[CanuckJim]

Jay,

I built my own Alan Scott 4'x3', brick by brick, barrel vault oven for baking bread. From my experience with this build and also installing Forno Bravo ovens for customers, I would very strongly suggest that you completely scrap the idea of the flue placement at the back. This simply will not work with any efficiency. Making the oven more accessible is a misdirection; properly built these ovens do not smoke, and the facade of the chimney will only get warm to the touch. The whole point about these ovens is to get them hot and keep them hot. For a community oven, this would be crucial for people who want retained heat for bread, meats, casseroles. The design you suggest would guarantee, damper or not, that most of the heat would go right up the flue. Stick with the flue in the front model; it's been proven over centuries. True, for you fuel is not an issue, but how long are you willing to wait to get the oven up to heat? With a rear flue, you'll be stoking and waiting quite a bit; then add gathering and cutting into the equation. The time would be better spent baking with a beer in hand.

The 63 per cent figure for door height is the one to go with. I'd use the dimensions of one of the Ristorante ovens or go with a barrel vault design. My oven is a demon for bread baking, but it's not as efficient for pizza, though it can be done with practice.

Also, the mantra here, and it's a tried and true one, is that you can NEVER have too much insulation, both below and above. I suspect you'll only want to build this oven once, so insulate it as thickly as you have room for; you'll be glad you did.

I suggest you revise your drawing and re-post it here. You will get the advice you're after.

Jim