Neapolitana Style Oven (31.5")

[southpaw]

Hi all,
I?m planning to build a Neapolitan Style Oven with a (31.5? round cooking surface)!

Have some Q concerning the dimensions:

1- Interior Dome height, the Neapolitan style oven should be 1/3 the diameter 31.5? so it should be 10.5? is that correct? Or could I build a higher dome and still be considered Neapolitan style?

2- Should I rap the oven wall bricks around the cooking surface or lay them on top? How high should the oven wall be before starting the first chain that curves inward?

3- The oven opening, in the casa-80 specification sheet says the Width = 17.29? and height = 9.83?, can I use those sizes for the Neapolitan style oven? I think I need to reduce the size!

Is there a ratio for the oven opening W & H? Like for the opening H = 63% or 70% of the interior dome H?

Q concerning the oven metal Tray & Stand:

1- I?m planning to build a round metal tray similar to the (Modena commercial pizza oven) how thick should the metal tray be? Is 2mm enough, too thick, too thin?

2- Pouring the Hearth, since ill be building my oven over a metal stand & Tray, is it necessary to pour a thermal layer (3 1/2" layer of structural, rebar reinforced standard concrete)?

Or could I just build my oven over a 4" layer of insulating concrete (5 Vermiculite or Perlite : 1 Portland cement ? ratio) without pouring the thermal layer?

3- In the (Modena commercial pizza oven they use Two layers of 3" thick insulating tiles for a serious 6" of under oven insulation; fitted into the hearth tray without mortar. All open spots are filled with loose vermiculite) do you recommend using insulating tiles instead of insulating concrete? For home use how thick should it be?

4- What do you know about using (salt ? glass ? sand) under the oven, is it used for insulating? Does it do the same job as insulating concrete, or insulating tiles? What do you suggest?

[jwnorris]

Re: Neapolitana Style Oven (31.5&quot

<snip>3- In the (Modena commercial pizza oven they use Two layers of 3" thick insulating tiles for a serious 6" of under oven insulation; fitted into the hearth tray without mortar. All open spots are filled with loose vermiculite) do you recommend using insulating tiles instead of insulating concrete? For home use how thick should it be? <snip>

I used 2" of SuperIsol board under my Casa110 FB modular over and I am very happy with the result. It is warm to the touch after a full firing, but within acceptable levels to me.

J W

[dmun]

Re: Neapolitana Style Oven (31.5&quot

Part of the problem with tiny ovens is that the opening needs to be big enough to get logs, food etc into the oven, but not so big that it lets all the heat out of the small space. I'd say draw it out, and use the smallest opening you can work with.

Generally speaking, an oven that small may not be that useful. Is it a space consideration? If it's just saving money and work, it may not be a sound economy.

If you are pouring a concrete layer under your oven, your floor can be any thickness that will hold the wet concrete up. If you are laying your insulation directly on the metal plate, it needs to be thick enough to be rigid. .079" doesn't sound that strong unless you have a lot of structural steel pieces underneath supporting it.

Forget sand/salt/ground glass under your oven floor. It's old fashoned and will waste heat and time. Use refractory insulation blocks or perlite/vermiculite concrete. The choice between these two is mostly about whether you have room for the extra two inches of insulation that perlcrete needs.

Good luck with your project.

[james]

Re: Neapolitana Style Oven (31.5&quot

Hey Southpaw,

From one lefty to another -- why do the Italians calls us Sinister and the French call us Gauche?

Anyway, to follow on to David's thinking, if you you can find the space to go from 31" to 35", I think you will enjoy the cooking space. Also, the dimensions for the Casa series are a good template for a Pompeii oven. The Casa series is called Volta Bassa in Italy, which is "low dome" for the Napoli style ovens. I think those ovens do a good job of following the Napoli style shape, while still balancing oven volume with oven opening size. If you follow the general rules for oven dome height to oven diameter, and oven opening to oven dome height, you will end up with some pretty un-usable dimensions. For example, you don't want a 10" high dome. It won't work.

David's ideas on insulation are very good. The Modena is a good example of a high end commerical oven, with 6" of expensive under oven insulation designed for 24/7 operation. JW's experience with 2" of SuperIsol is right on.

If you skip the concrete layer for stability, you will need a serious re-inforced steel try to eliminate flex.

Hope this all helps.
James

[southpaw]

Re: Neapolitana Style Oven (31.5&quot

I checked the Casa80 dimetions:

- Diameter = 31.5"

- Interior height = 15.3" (thats too high for a napoli style oven) how high should it be? i was thinking of 13"? but to be accurate 1/3 of 31.5 = 10.5 which height should i use?

- Oven opening W = 17.29"
- Oven opening H = 9.83"

i think the opening is big!!!

is there a ratio they use to calculate the oven opening W & H???

About the oven wall, how high should it be before i start the 1st curved chane?

Oven Hearth:
- if i just want to put Vermiculite insulating concrete how thick should the layer be?

or Super Isol insulating board how thick should it be?