Home Brew?

[Brad H]

I am planning to Use a steal form ( LP tank end) as a base for my oven. I have reading old posts for some time to figure out what castable material to use to cover the steal with to use as a thermal mass agent. but have not been able to narrow it down. Is there a Home brew that would work better over others to create thermal mass. First use of oven is pizza but also baking so would like to hold temps for extended times.

[david s]

When you say using a steel form, are you intending to use it as a mould to create a casting over and then removing it, or are you intending to leave it in place as part of the oven structure?
There is a problem of the conductivity and expansion of steel that will create a great deal of stress on a less conductive material laid over it. The rapid heating and expansion of the steel well before any castable brew has time to heat will crack the castable layer. If you are relying on the steel tank end to provide the structural strength, then perhaps it doesn't matter if the layer sitting on top of it cracks severely. If you intend on using it as a mould for a casting to be relocated then this problem doesn't apply. There have been a few ovens where a steel LPG tank end has been used as the inner dome section. Do a search on this forum to get more insights.

[Brad H]

I have many pages of posts going back past 2008 looking for info about what material would be best for thermal heat retention. Yes I
plan to use the steal as a form and intend to leave in place