Domes vs. Elongated Construction

[jeffsifrit]

I am starting to plan my oven, which direction should I go? I like the elongated style(simply because of the time savings, not cutting so many bricks). I will be using it for pizza, turkey, chicken, and would like to try breads. I love the picture on this site, with the fireplace, outdoor kitchen, and firering. It has a purgula(sp?) attached to it. Does anyone have more detailed pictures of it?

Thank you for all the info
Rookie

[maver]

I don't know that it's as easy as a barrel vault but constructing my dome was certainly not the hard part with the oven. The finish took a lot longer (is still taking actually) than the dome. Most of the dome can be made with 1/2 bricks (which I created by scoring the brick with a partial cut and then whacked the sides apart with the back of a roofing hammer) so there is no need for complex cuts until the end of the dome build. Obviously, if you want to minimize the mortar size you can make more cuts.

A dome is more versatile than a barrel. More even heat, and with the pompeii design much faster to bring to temperature than a barrel - this is important for regular use.

[james]

I'll second what Maver wrote. The round oven is a lot more fum to cook in.
James

[james]

One more thing to add here.
Elongated ovens and barrel vault ovens are different. An elongated dome is a round, dome oven that is oval shaped. A number of Italian ovens are oval, including the Casa160, the Artigiano120 and the Modena 160 and 180. They behave like a traditional dome oven, and give you more cooking space throgh extra depth.

The barrel vault has a rectangular foot print, and a barrel vault top that curves in only one direction.

Picky, picky.
James