Egg shaped dome good enough for Pizza?

[thijsatteiltje]

Hi guys,

i came across this product and thought it was interesting.

I'm in the process of building a clay pizza oven myself and just about to make the dome.

What seems nice about this design (high dome and high opening) is that you can clearly see the fire. Since I would like the idea of using the oven also as an outdoor fireplace to sit around, this looks interesting.

Garden oven gallery. Click to enter

My questions are:

- Would you loose to much heat because of the high dome and high opening to bake pizza? Even when you keep a fire going?

- Would the high dome, and therefor the relatively big "bubble" above the door, potentially keep a less smoky fire?
My thinking is that, when you fire really heats up, the smoke/gasses would get a better burn up there in the dome before they leave through the opening.

I am trying to get as little smoke as possible as you would want your guests to be comfortable sitting in the garden.

I know, I know, I already hear what some of you must be thinking: "It's about the baking, stop compromising", but to me the challenge of trying to get the best of both world is half the fun.

I already build a very low oven at a friend's place so experimenting with the opposite sounds like fun .

Thoughts?

Cheers.

Matt

[Lburou]

Re: Egg shaped dome good enough for Pizza?

The dome/entry ratio looks like the entry would allow a lot of the heat to escape without heating the oven.

I wonder what the dimensions of the oven are (footprint, dome height, and door dimensions....)?

Every design is a compromise with heat retention, combustion efficiency, accessibility, smoke handling, and the like....This design looks OK, but an oven with the traditional, (read proven), design dimensions will probably outperform it.

This build, raise your oven so you don't have to bend over so much, you'll enjoy seeing inside there if its a bit higher than your last build.

[texassourdough]

Re: Egg shaped dome good enough for Pizza?

This appears to be a pseudofireplace. To call or consider it an oven is pretty extreme. It doesn't appear to have much mass to hold heat and little insulation to keep what it has. So you are limited to cooking with the fire/coals in place. With a Tuscan grill it probably makes a pretty decent barbecue. Getting it to Neopolitan pizza standards (800 oF) might be tricky and holding it there would be trickier yet. I have no idea how you would do proper Neopolitan pizza for a small fire appears to occupy the whole floor.

It appears "versatile" but as Lee says, all ovens are compromises but this isn't IMO an oven or only barely so as an oven it is severely compromised. That said, I can think of lots of things it should do pretty well so you could have a lot of fun with it. But you are unlikely to make pizza of the quality that most of shoot for in it. That said, I do grilled pizza too and it MIGHT do a decent to good job of that on the ceramic stand thing but that is not the same as WFO.

Good luck!
Jay

[thijsatteiltje]

Re: Egg shaped dome good enough for Pizza?

Thanks guys,

that was more or less the response I was expecting.

How about this idea:

What if we swap the height for width?

We keep a low ceiling (as in most pizza ovens) .

And then we got a shallower (less depth, from front opening to back wall) an wider dome (like an egg on it's side)

You would get a relatively big opening, but the roof of the dome would be much lower and so be closer to the food.

Of course I would use a little bit more mass in the wall than the example shown in the picture. That one is really thin.

Again, I am not opposing the tried and true designs, I'm just playing with the idea of new designs.
Also with the idea of being able to convince neighbours and friends to have such a thing in their backyard.

They might be more convinced by the idea of a nice woodburner that ALSO cooks excellent pizzas.

matt

[texassourdough]

Re: Egg shaped dome good enough for Pizza?

You are welcome to invest in or build any shape that you want. I would suggest that traditional shapes for both fireplaces (which can be used for cooking) and for ovens have evolved over centuries to rather different forms which are relatively efficient at what they do. The egg, as shown compromises both functions in a way that I think is likely to make it particularly mediocre as an oven/pizza oven. That said, the only way to know what a design does is to build it. All of our speculation is ultimately nothing but speculation and you are clearly pursuing a different set of values/goals than most of us. So build one or cast a series of "eggs" and refine your own design as you build each one.

The ultimate answer is a combination cooking center with both a cooking fireplace and a WFO. That gets the best of both worlds with minimal compromise!

[Lburou]

Re: Egg shaped dome good enough for Pizza?

Thanks guys,

that was more or less the response I was expecting.

How about this idea:

What if we swap the height for width?

We keep a low ceiling (as in most pizza ovens) .

And then we got a shallower (less depth, from front opening to back wall) an wider dome (like an egg on it's side)

You would get a relatively big opening, but the roof of the dome would be much lower and so be closer to the food.

Of course I would use a little bit more mass in the wall than the example shown in the picture. That one is really thin.

Again, I am not opposing the tried and true designs, I'm just playing with the idea of new designs.
Also with the idea of being able to convince neighbours and friends to have such a thing in their backyard.

They might be more convinced by the idea of a nice woodburner that ALSO cooks excellent pizzas.

matt

Here is an idea: Build an oven incorporating your designs and (after spending a pile of money and two year's vacation time) report back to us....

Believe me, I went through the wild idea planning stages too. You'll get through it as well I'm sure. Taking a proven oven design and using proven materials is the easiest and most reliable path to great oven performance. You will be happy when you take advantage of the oven building experience of thousands of ancient and modern oven owners who have built a traditional Mediteranian oven.....Go with a proven oven design. Good luck

[Tscarborough]

Re: Egg shaped dome good enough for Pizza?

Yep, I have the oven with the grill next to it and the "Ladies area" within conversation range with a fireplace. The firepit is on the other side of the yard, near the stage, so the teenagers can attend but have their own party.

[brickie in oz]

Re: Egg shaped dome good enough for Pizza?

near the stage

You have a stage?

[Tscarborough]

Re: Egg shaped dome good enough for Pizza?

Well, for parties that is what it is. Move the furniture off, set the drum set up, hang a drop light front and center and the neighborhood band plays:

[brickie in oz]

Re: Egg shaped dome good enough for Pizza?

I was half expecting a complete sound stage set up with lighting etc....

[thijsatteiltje]

Re: Egg shaped dome good enough for Pizza?

Well, I guess I got the answer I kinda knew already ;-)

Thanks guys for taken the time to explain (prob. for the nth time) the bleeding obvious.

I will behave and follow the dimensions described in Pompeii Oven | Dimensions

I think I might play with the egg-shaped idea in the future for a wood burner that is purely decorative.

Cheers.

matt

[texassourdough]

Re: Egg shaped dome good enough for Pizza?

As I indicated before, I think the egg is an interesting fireplace substitute that is certainly more versatile than a Rumsford. And it could do some reasonable cooking - especially for appetizers and conventional fireplace food. Good luck with the Pompeii. I don't think you will regret it! It is a versatile and great design.

Best!
Jay