Has anyone used high duty fire bricks?

[gecko]

There seems to be some conflicting info here about the suitability of high duty fire bricks for a wood fired oven. I have a stack of these which I would like to use but would like to here from anyone out there who has used them.

How does your oven perform? Does it get too hot? Does it take too long to heat up?

I realise they are harder too cut but I can live with that.

Cheers
gecko

[nissanneill]

Re: Has anyone used high duty fire bricks?

Hi Gecko,
with the lack of responses, it looks like you are on your own with this option. Not many people would have used these bricks as they are not designed for oven builds.
I personally would not select them as they have the potential to absorb far more heat than I could handle nor wish the challenges presented to maintain a lower oven temperature. It could be done, but I have enough to learn with cooking apart from the initial temperature control of the oven.


Neill

[gecko]

Re: Has anyone used high duty fire bricks?

Yeah I think your right Neill. I just noticed a couple of older posts with people saying they planned to use high duties but don't know if they actually did. Looks like I'll grab some red solids...$4plus a pop for low duties is a bit rich for me.

cheers
gecko

[nissanneill]

Re: Has anyone used high duty fire bricks?

Hey, just go for good secondhand solid red house bricks. Don't touch the crumbly old il fired solid reds but the hard solid ones.
Theses are the bricks that I will be building the next 2 ovens for friends.
Russell Jeavons in his book and I have visited his ovens in his restaurAant only uses them without any problems and also uses 2 x 2" fired clay pavers for his hearth. You could build the oven for almost nothing for the bricks and mortar, (by using the poor mans mix as I did) only having to buy the vermiculite and thermal blanket.

Neill

[gecko]

Re: Has anyone used high duty fire bricks?

yeah Neill, that seems like the go. Having a bit of trouble finding fireclay over here. Is there another name for it?

[nissanneill]

Re: Has anyone used high duty fire bricks?

I only used a 1/2 bag of fireclay for my oven mortar and the vermiculite cement. It makes the mortar rather stickier and a lot easier to work with a little added to your mixing ratios.
I am told that it is crushed up fire brick but has the consistency of portland cement only a brown in colour. You can buy it here from Thermal Ceramics for around $30/25kg bag.

Thermal Ceramics Australia Pty Ltd
10-14 Toogood Avenue

Beverley Park 5009
South Australia
Australia


Phone: 61 8 8243 5300
Fax: 61 8 8243 0571

Check your yellow pages for oven or kiln or refractory supplier or workers. Surely thee are such people or businesses in or around Perth that service the brick manufacturers, pottery/china painting kilns, foundry needs etc. A few phone calls or just drop in and ask whilst going past will often open up a few links for you. All else, I could send over or get your basic needs (insulation and fire clay) shipped over. Everything else would be available locally.
Hey you can spend an absolute fortune building an oven using all the trendy (ideal) components or you could build one using alternative materials for well under $1000. There have been a few postings where they have claimed that their oven build is under $200 but I think that I would prefer to have mine looking a little more presentable as it is a feature in the entertaining pation. Sure, they work probably just as well, ie. providing you insulate it well or at least adequately.
I spent around $1200 for mine but in that was the secondhand firebricks ($200 for 200 bricks), 4 bags fireclay (still have 2 1/2 bags remaining and sold one to Hendo) 8 x 100l bags of vermiculite, 1 roll of thermal wool blanket, thermocouples, thermocoupls swith, cement, sand, concrete (sand and gravel) mix cast aluminium doors, 8" chimney sections, 2 x 240v downlights and 2 diamond saw blades (1 x 14" and 1 x 9' for the angle grinder).
Bearing in mind that I didn't need to make a base or stand for mine as I simply sat it on a retaining wall and dug a foundation into the retained garden bed.
Have you checked out my build at :

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f8/n...-1-a-2005.html

follow the links through as it is in 3 threads and see what I mean above.

Neill

[gecko]

Re: Has anyone used high duty fire bricks?

thanks heaps for that Neill...your oven looks great. Kind of how I was thinking of the opening design for mine. My oven is also going into a raised garden as yours. I 'll try another ring around tommorrow for the fireclay if I knock off work early enough.

cheers
gecko

[nissanneill]

Re: Has anyone used high duty fire bricks?

Hi Gecko,
I was looking for a reason as to why I couldn't access forno bravo and did a google search for wood fired ovens. The first one that came up has a host of display centres in WA at:

Display Centres - Mediterranean Woodfired Ovens

At least it is a start. They sell and supply do it yourself kits. Worth a ring or visit.

Neill

[david s]

Re: Has anyone used high duty fire bricks?

The high duty fire bricks are the best. They will withstand temp better than anything else and will be more resistant to spalling. They are rated to withstand around 1400C. Trouble is they are really solid and dense which makes them ideal for thermal mass but harder to cut and also the most expensive. If you take a look at an old fireplace that has used solid red bricks instead of firebricks some are usually looking cracked or crumbly. Neill the fireclay is not actually crushed firebrick, it hasn't been fired. It is simply a clay that is very refractory, ie resistant to heat. Hope this helps.

[gecko]

Re: Has anyone used high duty fire bricks?

The high duty fire bricks are the best. They will withstand temp better than anything else and will be more resistant to spalling. They are rated to withstand around 1400C. Trouble is they are really solid and dense which makes them ideal for thermal mass but harder to cut and also the most expensive. If you take a look at an old fireplace that has used solid red bricks instead of firebricks some are usually looking cracked or crumbly. Neill the fireclay is not actually crushed firebrick, it hasn't been fired. It is simply a clay that is very refractory, ie resistant to heat. Hope this helps.

Hi David. Thanks for your reply. I know the high duties will withstand the high temps better than other bricks but the general concensis on this forum is that they will get too hot and burn whatever I put in the oven. Dont really need to be stressing about that.

Cheers
gecko

[gecko]

Re: Has anyone used high duty fire bricks?

Hi Gecko,
I was looking for a reason as to why I couldn't access forno bravo and did a google search for wood fired ovens. The first one that came up has a host of display centres in WA at:

Display Centres - Mediterranean Woodfired Ovens

At least it is a start. They sell and supply do it yourself kits. Worth a ring or visit.

Neill

Thanks Neill. I have spoken to someone on this list. Seem only interested in selling their kits.

gecko

[david s]

Re: Has anyone used high duty fire bricks?

High density bricks will only burn your food if you get them too hot. Refractory bricks are a bit like Hi Fi. You pay a lot more for top quality, but only get a small increase in performance. Red bricks should be fine unless you plan to cook every night for the next 15 years.