza' night every Saturday in our house and I 'manage' to create a reasonable result in the electric cookbox after a few years of experimentation.

Good News: We just bought a new house and this one will allow me to begin a project. I want to create a Pompeii / BBQ / Patio area for entertaining and I want to build my own oven. I have just (this week) discovered this website and a couple of others and can see there is a wealth of information and experts out there so I am feeling confident that it can be achieved.

I apologize f the following have been addressed in other forum posts but these are some random questions that come to mind, just to get my creative juices flowing.

in regards to a round pompeii:

1) Does the first course of firebricks get 'mortarted' to the cooking surface?
2) How do you know how much mortar to put in the 'gaps' i.e how much is needed to 'stick' two bricks together. I assume the key to it is to have a clean (no mortar showing) surface on the inside?
3) How long does each course take to dry (approx) and how many courses can you do with wet mortar before needing to let it 'set'?
4) if working on this type of project partime (8 hours a week) how long would it take to do the oven approximately (excluding facade, finishing bricks or stucco)?
5) When the pompeii oven door is shut, can smoke go out the chimney? is that the intention?
6) Why are chimney's in the front generally?
7) What is the main reason for the door..to let the oven get really hot?
8) Is the 'insulation' part to keep the heat in the oven or keep outside cool or both?
9) Is the average cooking time for a Pizza in the pompeii about 3-4 mins?
10) Should Graham Henry still be the All Blacks coach? :-)

I am a Kiwi living in Auckland New Zealand, any other locals out there?

Cheers.

Jo

[asudavew]

Re: 10 random questions as I look through this site:

Whew .. that will take a while...

If no one answers this evening. I'll give it a go tomorrow.

Welcome aboard! I think you have several "local" neighbors on this board.

Dave

[Les]

Re: 10 random questions as I look through this site:

Hello.

I have ALWAYS wanted a pizza oven. We currently have 'Pizza' night every Saturday in our house and I 'manage' to create a reasonable result in the electric cookbox after a few years of experimentation.

Good News: We just bought a new house and this one will allow me to begin a project. I want to create a Pompeii / BBQ / Patio area for entertaining and I want to build my own oven. I have just (this week) discovered this website and a couple of others and can see there is a wealth of information and experts out there so I am feeling confident that it can be achieved.

I apologize f the following have been addressed in other forum posts but these are some random questions that come to mind, just to get my creative juices flowing.

in regards to a round pompeii:

1) Does the first course of firebricks get 'mortarted' to the cooking surface?
2) How do you know how much mortar to put in the 'gaps' i.e how much is needed to 'stick' two bricks together. I assume the key to it is to have a clean (no mortar showing) surface on the inside?
3) How long does each course take to dry (approx) and how many courses can you do with wet mortar before needing to let it 'set'?
4) if working on this type of project partime (8 hours a week) how long would it take to do the oven approximately (excluding facade, finishing bricks or stucco)?
5) When the pompeii oven door is shut, can smoke go out the chimney? is that the intention?
6) Why are chimney's in the front generally?
7) What is the main reason for the door..to let the oven get really hot?
8) Is the 'insulation' part to keep the heat in the oven or keep outside cool or both?
9) Is the average cooking time for a Pizza in the pompeii about 3-4 mins?
10) Should Graham Henry still be the All Blacks coach? :-)

I am a Kiwi living in Auckland New Zealand, any other locals out there?

Cheers.

Jo

Baby steps would be nice, but what the hell...

1. I sat my bricks on the outside of the surface - others have put them on top. I really don't see a problem either way if you are well insulated below. In regard to mortar, you have yet to realize the weight this thing involves - it's not going anywhere.

2. That's where I am trying to go - let me tell you, it ain't easy

3. I found that by the time you grout around a course, you can go back and pull the shims and fill that gap in. I would think a beer or two would be enough time to start the next course.

4. It's taking me two days in the evening to do a course - but then again, I don't have my fridge plugged in the shop so I have to walk a little further for beer.

5. No - you want to retain the heat.

6. You need an opening, and when the door is in place you are retaining the heat - seems like a logical spot.

7. Been said - if you are baking bread, meat, whatever - it retains the heat.

8. Retains the heat.

9. Some claim 90 seconds - I'm not there yet.

10. Don't know - but Al Davis should be shot in the head, Go Raiders

Some may have different opinions - but after the day I had, it's the best I could do. Good luck with your build!!!

Les....

[Ken524]

Re: 10 random questions as I look through this site:

Hi Jo,

Welcome. Yep, most of the questions have been answered but will probably take a little digging to find. I'll take a crack at some of them and give you the short answers


1) Does the first course of firebricks get 'mortarted' to the cooking surface?

No. You want the dome to be free to expand and contract on the cooking surface (or around the cooking surface if you do it that way).

2) How do you know how much mortar to put in the 'gaps' i.e how much is needed to 'stick' two bricks together. I assume the key to it is to have a clean (no mortar showing) surface on the inside?

Right. As little mortar as possible showing on the inside (I did a crummy job at this on my oven... the pizza doesn't seem to care). Use as little mortar as possible to stick the bricks together. If you prop up bricks at angles (as opposed to cutting them to fit) you will use a lot more mortar to fill the gaps.

3) How long does each course take to dry (approx) and how many courses can you do with wet mortar before needing to let it 'set'?

The mortar firms up after an hour or two (really hard overnight)... So you can lay as many courses as you want. I did one or two courses a day. I was custom cutting all the bricks so that was pretty much all I could do before getting tired.

4) if working on this type of project partime (8 hours a week) how long would it take to do the oven approximately (excluding facade, finishing bricks or stucco)?

Too many variables. That's hard to answer. Couple of months?

5) When the pompeii oven door is shut, can smoke go out the chimney? is that the intention?

No. The chimney is just forward (outside) of the door. The door seals the oven completely. The idea is to retain the heat after the fire is out. This allows you to cook bread, meats, casseroles, whatever over the next few days. You won't need the door while cooking pizza. The door is not used while heating the oven.

6) Why are chimney's in the front generally?

The fresh air comes in across the floor, hits the fire and moves to the back of the oven and up across the dome (very important- this is what heats your dome) then into the chimney. Put the chimney anywhere else and you will lose precious heat up the chimney before it can be used to heat your dome.


7) What is the main reason for the door..to let the oven get really hot?

No. See #5.

8) Is the 'insulation' part to keep the heat in the oven or keep outside cool or both?

Keep that heat IN! The more insulation, the less wood you will use to heat the oven and the longer the oven will stay hot for retained heat cooking (bread, meats, etc).

9) Is the average cooking time for a Pizza in the pompeii about 3-4 mins?

When your oven reaches "pizza heat" your pizza will be in and out in about 90 seconds .

10) Should Graham Henry still be the All Blacks coach? :-)

The referees of the '07 World Cup match against France are just as much to blame for the 20-18 defeat of NZ. I say, give old Henry another go with the All Blacks! (OK... I'm really an ignorant American that knows nothing about Rugby. I found the above info on Wikipedia )

[Ken524]

Re: 10 random questions as I look through this site:

Dang Les... you beat me by 8 minutes! We must have been composing at the same time.

[Janszoon]

Re: 10 random questions as I look through this site:

thanks for all the answers guys!

I will probably look back on them and laugh at the obvious one day :-)
in anycase, it cleared up a few things.

So I can conclude (i think) that the chimney allows excess smoke/steam to escape up, rather than out the front where you are loading in pies..?

In anycase...thanks to you.
(nice research Ken :-)

[SpringJim]

Re: 10 random questions as I look through this site:

without the chimney you will likely breath a lot more smoke and singe your eyebrows

Good questions and answers.....you can probably keep posting them in blocks of 10! the answers are out there (or likely in the 30,000 posts!)

now about door designs and dampers....

[Les]

Re: 10 random questions as I look through this site:

Dang Les... you beat me by 8 minutes! We must have been composing at the same time.

There's strength in numbers it appears that we were pretty much on the same page - except for the Rugby question, I had no clue

[krosskraft]

Re: 10 random questions as I look through this site:

I just wanted to say that you put the oven door on to retain heat AFTER you have heated up the oven and pulled the live coals out. Pizza is cooked in the oven with the live coals, but bread is put in a hot oven with the coals removed. (I wasn't sure if you were clear on that.) If you are trying to retain some heat with the fire still in there, you would put the door on less than flush, so that the smoke could still creep out the top into the chimney.

[asudavew]

Re: 10 random questions as I look through this site:

The referees of the '07 World Cup match against France are just as much to blame for the 20-18 defeat of NZ. I say, give old Henry another go with the All Blacks! (OK... I'm really an ignorant American that knows nothing about Rugby. I found the above info on Wikipedia )

Dang Ken! I was really impressed until I got to the Wiki part!

[gjbingham]

Re: 10 random questions as I look through this site:

I'm not even reading this thread. Do research by reading as much as possible. Life's too short to keep posting the same answers over and over for those who don't want to spend the time to learn. The answers are all here for those willing to click a link. Perhaps I'm getting jaded.

[RTflorida]

Re: 10 random questions as I look through this site:

George, again we agree. Those looking for shortcuts and answers to the "basics" have no comprehension of the magnitude of an oven build.....its alot of work to have a good performing, structurally sound product - why would you want to short change yourself in the long run by not doing a little reading? (I probably had 50 hrs of reading on this site, as well as printing anything I deamed important, before I lifted a finger or spent my first $). Anything construction related (home, shed, WFO, pool,) takes a bit of planning and research in order to NOT create a money pit or useless/unsafe end result.
Too much DIY television.....everyone thinks they can transform their home in 48 hrs, with 50 bucks, after asking a few questions of a part timer at Home Depot.
I honestly can't think of any aspect of oven construction that has not been covered on this forum...with great photos, drawings, and instructions......come on people, use what is already here.
(The musings of another jaded sole)

RT

[james]

Re: 10 random questions as I look through this site:

I land in the middle on this one. Reading is essential, and asking the most basic questions again and again does not really help the overall community. Try using the search feature to drill down into the areas where you have questions to see if they have been answered before.

Still, I have learned how to do a lot of my web site work by using Forums exactly like ours. I find that there is a fine line between wasting time reading the manual for too long, or trying to filter through tons of historical threads -- and just asking the question. Some of the technology forums are huge, and the information can be overwhelming, and a quick question and answer can really help.

Also, even after you understand the basic oven fundamentals -- each oven project is a little different, and two (or more) heads are better than one.

I greatly enjoyed the input on my latest oven project, and I always like asking questions on cooking topics where I can use some expert, or creative, input.

Am I hungry? I don't know; let's have a poll. :-)

James

[Frances]

Re: 10 random questions as I look through this site:

Its not just about the information either, sometimes first questions are about getting a feel for the forum. Realising that yes, I will get answers if I post a question... maybe a good thing to know BEFORE you get half way through your dome and hit a major problem. Specially for a novice builder.

Then there's that other fine line between inquisitive innovation and trying to re-invent perfectly good oven plans. I love builds with innovations, but hate anything that implies the plans are in some way Not Good Enough... its just difficult to tell the difference sometimes...

[dmun]

Re: 10 random questions as I look through this site:

I firmly believe there is no dumb question, just a dumb mistake. I think our poster erred in asking ten questions, when one or two at a time would have led him in the right direction. Still, how many times have we been asked, "Why won't my oven built on sand/gravel/broken glass heat up and stay hot?". Best to let the new people know that there is help here, and questions get answered.