Planning to build a tiny oven

[RandyJ]

A big green egg can cook a pizza but the results are not any where near the same. You lose all your heat every time you open the top. There are several portable pizza ovens on the market that you may want to look in to. Just Google pizza party ovens. From what I have seen they are well rated and easily moved. They also cost a lot what a big green egg does.

Randy

[Fvsion]

Yeah I can't comment on using a gas burner in this case either. My own speculation is the rest of the grill may be the problem--particularly the paint or powder coating. It would seem odd that this stuff would suffer, but something that can take 500-600F just fine might start flaking its skin at a sustained 900F. As for the other bits, it gets trickier the smaller and lighter you want to make this.

I'll suggest something and you can probably tell me it sounds similar to what you already saw. It looks similar to the video. Assuming a kettle with a burner on the bottom, I'd do an experiment where I got the thinner firebricks--not the 2.5x4.5x9 bricks, but rather then ones that are 1.25" wide or whatever. Suspend them over the floor, and probably just on the existing grates. Build a perimeter by stacking cut halves of these bricks around with just an opening on one side. Cast some tiles of light perlcrete or something; maybe mix some stucco fiber in so they stay together. They will get crumbly with use, but they're so light and cheap that it doesn't really matter. Use those tiles to insulate these bricks a little bit. Lay another grate on top with a layer of thin bricks and insulating tiles. Make sure air can get into the top. Mount the lid of this kettle with the handle removed so you have one/two holes. This will let excess gas escape if it's building up and keep you from burning off your face.

It's basically a firebrick cylinder open on one side.

In this way, you can play around with the heavy materials without having to keep it in one unit that might get too big to move around, and you can tweak things to see what works before committing to something. What might just happen is this works fine for years until you eventually just build a big one.

Hi Rocko,

I think I get an idea of what you're suggesting but only slightly. Did you mean enclose it with firebricks to make a square with one side left open?

There's a supplier in my area selling firebricks that are 1x2x8 and 1x4x8 - would those work?

The reason why I would like to go through with this project is because of this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX4WyxoCWts

This fella modified his Uuni 2S and put a high pressure burner. If it worked for him, maybe it would work for me as well? My concern is people saying it's dangerous and it might explode or something. Is it the oven that will explode or the propane tank? Sorry for the noob questions but thanks for taking the time to answer them. I appreciate those along with your suggestions.

Cheers,

Fvsion

[Rocko Bonaparte]

My mental model was a Weber Kettle because that's the one thing I did see. I'm not really convinced that Uuni's going to do much for you even without any modifications. So the idea with the kettle I had was to make an enclosed cylinder with something like:

1. Base grate
2. Floor of bricks
3. Perimeter of bricks with opening on one side
4. A grate that you manage to rest on top of the perimeter
5. The lid

The burner either goes completely under this all or is mounted with the brick floor or something. My wager was that it would be so leaky that gas wouldn't build up and pop everything off. The big fear with gas-powered pizza ovens is that the inside of the dome is sealed up, so gas can build there and cause a huge poof. If you have a hole at the highest point then you should have an escape against that. I'm currently worrying about stuff like that when planning out my outdoor kitchen. The grill and the burner are exposed from the inside, and leaked program gas can pool in the cabinets. I have to add vents at the top of the back of the cabinets so this gas can escape.

Note that if you then commit to this thing and start sealing it up with some kind insulation, then you start risking the gas pooling up.

So you probably want something large enough that it won't get completely blocked in if you create a firebrick perimeter, and preferably something where you can put bricks over the top.

Just buying some firebricks to mess around with has some merit. You might end up leaving them in your oven inside if your oven's inconsistent. They add thermal mass. It will slow the oven down but it will smooth out the cycling. So if it doesn't work out then the bricks will live a second life.

IMO those bricks are fine--and likely their thinner size are preferable--for your floor and ceiling. However, I think you'd want slightly thicker bricks for the perimeter just for some stability. I guess you can double them up.

[Fizz]

Hi Fizz,

You are right but I just can't justify spending that much for weekend pizzas yet. Maybe if I have a lot of extra cash I'll buy either Uuni 3 or Roccbox.

Cheers,

Fvsion

Think the Uuni is about $300 , and when you start buying refractory stuff thatīs peanuts ... I got the firebricks for free, and Iīm probably in 1000-1200 dollars on my build, and itīs not even finished ...