Karangi Dudes Barrel Bread Oven

[CapePizza]

Love those new doors, Doug! Really nice. And I see the new flame door matches your new avatar. Nice Great to see the transition from building the oven and how you developed the housing around it.

[Gulf]

The whole project is looking GREAT, Doug. It's been a while since we've seen a blast door featured in a post. I may just steal your design. I've stolen enough ideas from you over the years. What's one more among friends .

[UtahBeehiver]

Plus one on Joe's comment!

[JRPizza]

Doug, very nice job and with winter here I am jealous of your indoor oven
I was wondering how far back into your opening you place the blast door? Specifically, how much gap (approx.) do you shoot for between your inner arch reveal and the door to allow for venting up your chimney? From the pics it looks to be back quite a ways but I can't tell and figure there is a point where it is too far inserted and would effect how the oven vents.

[Karangi Dude]

Thank you John, I had built the insulated door some months ago and was using it to restrict the intake of air by putting it in the entrance on an angle but it was not quite doing the job I wanted so I decided on building a designated blast door it is light and works very well

Cheers Doug

[Karangi Dude]

Thank you, Joe and Russell, I would not call it stealing I would call it sharing between old friends.

It's not really a blast door, I would imagine a blast door would need to have some form of outside air being forced through the door into the oven, but by restricting the amount of air coming into the oven does create more velocity so I suppose it is a blast door in a way

When I was a child in the fifties I lived on farms that had farm houses with the only form of heating being an open fire except for the slow combustion wood stove
I can remember when my mother had trouble getting the fire going she would hold a matt across the front of the fire place blocking of the entrance but leaving a few inches at the bottom and it would create a roar as the fire would roar up the chimney.
I built my first blast door when we had the pizza oven on the trailer I used the door that came with the oven it was a single plate and I simply cut a section of the bottom just like the way my mother did with the matt it worked very well
When I built this door I wanted something that you could still see some of the fire especially for when we do our classes but I had to figure out how much to take out and would it still work with the hole not just across the bottom, so I worked on about 30% the same as I do for sizing the flue gallery to the area of the door arch and it works really well, lucky I suppose.

I know I don't post a lot any more but every now and then I find something that I would like to share with you guys

Cheers Doug

[david s]

I love the design you cut in. Did you get that laser cut?

[Karangi Dude]

Thank you JR, yes it is great having an oven that I can use any time of the year and without worrying about the rain etc. we have just installed an 8kw inverter split system air conditioner to make it even more comfortable for when we do our classes
The placement of the door is just before where the flue starts about an inch back before the opening that's about seven inches from the outside of the decorative arch, you could place it just inside the decorative arch it would work the same, I like it further in so it deflects the heat better

Cheers Doug

[Karangi Dude]

Thanks David, I cut it out with a jigsaw, drill and grinder with a 1mm cutting blade

Cheers Doug

[JRPizza]

Wow, I was betting laser cut too. I might have to play with a design when I copy your door

[Jubilado]

Hi Doug,

I am new to the forum and planning my build. You certainly have constructed a couple of awesome ovens. The posts have been very informative for me and others, I'm sure.

I noticed that on your bread oven you have the cooking surface bricks laid vertically for additional thermal mass. Do you think that the additional mass would improve your 48" oven? My build will be a Pompeii, a mere 90cm, and I wonder whether to add additional mass to the cooking surface with bricks on edge or 3" thick bricks. Our oven will be general purpose; baking, cooking, pizza.

Also, I was wondering if your cooking surface bricks 'float' on the calcium silicate board or are they mortared in? I tend to like floating.

Rob

My initial post: https://community.fornobravo.com/forum/good-background-information/introductions/433788-guanajuato-build

[Karangi Dude]

Thank you Rob,

I built the 48'' oven about 10 years ago it was a big oven and of course took a bit to get it up to temperature but when it did it stayed hot for days I don't think I needed any extra thermal mass on that oven.
Rob, I have built lots of ovens since then and the most of them had a 3'' hearth and they all worked well IMO insulation is the key under and over the entire oven
I put an oven in a trailer it only had a 2'' hearth it was quick to heat up as we were doing mainly pizzas but it would hold enough heat to bake bread the next day again it was well insulated
See; https://community.fornobravo.com/for...-s-mobile-oven

Rob, when I built the Barrel oven I decided to add more mass to the hearth as I was intending to do multiple loads of bread, it is a big oven like my 48'' and takes a bit to get it up to temperature thats why I built the blast door, and yes it is well insulated so it does hold heat very well, it is a bread oven and performs the way I planned

So in answer to your questions IMO I would stick with 3'' of hearth on your intended oven it will heat up quicker and if you insulate it well it will retain enough heat to bake the next day and beyond
I always lay my hearth bricks without mortar floating as you say and inside the walls I do not see any benefit from having the walls sit on the hearth

I hope this helps good luck with your build

Cheers Doug

[Jubilado]

Hi Doug,

I just now saw your reply. With nearly a 3 month gap, it is obvious that I am still learning how to navigate this site. It's also amazing to me that I have been designing this long.

Thank you. I will be using 2-1/2" thick brick, which is easiest to get, and I think that will do fine.

Rob

[Karangi Dude]

Hi Rob, nothing wrong with lots of planning, you know most commercial pizza ovens only have a 2'' hearth so your 2-1/2'' should be just fine
Good luck with your build

Cheers Doug

[oasiscdm]

Hi Doug

As usual planning preparation equals perfection and another oven down. Amnazing bulid Doug