2-chamber oven floor material

[Leah]

Ok, so I've built an oven with a fire brick floor made of cob and I'm starting my second oven. I want to build a 2-chamber oven (fire underneath, cooking chamber on top) and I'm looking for a material to use for the oven floor.

Is there any kind of stone that could be used as the floor of the oven to separate the two chambers?

I would like it to be something large and extend outside the oven perimeter so there would be a little shelf for setting things.

Any ideas? Is this possible? Do I need more support than just a slab? Help!

[Wiley]

Re: 2-chamber oven floor material

Leah, You might consider a slab of soapstone but depending upon your location the savings from building in cob might be considerably offset by it's cost. You might also consider a large piece of plate steel or cast iron and support it by embeded stones so it's free to expand and contract. I picked up a large cast iron griddle out of a commercial range at the county dump. I use it over a large split rim wheel for campfire type cooking. But with scrap metal prices being what they are this sort of stuff is rarely available free anymore.

I have two neighbors who have ovens of cob. Both are uninsulated and both vent thru the entrance like a traditional Canadian clay oven. One of the two is really into cob, been to workshops and now conducts his own. He's built a small building as well.

Wiley

[Leah]

Re: 2-chamber oven floor material

Wow, thank you, great ideas!

A cob building is in my future but ovens are so much easier to finish!!

I agree that it would be crazy to build the entire oven for free then spend $1,000 on a piece of soapstone (though I have no idea how much it would actually cost). I'm going to go see what I can find at the scrapyard.

Thanks

[Dutchoven]

Re: 2-chamber oven floor material

Leah
Check out the following post that was lively some time ago...there are some options discussed and a link to a builder of what might be a similar design
Best
Dutch
http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f37/hybrid-2067.html