Floor modification

[WJW]

Re: Floor modification

Your oven will work a lot better with three inches of insulation under the hearth than with none. No doubt about it. I'm sure you'll be able to easily cook bread, roasts, etc. Pizza will be no problem. My guess is that 12 hours after pizza temps you'll be in the 375-400 degree range. If you want to do bread the next day you'll build a small fire to bring the temp back up and you'll be good to go. It's going to work.

Bill

[ShannonCorum]

Re: Floor modification

Thanks, Bill. It's nice to get some words of encouragement.

Shannon

[WJW]

Re: Floor modification

Happy to do so Shannon.

The thing you need to understand about Al (brickie) is that he's a mason. He can build an oven as easily as he can tie his shoes. Have you seen the ovens he's built? The masonry technique, the plans, the theory are all about perfect as far as I can see. He and about five or six other regulars on this site are extremely talented masons and they are kind enough to share their knowledge.

For mere mortals like you and I, the idea of knocking an oven down and starting from stratch is a complete disaster. Not so much for some of these other guys. They could rebuild one in a week or two. It'd take me months. Fortunately for me, I found this forum BEFORE I did my build. So I already had an idea of what I needed to do as far as general theory, insulation, oven opening size, etc. And then every day after I worked on the oven, I took pictures of what I had done and posted them here. And the guys and gals around here were generous enough to share their knowledge with a rookie. So any mistakes I made (and there were many) were easily undone because I usually knew about it before the mortar was really dry.

Your situation is somewhat different and you'll need to make the best of it. I think by doing what you are talking about you'll be OK. You won't win the "whose oven stays hottest the longest contest", but you'll have a lot of fun with it and you'll cook great food with it.

And even if I'm wrong, if it trully does take an unacceptablly long period of time to bring up to temp...and even if won't hold heat well enough to bake bread the next day...well THEN you can rebuild if you choose. (But I think you'll find that it works well enough for those things that you probablly won't tear it down.)

The reason I decided to build an oven in the first place was because a friend has one that a contractor did for him. I thought it was so cool. Looks very pretty. Zero insulation. I didn't know that was an issue...and neither did he. He still cooks pizza in it. He has a big fire for a few hours before he cooks pizza. The pizza is delicious. The hearth does not stay very hot and after two pizzas he's raking coals over it to "recharge" with heat before cooking the next two.

His wife is an excellent chef and baker (formally trained). She can not cook bread in their oven. Has not done it once successfully. No problem on the flatbreads... can do dinner rolls...but actual loaves are a no go. She freaked out when she saw what my oven does as far as breads, roasts, etc., compared to theirs.

So the insullation really makes a huge difference, but my friends still have fun with their oven with no insulation whatsoever. I think you'll be fine with your compromise solution.

Keep us posted.

Bill

[ShannonCorum]

Re: Floor modification

Thanks. I've already poured a concrete slab infront of the oven so I could expand the countertop in front of the current door. I'll be bricking up the chimney and moving it infront of the doorway. I'll also be closing up the door some to help with heat circulation in the dome. Adding insulation to the outside isn't a big issue. The floor was probably the worst because I didn't really think I could rip up the existing floor. It wasn't easy. And after we'd successfully managed to mangle 1/2 of a brick without getting out anyting but little chunks at a time, I seriously debating getting out the sledghammer. Luckily, we stuck with it and finally got down to the concrete slab underneath. Then we were able to pry up whole bricks at a time. The edges were difficult because the dome is built on top. But we took a rotozip with a diamond blade and cut along the inside edge of the dome as far down as the blade would go. Then resorted to a mason's chisel and hammer to piece out the edge parts. After looking at some other sites and seeing how to close up the front, I realized that my dome is at the same point a lot of other designs are before they narrow the front door so why tear it down?

I'm sure it will be better. It takes me about 1 1/2 hours to get it temp now, without any insulation. I had to do the same thing your friend did and recharge the floor after a couple of pizzas. I do need to work on my pizza peel skills. The last time I used the oven, I got my pizza all ready. Had all my toppings in place. Went to slide in the pizza and everything but the dough went in. It wasn't pretty.

Shannon