Commercial Oven Deck Possibilities

[Skippy]

New guy here with his first post and want to say this site is awesome.
After quit a few searches that came up empty thought I’d ask for some help. Long story short, in the 80’s my mom owned a local pizza shop and when we sold it the new owners didn’t want the oven decks so we kept them. I’d like to know is there a good use or place for them in a wood fired pizza oven? I’d like to use them if possible in some part of the build as my mom loved that little pizza shop and like the shop she is gone now also.

Where would be the best place for these things? Could they be used to substitute the FB board or the fire bricks or used in conjunction with them in some way? I don't really know what they are made of or how they actually work in a commercial gas oven.

I’m in the planning stages now and plan on starting this next spring. These decks as I call them are 24”x36”x1.5” thk. I have 4 of them and plan on building a 42” oven.

Thanks again for any input

[UtahBeehiver]

A picture would be helpful. My guess is that they are large refractory tiles and could be used as the cooking floor (not the FB board, which is your insulation) in your new 42" but send a pic. so we can better answer your question. I do suggest you get and completely review the low cost pompeii eplans from Forno Bravo, there only a few bucks and provide a great baseline for designing and building a WFO oven.

[Skippy]

Here are a few images of one of them.

[UtahBeehiver]

Umm, they are heavy? if so, could be soap stone or a dense refractory, IMHO if they were the cooking surface for you mom's pizza oven then they can be the cooking surface for your 42". You still need to insulate under these tiles though. Can be a p or vcrte (min. 4" thick at a 5 to 1 ratio) or a min. of 2" of CaSi board. Be aware there a many brands out there so if you go the CaSi route you need a compression of at least 75 psi at 5% compression and a K value of 0.5 to 0.6 btu.in hr ft.

[Skippy]

Thanks for the input. Yes they are very heavy. Maybe 40 to 50 lbs each with no fibers or filler material. Do you know of some sort of test to confirm if they are soap stone?

[UtahBeehiver]

Above my pay scale.

[deejayoh]

Based on the color, that is not soapstone. Looks more like a man-made material. I would guess some sort of refractory

Colors: Soapstone has a limited palette of colors. It comes in grey, blue-ish gray, green, and black, depending on the mineral content of that particular deposit. Some are darker or lighter with more or less veining

[Skippy]

Deejaycoh, I do believe you are correct, it is a man made material I just don't know what. With that said I think I'll continue on with my planning and leave them out of the oven all together and maybe incorporate them someplace else in my outdoor kitchen this spring. One of them is cut into 4 squares and they cut pretty easy so maybe I'll find someplace for them. Thanks again for all the input

[deejayoh]

you might be able to infer what it is based on weight. Looks like it is fire-brick like. Weights for a standard 9 x 4.5 x 2.5 inch brick...

Med Duty = 7.65 lbs
High Duty = 7.70 lbs