Cast Refractory Pizza Oven Build

[dragonsoup]

Re: Cast Refractory Pizza Oven Build

that does sound easier.

lol.

[abulsamman]

Re: Cast Refractory Pizza Oven Build

Hello everybody, its been a while since I posted anything as I've been really busy..

My oven now is cured, as I have made several curing fires and I have placed 2 layers of ceramic blanket.

One thing I regret is that I have made the fires too big too quick which resulted in quite a bit of steam and some cracks :s I guess beer and curing is not a good idea ....

anyhow, I hope this won't matter, and please let me know if the cracks look too severe, and what I should or shouldnt do before I plaster the oven..

[abulsamman]

Re: Cast Refractory Pizza Oven Build

a video

MVI 9046 - YouTube

[abulsamman]

Re: Cast Refractory Pizza Oven Build

in the last couple of days I've been working on the decorative arch, I decided to use basalt bricks which are black and are the same as the course agregate that I used. They are actually easier to cut than the bricks I used for the floor of the oven.

I'm putting square wire on the back of the arch to help hold it together. All of the fireplace shops do this on the walls, so I thought this might help..

Here's a pic..

[abulsamman]

Re: Cast Refractory Pizza Oven Build

Thanks Mick for the reassurance! That's what I'm going to do, just finish the oven and get cooking and yeah, we have beer in jordan and nice pubs

Regarding the vent draught, it does draw pretty well, but when there is wind sometimes smoke comes out the front. The decorative arch should help with that, and in addition I have lowered the bricks of the arch 1-2cm from the height of the entry. Hopefully that would help too. Will post a clearer video next time I fire up.

Anyway, today finally finished the decorative arch, this is how it looks. Will post some more pics once its dried out..

[Johnny the oven man]

Re: Cast Refractory Pizza Oven Build

"As for the fire bricks absorbing water, this is a distinct possibility I didn't think of. Perhaps you should run a test. Take a cup of the crushed fire brick, place it in a fine mesh bag, and soak it in water. Measure the volume of water before you submerge the bricks and then again like ten minutes later after you remove. Then you can at least get a benchmark for how much water a cup of crushed aggregate will take out of your mix and adjust from there.

In any case, good luck with the build.

"

It is easier and more accurate to weigh a sample before and after adding the water.
It is recommended to soak bricks for 24hours to test their porosity.
Hope this helps.[/QUOTE]

A standard clay firebrick has about 23% porosity. And yes, standard refractory test is soaking them and weighing them wet.

[david s]

Re: Cast Refractory Pizza Oven Build

My dense firebricks are nowhere near 23%, while my insulating firebricks are just over 50% I think there is quite a range, depending on degree of vitrification and how much air the brick contains. There are firebricks and firebricks.

[Johnny the oven man]

Re: Cast Refractory Pizza Oven Build

My dense firebricks are nowhere near 23%, while my insulating firebricks are just over 50% I think there is quite a range, depending on degree of vitrification and how much air the brick contains. There are firebricks and firebricks.

Give me the name of your firebricks and any info you have on them and lets have a look at their TDS, it might surprise you.

[david s]

Re: Cast Refractory Pizza Oven Build

My dense firebricks are heavy duty 12" x 9"x 3" and I got them about 12 years ago from the Queensland nickel refinery up here. I think they are imported bricks from the US. Anyhow their porosity measures out at only 11% which surprisingly is about the same as my solid red bricks. I think because of their high duty and the fact that they have been in use at who knows what service temps, there is a greater degree of vitrification and therefore reduction in porosity. The porosity measurement on the IFB's turned out to be 56% by the way.

[Johnny the oven man]

Re: Cast Refractory Pizza Oven Build

Yes, std pressed reds are non porous to a high degree, we had some white clay bricks made for us as a acid resistant brick for a chimney stack, 1,000's of the things.

[abulsamman]

Re: Cast Refractory Pizza Oven Build

Been experimenting with some dough lately, and have obtained a sourdough from a pizza restaurant. Today I made a pizza with it and the recipe I used was 100% 00 flower, 65% water, 18% sourdough, and 1% salt.

After mixing, I autolyzed for 20 mins, and kneeded for 8 mins. I left in fridge overnight, and cut into balls and let rize for 3 hours.

Although the dough was too stretchy and extremely tough to handle, this is the first time I get the crust to get charred. I usually get the crust cooked, but was always very white.

I'm very pleased that I got the char I wanted, even though on the bottom it was burnt on some sides.

I think next time I could try 60% hydration and leave the balls to rize for a longer time.. and maybe not spread the coal on the oven floor for too long ..

Any thoughts on this??

[david s]

Re: Cast Refractory Pizza Oven Build

My thoughts Are that it's making me hungry. My pizzas often have a little charring round the edges too. It is characteristics of wood fired. I like it. Your pizza looks perfect to me.

[lwood]

Re: Cast Refractory Pizza Oven Build

Looks good to me too. Charring is more a function of your oven conditions. Cook more pizzas at various temps. Your dough is 65% h20 and 18% SD. It's hard to say what your actual h2O% is, but it is definitely higher than 65%. Getting it back to down to the 62% h2O level will make it more manageable. "Tough" that's strange... higher hydration levels should make it lighter and looser. But I certainly am not a SD person. Maybe look at some SD threads for recipes.