My first attempt for 42" oven / changed to 36"

[George_M]

Thanks!
It's time to bake more and more Utah.
My oven is perfect and reach very hight temperatures!

[UtahBeehiver]

Haven't heard from you in a while so congrats on the completion of the oven and your first pizza party. The more you fire the oven the better if performs and you learn all the nuances of your oven.

[George_M]

[George_M]

My first pizza party was completed!
I made 11 pizzas and they are perfect!!The dough was soft and crispy together..
I love my wood oven bake by bake..

[George_M]

Hi jersey,
Sorry for delay responce to your post.
This oven is castable as you said and is common here in Greece when you need a ready oven.
I prefer to make my own,as i did,but if you has no free time you must buy this one.
As for the diameter,is 80cm internal or external diameter?

[jersey bob souvlaki]

Hey George. Looks like you're making some nice progress. I might be doing a brick oven like yours also but I'm not sure if I had to have a permit or if it would affect our property taxes. So I'm going to try to do a small castable.
I went to Lagadas today for some firebricks and fireclay and the guy there directed me to a place nearby that sells ovens. 480€ euros for 80cm diameter dome without the stand. That was after he told me that the home brew recipe for refactory concrete I've seen here wouldn't work. He may be right but I'm going to have to give it a shot.
Anyway here's a pic of the ready-made. . Tried typing Gia sou in Greek but it didn't take.

[George_M]

Need to insulate all the vent?Or it's not a problem?

[texman]

the crack in the vent is normal as well. If all you have are hairline like those, no worries at all. The cracks that you have may get bigger when the oven is hot and then shrink back to what your pictures show when the oven cools. That is normal. If you get some larger cracks, you can fill those if they bother you. If you have a brick oven, you have cracks in it.

[George_M]

Yes,i wait few months before start fires..Also,my oven is under a roof and i don't have any issues with rain or water to come on the dome or under the floor.
It's protected 100%
About vent crack in previous page?
Which your opinion?
Thanks texman.

[texman]

not a problem, just hairline cracks. We all have them and some bigger. Is your oven fully cured?

[George_M]

Today i insepct inside and i saw some cracks.Also i have and on the other side of the vent arch a crack..
Please i need your help,is it bad for my oven?
Need to do something??

[George_M]

My first think is to insulate until last brick in front of vent,at the right and left and also all the vent around.
This will be better for my oven?

[George_M]

The crack in the position you describe is quite common in ovens that have no thermal break or expansion joint between the oven and the flue gallery. This expansion joint allows the expanding oven to move a little without putting stress on the outer arch of the flue gallery. The other problem is the uninsulated flue gallery itself. Stress on the refractory is increased when the inside gets hot but the outside remains cool. By insulating around it this temperature difference is reduced and thereby reduces cracking tendency.
Don't worry about the crack, it probably won't get worse. As they say there are two kinds of ovens, those with cracks and those with owners who lie about their ovens having no cracks.

Hi David,
Today i made some pizzas for first tray.
I reach very high temperatures and the oven was almost saturated.
I see the same crack again and the corner of the brick just a little down.
Which is your opinion on this?Need some protection or is not a problem?

[George_M]

Mortar or Stucco?
Everything I've read is that the V-crete is suggested not only to add extra insulation but to regain the shape you are looking for to an igloo style build, before doing the stucco layer. It's a very cheap way to add additional insulation as well as get the igloo back into the shape you need for final finishing.

As for thickness, it's all dependent on how much insulation you are looking for and the R-value of your blanket. Post #281 from David was simply explaining that it's hard to render Stucco onto the blanket (lumpy etc) and that a layer of V-crete would get you something firm, smooth and back to the shape you are looking for, before Stucco.

Which materials to use to make the final finish layer?
And what ratio?

[George_M]

Update!