Help, need advice!!

[nissanneill]

Re: Help, need advice!!

Hi again Mark,
I will refer to Rusell Jeavons oven and his book.

"My outside oven has two layers of clay pavers. The first layer is a base and gives extra mass, and the second forms the sole of the oven. This way it is easy to replace damaged parts of the flor because the bricks are thinner and easier to cut. I also found that pavers had a smoother tiops than house bricks I used for the dome."

The pavers that he is referring to are 2" thick and would have been fired at around 1200˚C. So they are very stable until they reach or exceed their initial firing temperature which would be double that of your oven.
As Russell says,
"If you want to spend money for no good reason, use fire bricks if you must, but they are designed for kilns, not ovens. A brick is fired at 1100˚C and is stable until it reaches that temperature".

Neill

[berryst]

Re: Help, need advice!!

This just sounds like a fun project. I have searched the Internet ...heck they even build ovens out of mud and straw for generations. That said, I don't really recommend it How about this. Try to cover the cooking surface with splits. These are i/2 the thickness of regular brick. This will keep the hottest part of the fire off of the local brick. They are not mortared in and thus easy to replace. I put a layer of splits over my nasty used brick.
You can find then pretty cheap if you Google fire bricks ...lots cheaper than WA State. Shipping will be costly but fire bricks are lighter than regular bricks

Is there a craigslist in D.R. Perhaps you can post a firebrick wanted add and see what turns up. Maybe a combined order with some other folks. What bout your other oven? Maybe you can stuff some brick in the back just to see how they cycle.

Having the first wood fired oven may be really good for business as people "discover" you....and some damn fine pizza

You can see what I am doing ....just search "berryst" and look under the "Journey is the destination..."

[nissanneill]

Re: Help, need advice!!

You are right there in building an oven with anything.
Herein outback Australia, where the pioneers to an area such as small opal or gem mining, outpost stations on some of our larger stock properties (1,500,000 acres) even use 44 gallon drums for hot water services and ovens. The 'donkey' as it is commonly known is a 44 drum laying on its side over a fire bed covered in at least a foot of dirt, with a water supply into the bottom of the end and the hot water supply out from the top. Light the fire once a day and you have 44 gallons (200 litres) of hot water for 24 hours.
Use the same principle but cut a half of the top out and you have an oven. I'm not saying it is a pizza oven but good enough to cook plenty of basic foods in. You only need to wash out all the remaining oil/fuel but one fire in it will clean it out well.
Hell, I've seen a road grader driver maintaining roads way out back, cook his breakfast of eggs and bacon on a shovel over his campfire. It worked a treat - a small barbeque plate!

Neill

[mark4604]

Re: Help, need advice!!

Ok so I called the brick maker today with in depth questions and they assured me that those are fire bricks they are made separately from the other construction bricks and support very high temps. I explained the temps involved with a wood fired oven and they were very aware of the process and said those bricks are used in other wood ovens. She seemed very knowledgeable about wood ovens and even offered me to go to check there personal oven constructed from those exact bricks so I feel pretty comfortable with that now. I asked her if it was possible to make custom bricks for me since the ones I see here are different sizes from what I see everyone else using. Can anyone suggest the dimensions I should be using so I can place an order? Also if there willing to make a custom batch should I ask them to include any special ingredients?

[Ken524]

Re: Help, need advice!!

Mark,

It sounds like those bricks will work fine. I would think custom bricks could get pricey. I'd build the oven with the ones they have in stock. Variations in brick size won't hurt anything. Go for it!

[Wiley]

Re: Help, need advice!!

From what you have found out I would agree with Ken, and use the bricks available and adjust the plans as needed.

Do keep us posted w/ pictures etc. Did they have any recommendations for cement/mortar? If so I would try it as well. It's hard to argue with success and if they have ovens using these bricks that are working they are doing something right even if it seems different from what is being done elsewhere.

Bests,
Wiley

[SpringJim]

Re: Help, need advice!!

Yeah, don't sweat it....those bricks will work fine....add a little homebrew mortar and you can get fired up in no time!

Good luck...post pics of your build!

[berryst]

Re: Help, need advice!!

Just do it ....and send us some pics...and make room at the table ....just wonder who's going to show up!!! Best of luck.