Here's an educational experience. We were contacted a while back by the owner of an Italian-made pre-assembled commerical pizza oven at a restaurant. I won't mention the product name, though I know the brand.
While the oven was fired, the top of the oven and the bottom of the oven enclosure were too hot to touch. The oven was venting a huge amount of heat through the top and bottom. This was causing a number of problems. In addition to burning too much wood, heating up the kitchen, and making it harder to keep the oven at high heat for pizza, the chef was trying to bake enough bread each morning to serve the restaurant, and the oven wasn't holding enough heat to get it done. Which really should not be the case.
After some talking, we agreed they would open the top of the oven enclosure, and without risking damaging the oven chamber, removed some of the castable insulation. They added a couple of layers of Insulfrax, and for good measure a little vermiculite above that.
I just heard back, and he writes:
"It makes a dramatic difference. It's amazing. Please tell james, as i've been speaking with him about it and i know he's curious to know the results."
Now, he's going to attach a layer of Super Isol to the bottom of the hearth. My guess is that it is going to get that much better. I think the oven uses less expensive castable expanded clay for insulation, and it just isn't up to the task. We have easy access to space-age insulators, and it's really worth going the extra little bit to make your oven work better.
This was a greal real-world experiment.
They make mistakes so you don't have to.
While the oven was fired, the top of the oven and the bottom of the oven enclosure were too hot to touch. The oven was venting a huge amount of heat through the top and bottom. This was causing a number of problems. In addition to burning too much wood, heating up the kitchen, and making it harder to keep the oven at high heat for pizza, the chef was trying to bake enough bread each morning to serve the restaurant, and the oven wasn't holding enough heat to get it done. Which really should not be the case.
After some talking, we agreed they would open the top of the oven enclosure, and without risking damaging the oven chamber, removed some of the castable insulation. They added a couple of layers of Insulfrax, and for good measure a little vermiculite above that.
I just heard back, and he writes:
"It makes a dramatic difference. It's amazing. Please tell james, as i've been speaking with him about it and i know he's curious to know the results."
Now, he's going to attach a layer of Super Isol to the bottom of the hearth. My guess is that it is going to get that much better. I think the oven uses less expensive castable expanded clay for insulation, and it just isn't up to the task. We have easy access to space-age insulators, and it's really worth going the extra little bit to make your oven work better.
This was a greal real-world experiment.
They make mistakes so you don't have to.
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