Can I use bricks for inside a kiln/forge for the floor/cooking area of a pizza oven?

[Ishwar]

Can I use High Temperature Refractory Brick meant for inside a kiln or forge for the floor/cooking area of a wood fired pizza oven?

Hello ... new to the forum!

I am planing on building a cob pizza oven this Summer and I am in the process of sourcing materials. I found some High Temperature Refractory Brick meant for inside a kiln or forge and the person says that they are soft and may fall apart from scraping it with the paddle and it will go onto your pizza. They say it's refractory brick, not the same as fire brick.

My thinking is if the bricks are made for a kiln or forge that it ought to be okay for the floor of a pizza oven. Can they be correct that the High Temperature Refractory Brick will in fact be too soft and will fall apart?

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Thanks,
Ishwar

[david s]

They are insulating firebricks, able to withstand high temperatures but very weak and subject to damage and abrasion. Being very light they will not contain thermal mass which is their other disadvantage for a pizza oven. You should try to access dense firebricks.
Dense firebricks vary considerably, some called low, medium or high duty. Generally medium duty bricks are preferred as the high duty bricks go through lots of expensive diamond blades. Also do not use tapered bricks which are designed for arches. Use ones with square corners. Generally 2” thick floor is an all round performer. Bricks may be able to be turned on edge if a thicker floor is desired. The insulating fire bricks can be used as underfloor insulation, but they are usually an expensive way to perform this function.

[Ishwar]

Thanks David. I am looking into the medium duty fire bricks. Another question: would putting a 1 inch cap of cob on the insulating bricks be good enough?