Fire brick approved for food contact?

[Stony]

I'm just starting to research WFO construction. I've looked some on the Web in general and this forum in particular, but as yet I haven't found anything regarding fire brick use and food contact. Here in the US, are there products such as FDA-approved fire bricks for baking applications? Or is it apparent in the brick manufacturing process that anything toxic is volatilized or perhaps "locked" into the brick? Thanks for the help.

Great site!

[david s]

Re: Fire brick approved for food contact?

Fire bricks are not considered food safe because they are porous. How any bugs could survive 400 C is beyond me, but the regulators have different criteria. A wooden oven door is also not in the food safe category because wood is porous. Maybe we need to be builing our ovens totally from stainless steel so we can satisfy the regulations.

[dmun]

Re: Fire brick approved for food contact?

Firebricks consist of silica and alumina. The clay (silica) part is a naturally mined substance, and thus may contain other trace elements. The alumina part is a by-product of aluminum production, and is mostly pure.

If you are in a situation where you need to prove to the health department that your oven is 100% safe, you may have to get a UL approved modular oven like Forno Bravo sells. For home baking, I think, as David S. says, that they are entirely safe.