Florida Igloo Brick Oven Photos Discuss Florida Igloo in the Good Background Information forums; Those bricks on the inside of the wood storage area are very cool. I didn't want cement block on the ...

[Frances]

Those bricks on the inside of the wood storage area are very cool.

I didn't want cement block on the inside of my oven stand either, and went with solid stone walls istead... so what if you rarely see in the inside of the stand, you still know its there!

Chimney off the middle of the oven will look great, too. I thought the chimney over the front was weird to begin with, but after looking at it for all this time I don't even notice it anymore.

[leemc]

RT

I saw the posts on the squirrel tail oven and it will be similar to that except that I want to vent from the front to the center and I plan to do it all inside the insulation layer between the inner and outer dome. I plan to make sure it draws well before I install the outer dome just in case I have to reroute or resize my flue.

Frances

I agree even though I will have to learn to lay brick from an incline position!

Lee

[Archena]

Hi,

Disclaimer: I'm a total novice and I haven't built anything yet. That said my design also calls for modified squirrel tail. Instead of the usual back to front I'm planning on front to back since I like the look of the chimney in the back. I'm looking forward to seeing how things go for you, since it will be quite a while yet before I start my build.

For you folks that are considering bricking in the interior of the stand, since it's for cosmetic reasons have you considered just using face brick? Some construction adhesive and a little bit of mortar for the visible joints and you're done. It's got to be easier than try to construct a brick wall in an enclosed space... Just a thought...

So, are you planning to enclose your oven?

[jengineer]

It can be done. MHA did a similar one whwere it actually vents in the front but as Lee points out it then squirrel tails back. This forces the hot gases to do a lot of turning and could greatly increase the size of the dome height. Biggest thing to rememebr is to not neck it down and to provide smooth transitions around the corners. In other discussion here the vent pipe was going up in a home DMUN was readily able to quote some numbers.

Check out MHA News - 2006 Meeting - Backyard Oven with Peter Moore for the pics of a squirrel vent

These quick build ovens at MHA are NOT insulated and are torn down at the end of the meeting. The quality of the masonry work is first class. You can get pointers just by looking at the builds

[nodoubt68]

Thanks for posting the link to the squirrel vent dome. Great for a look.

[dmun]

Lets see. The squirrel tail was an American colonial bake oven that had the vent go out the back of the oven and curve back over the oven ceiling and up the front. It had the theoretical advantage of using the hot flue gases to add heat to the dome, but of course it works in the opposite direction once the fire's out and it works to cool the oven with air drawn out through the flue. In addition it has all the problems with the vent in the oven, bad air circulation, etc.

It's not a very well thought out design, because the oven opening is in the back of the firebox of a cooking fireplace. Hair on fire? asks Superior Clay, who hosts this image.

Now a lot of Italian ovens, particularly low dome Naples style ovens vent out through the top of the dome, for aesthetic reasons, like these, at A Mano in Ridgewood NJ:



Now if your oven is freestanding and you don't need to mess with building code, you are free to curve the flue back that sharply from the entrance. If you need to comply with building code, you need to do two thirty degree angles to achieve the center exit. I think the less sharp angles will give you better draw: the reason for the 30 degree limit in building code is that is the sharpest angle you can get a cleaning brush through.

In any event, I'd isolate your angled flue from your dome with a mound of vermiculite concrete. This will keep your dome uniformly hot, and support your offset flue as well.

[RTflorida]

I knew dmun would come through with good info...thanks David.

This note is for those who become obsessed and overly concerned about dome cracks...
Look closely at the photo of A Mano in dmun's post. That is a pretty sizeable crack running from the hearth to vent, obviously this is a commercial setting that sees continuous fires and thousands of pizzas.....note - no yellow caution tape and the kitchen has not been turned back into a construction zone over a dome crack. My point is (as stated many, many times by many forum members) ALL OVENS CRACK OR WILL CRACK and it does not pose a problem unless you didn't follow the basics of dome building. If for no other reason, this is a GREAT photo example.

RT

[mstang1988]

Originally Posted by leemc

Starting my formwork now for the hearth. The arch will be a little tricky, but I my Idea is to attach a curved ripped plywood to a 2”x4” every 18”, then run 1”x2” strips perpendicular on the curved plywood at 6” to 8” on center. A thin 1/8” sheet of Luan plywood could be wrapped onto this arch and still support the weight of the wet concrete. It may look a little like overkill, but I’ve seen the disaster of a form failure before an I didn’t want to see it here.

Lee

I was looking at doing a similar design (arch underneath the hearth containing a standalone smoker). I was curious as to how you are going to lay your bricks etc. In my mind was thinking I might use forms and build the smoker with firebricks and leave the forms there after construction (in an arch), lay a layer of insulating cement, then lay they hearth for the oven and insulating layer etc. Is this similar to your plans? If not how are you planning on laying it? Do do you see any problems with my plans?

Btw, it's looking great! Can't wait to get started on mine!

[leemc]

Mstang

I don't plan on having the offsett firebox as part of the oven build. My main idea is to provide a conduit at this stage from the outside into the oven chamber. Basically I am going to use one of the unfilled block cells and a blockout in the structural hearth. It hopefully will be more clear once I post my pictures of the hearth pour shortly. My thought is to just use a large terra-cotta planter with a lid on it and some holes drilled in it for the fire box. I would have to rig some sort of duct from the top over to the oven stand and into the conduit. This was I can just bring it out when I plan to smoke something in the oven and put it away when I am not.

Seems like it should work but we will see...

Lee

[leemc]

Poured the structural hearth a couple of weekends ago and I have attached pics below. A few comments:

- I forgot to take pictures of the final completed form before I poured. I did some relief on the front of the form that will remain exposed just for decorative purposes. That was the first section I covered in concrete when I started pouring so I had to take a picture of the form after I stripped it.

- I used three bags of sand mix concrete right at the exposed face trying to reduce any honeycombs and to help give a smooth uniform look when I rubbed the concrete after I stripped it. I stripped the form the morning after the pour and just used a wet sponge to rub it and it came out with a nice stucco like texture.

- I did the pour monolithically with a block out for the hearth insulation which is a little different than most here who do a second pour around the insulation layer or insulation blockout.

- You can see the blockout I made with 2x4's nailed together and stuck into the hollow block cell and an angle to get the smoker flue into the insulation layer. When the concrete set up for a few hours I just tapped the block loose and pulled it out leaving a nice flue into the masonry cell.

- I suggest getting some help for this stage from some spry kid like I did with my coworker Matt - you can just spot him in one picture through the concrete dust in front of the mixer. I rewarded him with a handle of Absolut vodka and the promise of a few pizzas in the near future.