Fire Brick Floor Thickness

[Berto]

Hi,
I am looking for some advice on oven floor thickness. I am planning to cast a 32” ID oven using homebrew. I am debating between the 1.25” vs. 2.5” fire brick for the floor. In my area of Michigan there is no real cost difference so I am focused on application. I primarily plan to use the oven for cooking pizza and I want it to heat up rather quickly vs. retaining heat for an extended period of time.

What are everyone’s thoughts? Looking for feedback based on actual builds. Anyone go with a thinner base and regret it?

P.S. Already poured 5.625” of Vermiculite/Perlite/Portland (3:3:1) base on top of a reinforced 3.5” slab.

[Gulf]

I guess it depends on how many pies (on average) that you plan to cook at a time. 1.25" will heat up quick, but it will cool down even quicker. You say that you are not interested in retained heat cooking. Though, you may in the near future. Most do. 2.5" is the minimum for retained heat cooking imo. My advice is to not limit your oven's posibilities .

[JRPizza]

My oven has the traditional 4.5" thick dome walls and 2.5" thick bricks for the floor. By the time the dome is properly heated for pizza the floor is ready. At least I've never had to wait for the floor to heat. It's possible that with a thinner cast dome you can get it and the floor ready at the same time, but I am only guessing.
I also almost always take advantage of the retained heat the day after a pizza bake to cook one or two meals, and we often enjoy those as much or more as we did the pizza.

[Berto]

Thanks for the input... I suspect I will go with the 2.5" brick since I have yet to find a person who has done a split brick on the oven floor.