Choice of bricks.

[NickHowe]

Hello,

First post, so forgive me if this has been asked 1,000 times already.

I'm about to build an oven. I have stumbled on a supply of bricks from a kiln. Will these be suitable, or will they be too high a quality, and maintain the heat too much, and cause the oven to stay too hot?

Many thanks,
Nick

[azpizzanut]

Re: Choice of bricks.

Hi,

Did you get your answer yet? I see your question was posted one month earlier.

I too found a supply of kiln brick (K23) and only two for one dollar and slightly used kiln brick at five for one dollar. Fortunately, the next day I learned that kiln bricks are not the same as fire bricks, so I didn't make the trip to another town to buy the kiln bricks. They are light weight and insulate. A fire brick of about 7 pounds is right for holding heat. The light kiln brick can be used as a second outside insulating layer, depending the type of oven you build. You will know fire brick by its weight. The K23 kiln brick was quite light in weight and a second brick also available was very light. It was a k26.

Best wishes,

Pizzanut

[brickie in oz]

Re: Choice of bricks.

and maintain the heat too much, and cause the oven to stay too hot?

This is trick question, right?

[NickHowe]

Re: Choice of bricks.

This is trick question, right?

Nope, not at all. It's mentioned in the FB pizza oven instructions. Didn't get them, because the bloke on eBay would only sell me one because they didn't reach the ?1.40 he wanted at auction.

[azpizzanut]

Re: Choice of bricks.

G'day Brickie,

Newbies fall for trick questions all the time. Everyone gets a good laugh.

I too recall something about using the wrong brick on the hearth and it wasn't just about cement brick or soft kiln brick or even red brick. The general caveat was that you'd end up with scorched pizza crust. I'll toss a guess that perhaps the idea was to match the proper brick for the hearth and oven so that they both heat at the same rate. I wish I could recall where I read about the scorched crust/firebrick comments. So many posts, so little recall.

Newbies devour much info on oven related sites and it becomes difficult to recall exactly where or which post after a few days when the issue comes up again. Then there is the problem of conflicting information. One person does his oven a particular way and another does his differently. Eventually, after reading hundreds of posts a pattern develops and you begin to form your own opinions about what's right and what's wrong. It is a treat when you read about a creative or innovative solution to a problem, new process or new material that members incorporate into their ovens.

As for myself, I've bought two different brands of firebrick both of which will be incorporated into oven projects. Yes, more than one oven project at a time. Yellow firebrick in one and red in another. More on these projects at a later date. View www dot superiorclay dot com and see their varying colors of firebrick products.

Cheers,

[brickie in oz]

Re: Choice of bricks.

If the oven is hot then its only as hot as the fire you put in it for as long as you have the fire in it.

I fail to see how the oven can get too hot?
If the oven keeps on getting hotter and hotter then patent the idea because you will be a $$$$billionaire within minutes.