Boogie’s cast 37inch WFO Hawaii

[Boogie-D]

[Boogie-D]

Ok... narrowing it down... I do not want a bottom slab... and I do not want 3 complete cmu walls... I believe I will use cmu blocks to create a 4 corner stand similar to 4 sono tubes... the corners will be in the shape of an L like the photo above... we have hard clay dirt that I will dig down into to form a footing for each of the 4 cmu block corners to rest on.... I understand the more I cantilever the better support I’ll have towards the middle and for the oven weight... I had initially thought to have at least a 6 inch over hang/ cantilever to accommodate my lava stone paver finish that will cover the cmu legs/ corners... how far do you think I should cantilever David S...?? Maybe I should go for a 12 inch over hang?.. I am using a square table that will be 4ft x 6ft... and a 37inch inner diameter oven... now that I narrowed it down maybe time for a quick drawing and start stacking some cmu... I have a 4x6 sheet of plywood I could use for mocking it up and to see what she looks like... thanks so much to everyone for guiding me in the right direction

[Boogie-D]

Ok... Aloha!!!! the whole reason I found this site and came here was for the post... “this is not a drill” about a mizzou refractory cement cast oven.... a product I thought I could get here in Hawaii that could be used for casting the dome and the floor as this guy did in “this is not a drill”... I was quickly told that mizzou was not a good product for the oven floor.... the general consensus here is that medium duty fire bricks or higher are a must for the oven floor... we have 2 places in Honolulu that sell fire brick... however both of them are the kind of brick used for fireplaces and are not the medium duty kind you suggest for the floor... for future builders those 2 stores are Tile co inc kapolei (muddox brand) and pacific refractories Honolulu... both sell clay fire brick at $5 dollars a piece.... tile co inc sells sand as well as fire clay.... pacific refractories sells mizzou castable and hi temp mortar... white cap Honolulu sells white Portland cement... perlite and lime are easy to get elsewhere...

(note: pacific refractories has not answered there phone this whole week and no one has called me after leaving several messages... the voice recording is generic and doesn’t even mention there name so I don’t think there operating) but the phone does ring and goes to generic message..

So back to square 1; nobody sells proper fire brick in Hawaii!!!...
hence the root of my problems that led me to finding FB.. I must order and ship my medium duty fire bricks to Hawaii.... I contacted a refractory company about purchasing medium duty fire bricks... the price for 40 bricks was around $300 but shipping was $1200.... lmao... no way.... I’ll try again today but if I can’t get medium duty fire bricks to Honolulu at a reasonable cost then I see no reason to take on this project..

I have an option of a friend who owns a food distribution business with warehouses in Los Angeles and Honolulu... he sends containers of food to Hawaii every few days... for future Hawaii builders (Quantem food distributors) I am going to call Los Angles based refractory manufacturing and distributing companies... if I can get them to deliver the medium duty fire bricks across town to my buddy’s warehouse then I might have a chance....

any suggestion for getting medium duty fire bricks to Honolulu? Is there any suggestion for an alternative pizza oven floors? Something I could use and do in Hawaii? Thanks again... I’ve learned a lot from this site... aloha

[Boogie-D]

In my exhaustive search to get fire brick to Honolulu I found:
PTI Thermal Solutions (562) 789-0202 ask for David
located in Santa Fe springs Los Angeles... David is very knowledgeable about fire brick and WFO building... there fire bricks prices are very reasonable they have several over size bricks 24x24x3... They have everything you need for your wood fired pizza oven project.. they ship brick to distributors all over the west coast... I’ll be working with them to get fire brick to Honolulu... as well as other supplies... now just need to talk to my buddy with quantum foods and see if I can hitch a ride on one of his food containers to hawaii
https://www.ptithermal.com

[NCMan]

I may have missed it, but what will you be using for wood there?

[Boogie-D]

As for fire wood we gave heaps of Keawe... also known as mesquite... we also have quava wood which is excellent

[NCMan]

As for fire wood we gave heaps of Keawe... also known as mesquite... we also have quava wood which is excellent

It sounds like you're going to be needing quite a lot, so it's good to have a good supply.

[david s]

If I were in your position I'd not be going bigger than 30" diameter. Like most things American folk seem to believe that bigger is better, but as the fuel consumption is roughly directly proportional to chamber volume, a small increase in diameter results in an enormous difference in volume and that means fuel consumption.. A 37" diameter oven results in a 13000 cu inch chamber volume whereas a 30" diameter oven is only 7000 cu inches. There is also a similar saving in materials, cost and labour for a smaller oven.

[Boogie-D]

Duly noted David... as long as a 30 inch oven will meet my needs... we Americana do like big parties... we raise live stock on my farm and want to do large pieces of lamb, goat and pig... we also want to use my big camp crock point inside (beans) ... as well as cold smoke large portions of Marlin... cookie batches... multiple loaves of bread.. I am listening... you have the knowledge and experience David...

I chose 37 inch based on the hearth design post... I figure I would use 1 sheet of ply wood to frame the concrete table top at 48 inch..... 37inches + 10inches + 1 inch.

I have see a lot of guys saying that they are glad they went 37 inch or higher and never wished they had went smaller... we have unlimited fire wood (mesquite) so what you think? 32 inch? Lolol

quick note.. we do hope to implement our oven to commercial type use... as in farm tours, nursery sales, lunches to our guest.. so part of the plan is the future of the farm and the type of business we can do here.. farm tours with lunch very popular in Hawaii

[Gulf]

.. as well as cold smoke large portions of Marlin..

You can cold smoke in a bamboo hut or a cardboard box. A WFO is very efficient for for what they were designed. The problems usually start when people want to incorporate alterations to the original design.

[david s]

Ok. We can comfortably have a pizza party for 50 as long as folk share whatever comes out of the oven. My oven is only 21” diameter. Seems like you’d want something bigger.

[NCMan]

Duly noted David... as long as a 30 inch oven will meet my needs... we Americana do like big parties... we raise live stock on my farm and want to do large pieces of lamb, goat and pig... we also want to use my big camp crock point inside (beans) ... as well as cold smoke large portions of Marlin... cookie batches... multiple loaves of bread.. I am listening... you have the knowledge and experience David...

I chose 37 inch based on the hearth design post... I figure I would use 1 sheet of ply wood to frame the concrete table top at 48 inch..... 37inches + 10inches + 1 inch.

I have see a lot of guys saying that they are glad they went 37 inch or higher and never wished they had went smaller... we have unlimited fire wood (mesquite) so what you think? 32 inch? Lolol

quick note.. we do hope to implement our oven to commercial type use... as in farm tours, nursery sales, lunches to our guest.. so part of the plan is the future of the farm and the type of business we can do here.. farm tours with lunch very popular in Hawaii

After reading what your intentions are and that you have large supplies of wood, I would stick w/your original plan. If not, you may very well wish you had. I'm guessing there are some folks who would say go bigger.

[Boogie-D]

david s I have been searching for sizing and referencing on this site but can’t seam to get much info on it... pretty impressive 50 people with 21 inch... like the Auzzie’s say it’s not the size that counts it how you use it... lololol... will a 21 inch cook 2@ 12 inch pizza at a time?? 4 Loafs of bread? Can you do big roasts? It would be cool if someone designed a sizing chart.. in reference to amount of food that can be cooked and fuel ration for size.. maybe I’ll reconsider and go with 32 inch... keep the input coming please.... I have a ton of time to plan as I figure out how to get my oven floor bricks... no oven floor bricks no oven

[david s]

Obviously I can’t fit 2x12” pizzas into my 21” diam oven. Often people ask “How many pizzas can you fit into your oven?” The answer is two small pizzas, but as they only take 2 mins to cook, their preparation takes longer so like most other home cooks I cook one at a time. But that is still 30/hr. As far as roasts go, one limiting factor is the height of the oven opening. I can just fit a 5kg turkey in my oven. We regularly cook a roast and the 21” is perfectly adequate to cook a roast for 4 people, but not for 20. I only partially fire the oven for roasting or baking, firing for exactly one hour will get the dome partially clear and adequate input, saving both time and fuel, rather than firing up and waiting for the temperature to drop to cooking range.
We often cook one sourdough loaf and two baguettes using this method. As currently it’s only my wife and me at home, how much bread can one eat?

[Boogie-D]

This really helps... maybe I’ll scale it back to 32 inch... we do a lot of cooking around the holidays... we give bread loafs out as gifts... cookies too... its not just about what me and my wife can eat... but our farm community... we often cook more than we need to share with others and not just at the holidays.. as well as the future and selling meals at the farm... I really appreciate you David S.. I want to make the best decisions I can now so I don’t regret nothing later...