Bigger ovens

[JayP]

Re: Bigger ovens

Managed to post a cross section and perspective of the oven and James said he would reduce the size of the Moroccan oven pic for me as it was a bit big.

Thanks for the feedback guys, no worries to bring the entrance it down to %63 (thanks Dutchoven). Yes the flue is at the back, I have seen this in pictures of commercial ovens. A factor I considered in the placement of the flue was that it was not above the height of the top of the door and that a damper can be fitted if the flue sucks to much (the flue is 2.5 to 3m). The oven will also have a wooden door that will control the amount air coming in.

Cheers

[dmun]

Re: Bigger ovens

Hi, Jay, and welcome to the forum. There is no problem with the size of the oven, particularly if it's used often, as a community oven and doesn't have to be started from cold every time.

I'm a litte concerned about the drawing you posted in the photo gallery:



This shows the flue exiting the dome at the back of the oven, instead of over the doorway. This is a really bad idea. Instead of having a circular path of the combustion gasses that heats the dome, all the heat you get from your fire will be sucked out the back. Also, if you do retained heat cooking, it will be impossible to keep it hot for any length of time with a big hole in the back.

I know you say that there's no shortage of fuel, but it's still work to cut and haul it, you might as well make the most of it.

[gjbingham]

Re: Bigger ovens

I'm not sure what the answer is for your specific case regarding the size. Larger makes sense to a point, but the oven will stay hot for a long time and multiple loads of bread and food can be cooked from a single firing.

I think you should do a lot of research to make sure that it will serve your communities needs. The Bread Builders, written by Daniel Wing and Alan Scott is an excellent resource and sounds like the type of ovens that you're looking for.

Canuk Jim will no doubt have an authoratative answer for you soon.

[Ken524]

Re: Bigger ovens

That'll be a whopper! Can't wait to see the build!

[Dutchoven]

Re: Bigger ovens

The size you are suggesting makes it about 68 inches diameter with about 25 inch high dome...most ovens here end in the 50 to 60 inch range but I don't see why this larger design wouldn't work...would take more would to heat up but as you said you have no shortage of fuel...my only concern is that the door opening height seems a bit high in relation to dome height...the ratio you mention is about 70% and most ovens are most efficient in the 63% range...so more like 415 door height...other than that I see no problem.
Best to you!
Dutch

[JayP]

I am designing a pizza oven to be built on a rural community in south Western Australia. The oven is to serve community functions and the community is 15 households is size. We have no shortage of wood (indeed burning reduces the fire risk) or space and I would like to build a big one. Inspired by a photo of one in morocco I thought a 1.75m diameter cooking floor (three times the area recommended for a single household) would be big enough. I simply scaled the size recommended by Forno Bravo to get the following dimensions and will put the flue at the back to make the oven more accessible.

Internal diameter of oven- 1750
Internal height of oven - 650
Opening width - 790
Opening height - 460

Does anyone know much about bigger ovens? I suspect the Moroccan oven is a bread/baking oven, but hope that with insulation the oven will reach pizza cooking temperature and stay there with a decent size fire. Will it be able to do this?

Will try to post a cross section and photo of the Moroccan oven.