40" Pompeii Style completed in England

[Wickolad]

The granite will be fine out on the landing like that. We have a granite mantle shelf above our fireplace and it gets much, much hotter than the pizza oven landing gets, ever. The trick is that it's slow to heat and slow to cool. Granite does not like sudden temperature changes.

Hi Mark, thank you so much for this information. It is much appreciated and most welcome. It has certainly put my mind at ease, although I wasn't overly worried due to the 2 heat breaks between the dome floor and granite and the huge difference in touch temperature. But thank you once more for taking the time to pass on this information.
Best wishes,
Lance.

[MarkJerling]

You're most welcome Lance.

[Wickolad]

Hi everyone,
a bit of an update on my build, 2 things really. One good, one bad.
The good first...
The 2 Stainless Steel 40mm box section heat breaks installed in the floor appear to work really well with considerable reduction in floor temp readings either side of the breaks. With floor temps just inside the dome of 430°C (break 1) 230°C (break 2) 76°C as I recall. So really happy about that.

Now the bad....
Hairline crack behind chimney stack where it meets dome. Pretty much where the heat break between the two lay. I discovered this after putting in the oven door which in effect closes off the chimney vent from the dome, not 100% as I've not yet finished the door completely and have to paint it before adding glass rope which will complete the seal. However, as it was, it revealed to me the airline crack as I noticed a little smoke escaping between the chimney stack and the dome which then stops when the door is removed.
My thoughts are that when the door is in place, it is funnelling the smoke into the 4 or 5mm gap of the heat break and although there is glass tape in there, the smoke is passing through / around it.
Should I seal this heat break gap with high temp silicone anyone? Or should it not matter and by the time I've fitted the glass rope gasket to the oven door this will eliminate the smoke escape.
The next thing will be to reseal the hair line crack, my way of thinking is that if smoke can get outthrough it, water can find its way in causing damage / damp. Maybe a bead of high temp silicone here too as it does get warm from the chimney stack, not overly hot, but warmer where the two meet than the rest of the dome exterior which is nil.

I suppose, having revealed the Good, the Bad, I should now reveal the Ugly...



My very first Pizza or Pie as seems to be the term used. Not too Ugly but the thought was there.
Happy Days

Best wishes everyone, roll on Summer!
Lance.

[NCMan]

Hi everyone,
a bit of an update on my build, 2 things really. One good, one bad.
The good first...
The 2 Stainless Steel 40mm box section heat breaks installed in the floor appear to work really well with considerable reduction in floor temp readings either side of the breaks. With floor temps just inside the dome of 430°C (break 1) 230°C (break 2) 76°C as I recall. So really happy about that.

Now the bad....
Hairline crack behind chimney stack where it meets dome. Pretty much where the heat break between the two lay. I discovered this after putting in the oven door which in effect closes off the chimney vent from the dome, not 100% as I've not yet finished the door completely and have to paint it before adding glass rope which will complete the seal. However, as it was, it revealed to me the airline crack as I noticed a little smoke escaping between the chimney stack and the dome which then stops when the door is removed.
My thoughts are that when the door is in place, it is funnelling the smoke into the 4 or 5mm gap of the heat break and although there is glass tape in there, the smoke is passing through / around it.
Should I seal this heat break gap with high temp silicone anyone? Or should it not matter and by the time I've fitted the glass rope gasket to the oven door this will eliminate the smoke escape.
The next thing will be to reseal the hair line crack, my way of thinking is that if smoke can get outthrough it, water can find its way in causing damage / damp. Maybe a bead of high temp silicone here too as it does get warm from the chimney stack, not overly hot, but warmer where the two meet than the rest of the dome exterior which is nil.

I suppose, having revealed the Good, the Bad, I should now reveal the Ugly...



My very first Pizza or Pie as seems to be the term used. Not too Ugly but the thought was there.
Happy Days

Best wishes everyone, roll on Summer!
Lance.

Hello Lance and I think that pizza looks pretty darn good. When I build, I use the ceramic fiber tape to completely isolate the oven from any adjoining brickwork. It serves as both a heat break (I'm a big fan of those)
and a control/expansion joint. After it's all done, I go back and seal it up.

[Wickolad]

Thank you for that NCMan,
I believe that is what I used, although I called it glass tape, for the heat break/ expansion gap. Although I see yours is a lot wider and heavier gauge. The tape I used was 15mm wide x 3 or 4mm but I'm pretty sure I didn't but right up to it tightly. You say you go back and seal it all up. Could I ask what you use please? I was thinking high temperature silicone sealant, would i be right in thinking that would work?
Best wishes, and thank you so much for your reply.
Lance.

[david s]

Don’t expect too much from the high temp silicone .Usually any direct flame on it will kill it. The time factor is as important as it’s ability to withstand a given temperature.
https://silicone.co.uk/news/temperat...ber-withstand/

[deejayoh]

Don’t expect too much from the high temp silicone .Usually any direct flame on it will kill it. The time factor is as important as it’s ability to withstand a given temperature.
https://silicone.co.uk/news/temperat...ber-withstand/

That Kaowool moldable caulk I referenced in a different post is not silicone based. I just checked my heat break, and it's still pliable after 8 years

This moldable high temp caulk is composed of ceramic fibers, organic polymers, inorganic binders, and other proprietary ingredients. They are pliable, low shrinkage, putty like material that is supplied wet and premixed, ready for installation.
They have been specially formulated to provide a smooth texture and enhanced flowability.
These properties allow successful application in thin sections and through a caulking apparatus. Kaowool Moldable AR is specially formulated to provide a very strong and hard material that is non-wetting to molten aluminum. it is an ideal material for use in troughs and launders.
Classification Temperature, °F 2000
Continuous Use Temperature, °F 1900

[Wickolad]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply david s and deejayoh, it is much appreciated.
I shall try to source some Kaowool mouldable caulk or uk equivalent, if there is such a thing available here.
best wishes to you both,
Lance.

[MarkJerling]

Your first pizza looks good Lance! Well done. (And no, it's not a "pie"!)

[Wickolad]

Hi Mark, thank you. I think it was a total fluke mind you, I've had a couple disasters with them since but believe I'm now starting to get a little more control of it.
And thank goodness its not a pie. The pies over here tend to have a crust top and meat or fruit filling , I will eventually suss the different terms used across the pond.
Best wishes,
Lance.

[JRPizza]

In the states sometimes a pie refers to the whole pizza vs a slice. I never say "do you want a pie tonight" when asking about pizza, but will say "the pie is in the oven" when cooking one
Did a search on "is pizza a pie" and got "About 363,000,000 results"!

[MarkJerling]

I did once read a piece on why some areas in the USA call a pizza a "pie" and it seems it has to do with a wrong translation somewhere and the usage stuck. In most other parts of the world a "pie" is a baked pastry with either a savoury or sweet filling but I don't know of any areas outside some parts of the USA that refer to a pizza as a 'pie'. It would be interesting to know how that happened in the USA.

[Wickolad]

Hi JRPizza & Mark,
thank you both for the update on the term 'pie', apparently used in some parts of the US when referring to pizza.

I had heard this term used on numerous occasions when scouring the web / YouTube videos in my search for suitable pizza dough recipes and eventually settling for the poolish method.

Having seen your replies and comments, I too made a search of how the term 'Pie' came about and came across the following explanation, which, in my opinion seems very plausible....

Pizza was first called pie when Italian immigrants arrived in the United States in the late 1800s. Pizza had similarities to a pie – with a crust, sliced triangle portions and its circular shape. Italian-Americans sold and popularized the pizzas, and the exotic dish picked up the English name “tomato pie”. Sometime thereafter the languages met in the middle to give us the term “pizza pie”.

Personally, I've always called it pizza, but whether its pizza, pie, pizza pie or tomatoe pie... there's nothing finer when its cooked in a wood fired oven.

Happy cooking everyone, roll on summer

Best wishes
Lance.