Just started and 4 dumb questions

[Tomasogrady]

1. does dome pizza oven need an actual door or does the heat somehow stay inside?
2. How would one get the thing to behave more like an outoor fireplace as well?
maybe a bigger opening?, a movable opening?
3. do they all need a damper
4. If one poured conc around the brick, would that be enough insulation?

anyone
Los Angeles

[dmun]

Hi

1. does dome pizza oven need an actual door or does the heat somehow stay inside?

When used for pizza, with a fire in the oven, there is no door used. With the fire removed, for retained heat cooking, a door more like an insulated plug is inserted in the inner opening, inside the flue location.

2. How would one get the thing to behave more like an outoor fireplace as well?
maybe a bigger opening?, a movable opening?

You don't want a bigger opening in the dome proper, or you will suffer heat loss. You can flare your entry, and bring the fire forward under the flue, to enjoy the fire after dinner.

3. do they all need a damper

Most people who build an oven don't use a damper. If you were building an inside oven, and were concerned about heat loss when not in use, you could install a damper. There's no need to regulate the flue opening during use.

4. If one poured conc around the brick, would that be enough insulation?

NO! it would take forever to heat up, and when it got hot it would leak heat badly, and not maintain cooking temperature. There are not many things that every one here agrees on, but one is that that you can never have too much insulation.

Good luck with your project. Keep us posted. We like photos and sharing.

[Fio]

Concrete is NOT insulation

4. If one poured conc around the brick, would that be enough insulation?

anyone
Los Angeles

Concrete is not an insulator - it is a conductor of heat. A thick concrete cladding would suck up all the heat made by the fire and your oven would take forever to heat. What's worse, it would lose heat more rapidly.

You need a barrier to prevent the transmission of heat from the bricks to the outside. An insulating blanket, made of fireproof ceramic fiber, is what is used.