Brick Oven Photos Brick Oven Photos Discuss Brick Oven Photos in the Good Background Information forums; Dmun, Yes, but these two brick masons were so fast that they were able to lay many courses in a ...

[Jim Bob]

Dmun,
Yes, but these two brick masons were so fast that they were able to lay many courses in a day's time and clean them up before leaving.

Breven,

I kept wondering why they were saving all of the old brick pieces, loose dry mortar, mortar bags, concrete block pieces, & a small pile of pea gravel. Obviously if the walls ever come down my yard will be a waste dump!!! That's why I wasn't sure about the excess thermal mass outside the oven perhaps soaking some of the heat away from the inside of the oven, making it tougher to maintain a good high heat. But since curing the oven haven't had many opportunities to try it out. BUT SOON!!!!
Jim Bob

[concreteoasis]

a few pics of the start of mine

[Jim Bob]

concreteoasis:
Oven looks great. How big is inside diameter of the oven? It appears to be 42" or bigger. Great brickwork.
I have had several good pizza cooks in my oven since it was built this past summer. It took me a while to adjust to the temperature variance in the dome & floor and what was the ideal temp to cook pizzas. Have found that if the floor temp is greater than 850, it is wise to use a cheap pizza pan to allow top to cook more evenly with bottom of pizza. I tried one pizza at 1110 degrees on dome and 1000 on floor. Man, did it burn fast!!! Had to cool it down.
Also found that if I mess up on sliding pizza off of peel, it is easy to make it a giant calzone instead.
I did try the SeaBass on a cedar plank too. It was fantastic. Did find out though that it is necessary to turn the fish over halfway thru the cooking in order to cook evenly.
Jim Bob

[concreteoasis]

thanks for the compliments on the brick work , i was schooled by an old world Italian mason ! The oven floor dia. 36 inches with a dome height of 19 inches. The outside shell has 4 inches of vermiculite/concrete shell and then a layer of chicken wire with waterproof cement. As this project progresses i will build a block structure around this and stucco. I will also add some roman element accents so stay tuned. As for cooking pizza , I am starting the seasoning process today and we are having a party on sat. so pizzas will be cooking . I will let you know how i make out

[Jim Bob]

So you are starting the curing process today and cooking next Saturday? 7 days is great for the process. I took it very slow increasing the temp as instructed by Forno Bravo, 100 degrees per day. It has apparently made a difference. I have absolutely no cracks or splits in the interior cooking area.
Sounds like you have the oven very well insulated. I used not only the 4" of loose vermiculite but a layer of the high heat insulation cloth wrapped in chicken wire under that.
Jim Bob