Using both firebricks and prelite

[Ofek2105]

Hello everyone,
I am starting to design a wood oven for the first time. And I will do a lot of stuff for the first time in this project (like using concrete, connecting bricks and cutting them, etc).
I seen on youtube many people who use prelite instead of bricks, since its cheaper and easier to use.
I was thinking of making a Hybrid solution since I want to cut costs and I like the brick look on the inside.(and I think that bricks are better performence wise)

I am planning on doing bricks for the first couple of rows of the dome and then complete the top of the dome with prelite - Since making the top of the dome with bricks also look difficult.

Id love to hear your opnion and other comments.

yesterday i started digging 1meter by 1meter for the foundation but I think I will need to change it into 2meter by 1.5meter for a dome of inner diameter of 90 cm

[JRPizza]

Unfortunately youtube has quite a bit of bad information. Perlite is an insulator and is not suitable for dome building. A proper oven is one where a heat storing material is used for the dome (thermal mass) and is surrounded by a layer of insulation (like perlite). If you are serious about building a well functioning oven you should download the Forno Bravo plans to get an idea of the proper materials to use. There are ways to save money and avoid using bricks - do a search of the forum for "cast dome" and you can see what others have done.

[david s]

To add further to JRPizza’s excellent advice, in addition to perlite being an insulator, it also reduces the strength of any mix to which it is added. Apart from its inability to store heat the reduced strength can make the inner dome susceptible to damage. Not only will this reduce the longevity of the inner dome, you could easily find bits falling off into your food which might give your guests an interesting surprise.