42" Pizza Build.

[lowspeed]

It appears that you have fired the dome before insulating it. This increases the chances of cracks developing because there is a greater difference in inside and outside temperatures which leads to an equivalent difference in thermal expansion difference. It’s much better to allow a prolonged period of drying in natural conditions, then insulate, before commencing the drying fires.

You might have a point, but you also might not know if cracks form once you cover it. How would you know if there's cracks? from the inside it looks perfect.

[MarkJerling]

Any guidance on how to make sure the gallery is strong enough?

Or, do a squirrel tail, with the chimney up on the top of the dome. That will only require minimal buttressing of the entry arch.

[david s]

It appears that you have fired the dome before insulating it. This increases the chances of cracks developing because there is a greater difference in inside and outside temperatures which leads to an equivalent difference in thermal expansion difference. It’s much better to allow a prolonged period of drying in natural conditions, then insulate, before commencing the drying fires.

[lowspeed]

Crack...

[Gulf]

Buttress. Then spread the weight of the chimney over the entry from the buttresses.

[lowspeed]

Yes red bricks are fine for the chimney, but consider the strength of the gallery that holds them up. The higher you go the heavier it is and the more stress you place on the gallery. That is part of the reason a stainless flue can be a better solution.

Any guidance on how to make sure the gallery is strong enough?

[david s]

Yes red bricks are fine for the chimney, but consider the strength of the gallery that holds them up. The higher you go the heavier it is and the more stress you place on the gallery. That is part of the reason a stainless flue can be a better solution.

[lowspeed]

I moved this post to your main thread. Please post questions about your build here.

Thanks,

Would it be OK to build the chimney out of regular red bricks? doesn't seem like super high heat
And if that's the case would regular cement work or high heat mortar needed?

[UtahBeehiver]

I moved this post to your main thread. Please post questions about your build here.

6" ID chimney up 36" ID, 8" ID greater than 36" ID. It is also suggested that the dome be insulated when curing the oven to reduce thermal differential between outside and inside of dome to min. cracking, New, wet ovens always smoke. Drafting the chimney helps, search for top down fire.

[lowspeed]

Also I'm planning on adding the chimney, is a 6" ID double wall chimney big enough?

Here's videos of first firing and the smoke:

https://youtu.be/D60r0V8phoM

https://youtu.be/wUHW9sjJw20

[lowspeed]

Finished the dome!

[Sixto]

Sixto, thank for the detailed reply!

Does the gallery need to be a minimum length or as long as the flue fits it's good?

If I'm understanding your question correctly, yes - as long as the flue fits, you should be fine. By "length" I'm thinking you mean the distance front-to-back from the outside face of your dome arch bricks to the inside face of your gallery arch. If you are talking about the side-to-side dimension (which typically tapers from widest just above the arch to narrowest just below the flue) I recommend you build the gallery as wide as your arch opening or even wider if possible at the bottom.

The important thing is to never build a brick opening that is smaller in cross-sectional area than the inside diameter of your flue. Some people go wider (side to side) and not as deep (front-to-back) and gradually transition from a rectangular masonry flue opening to the round metal chimney. (which is sort of what I did) My chimney is 6" inside diameter, and my masonry opening is directly above the dome arch, and 24" wide by 8" deep with bricks flared or apered on 3 sides. I now wish I had built mine wider at the base, since some smoke comes out the front of the gallery at startup. I may also need a 2' chimney extension since my sloping garage roof nearby is acting like an airfoil and directing some smoke downwards. So far the smoke issue is only till the oven reaches temperature and the coal bed is well-established, but I dislike the smoky smell that stays in my clothes and hair.

[Sixto]

Should the flue opening be as close as possible to the arch or should it be further away in the opening tunnel?

So in the case here should the flue hold be right there or should i build out the tunnel a little more and then the hole?

Peope have done it both ways and they all work.

My flue opening is right next to the dome arch, in order to do that, you either build a secondary arch just around the dome arch (with an insulated gap), or you support the flue directly ON the dome arch. I chose to have an insulated gap between the dome and the flue arches because I did not want the chimney to pull heat from the oven by being in direct contact with the arch. Some people build an arch in front of the dome arch and seal the joint with one or two high heat gasket rope lengths. Some people make the arch out of custom cut ¨L¨ shaped bricks so that the flue arch wraps around the front and top of the dome arch. Other features of building the flue opening closer to the dome are the opportunity to have a reveal for the door to close tightly, and a shallower gallery to make it easier to work the oven.

You had also asked how someone would find a question buried in a thread, The answer is by using the forum´s SEARCH function…. Íve spent many hours looking selectively through others´´posts to find alternative ways of doing things. I can understand someone wanting the answer quicker, but sometimes the answers I got were not enough (or my question was not clear enough) so the SEARCH function has become my best advisor in my quest to find answers.

Finally you had asked me about my floor bricks, I thought I had answered, but I don’t see it now. My floor is 4.5¨tall because I wanted more retained heat for baking bread. The downsides are more bricks and more joint to level, and it takes more wood to heat up. Most people build their floor 2.5¨thick, and that works fine. Some people use 12¨square bricks (2.5¨deep) to minimize joints. I just wanted more heat stored in my deeper floor. I have not yet built an insulated door, so I dońt know how well my oven retains heat from one day to another. I use bricks to close the arch right now… Íve only made Pizza 3 times, and last time I also used it to roast a brisket the day after pizza, and with no added fire, the oven was at 350f the next morning, and went down to 240F after 6 hours of cooking the brisket and another pan of sweet potatoes. I unbricked the opening 3 times during the roast. A good insulated door is tops in my priority list.

[lowspeed]

Should the flue opening be as close as possible to the arch or should it be further away in the opening tunnel?

So in the case here should the flue hold be right there or should i build out the tunnel a little more and then the hole?

[UtahBeehiver]

The purpose of using your main thread is to ask question specific to your build rather than clutter up the blog with one and twosie threads.