New oven in South West Sydney

[beer__baron]

Hi Guys,

I?m from south west Sydney NSW, Australia and I finally got around to building my WFO.

Thought I would tell your guys my plan and get some feedback from everyone who knows a bit more about this than me

The plan is to have a 1000mm diameter dome similar to the Pompeii 42in high vault.

The oven will sit on a concrete slab and for the oven base I plan to use 75mm Calcium Silicate bricks for insulation on top of the concrete and 50mm Fire Bricks for the oven floor on top, will this be sufficient as I have heard that the vermiculate doesn?t perform as well as the Calcium Silicate bricks, thoughts?

For the Dome I plan to use dry pressed solid bricks, similar to Bowral Blues. As fire bricks are about $3.5ea and dry pressed solids are $0.6ea so it makes a huge difference for the cost of the overall project. However I?m keen to know how these bricks perform in comparison to the fire bricks. I mean can you just increase the insulation on the outside of the dome to compensate for the difference?

I have read that ovens the next day are still cranking and i would like my oven to perform like this.

Ill post some pics in the next few weeks.

Thanks in advance Adrian

[Bacterium]

Re: New oven in South West Sydney

Welcome aboard Adrian,

Not sure what you mean by pompei vault. Generally the pompei is a circular dome shape, whereas the term vault in regards to oven shape is more the longer barrel/rectangle shape. But anyway what sort of cooking are you looking to do?

CalSil is the right insulating material for underneath so usually you get it in boards.
Post away your pics, usually good to see other peoples ideas and you will get plenty of helpful input.

[brickie in oz]

Re: New oven in South West Sydney

and 50mm Fire Bricks for the oven floor on top,

I used 50mm thick refractory floor tiles, I now wish I had used a 110mm brick thickness.
The tiles have cracked from chucking firewood into the oven, still servicable though.

Not sure what you mean by pompei vault.

A dome is still a vaulted ceiling.

[beer__baron]

Re: New oven in South West Sydney

Thanks guys.

As far what cooking i plan to do the answer is anything and everything including Pizza's, Roasts, Ribs, Stews and maybe even a small pig, lamb, goat or what ever i can get my hands on

With the 50mm floor tiles cracking that doesnt sound right, i mean a lot of driveways are done in 50mm pavers and they hold up under all sorts of punishment, so it might be the bedding between the insulation and the floor tiles. (just a thought)

Any thoughts on using dry pressed bricks in lieu of fire bricks for the dome?