If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

[Lill Dave]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

Hi Chris
I'm just finishing my second oven a 36 in pompeii, Insluation is the main thing Iincreased.

[SCChris]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

.. Ping, just bringing this back to the front. I think it's a helpfull thread for newbies and fun for us with WFOs to see where others go with this thread. I may be a bit presumptuous however.



Chris

[Lill Dave]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

I would have built mine years earlier.

I'll give you a big noshit on that one

[Lill Dave]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

For sure the floor insulation would be at least 2" plus inches thick and ceramic and right under the cooking surface.

[lwood]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

how big posey? these things eat a lot of wood. My 60"er takes 2 good hours to warm-up and a lot of wood.....but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Love the extra floor space and can easily do a whole pig, lamb, whatever.

For a commercial application, 60" is good size and you can do a lot of bread in it as well...probably 20 lbs. I haven't mustard-up the courage to do 20 lbs yet.

Mine is a low-dome 60"s. I like the lower dome for pizza, but I think it browns the top crust of bread faster than I like. Of course I have nothing to compare it to, so I don't really know how a perfect dome would cook.

I cook a dozen loaves of French bread no problem....maybe 4 - 5 kilos. Jay will tell you that you can't get a proper artisan crust without a 16 lb load...Hope I didn't mis-quote you Jay. Will have to let you know when I get some more courage...wasn't that the lion's line in wizard of Oz?....Courage.

[jposey]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

If i had the chance, i will make my oven way bigger and i will increase the heat temperature. Nice thread here. Thanks for posting.

[tusr18a]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

I would have increased the thickness of my inner arch. It is only about 1.5 inches thick. I have already managed to hit it with a log causing the arch bricks to release. I reset the mortar. However, after a few firings, the bricks are already loose again. I made it so thin because I needed room for the flue to pass through the arch. When I was looking at the photos of arch designs in the Pompeii instructions, I could have sworn that I was cutting the arch bricks just like in the Pompeii photos. Oh well. Live and learn.

[lwood]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

One more item..
Champfer the inside of the entry to minimize chipping when tending the fire and cleaning the oven out. Just a 1/4 to 1/2 inch would keep chipping of this edge to a minimum.

Chris

This is definitely a problem, I thought I was the only one. My next oven will have a pre-cast angle iron entry way with a hinged door (with my name on it...haha). I am hitting that edge, all the time, with my peel. When a chip of fire-brick comes flying-off, it breaks my heart.

[Paul in Rockwall TX]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

I'd have invested in a good brick saw. I did everything with an angle grinder or chisel, and some of my stuff was less than neat. I covered it with mortar. works great and nobody notices, but I do. If I ever build another (I hope not), I'd pay more attention to the angles.

[jammyweb]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

I'd pay more attention to the door/chimney area. But for those new to brickwork - that is the hardest bit - so I opted to keep it simple. You don't get such a good seal on the door or neat chimney - but it still cooks good.

James

[SCChris]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

George, at some point I may take a grinder but to date it's no big deal. I just figured since it was on my mind, I'd pass it along to the next generation.
Les, :-)

Chris

[fxpose]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

Won't be as neat and precise but I guess you can take an angle grinder to round off or bevel the edges.

[Les]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

One more item..
Champfer the inside of the entry to minimize chipping when tending the fire and cleaning the oven out. Just a 1/4 to 1/2 inch would keep chipping of this edge to a minimum.

Chris

Great point. I just noticed this weekend that I had a chip. Don't remember doing it - most likely too much wine.

[fxpose]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

^^^ Funny you mention this, I'm actually going to retrofit angle irons on both sides of the inner entry sometime soon as the bottom corners are starting to chip from the use of oven tools and roasting pans.

[SCChris]

Re: If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

One more item..
Champfer the inside of the entry to minimize chipping when tending the fire and cleaning the oven out. Just a 1/4 to 1/2 inch would keep chipping of this edge to a minimum.

Chris