Do I Need A Chimney?

[shvuntz]

can someone tell me if a chimney is absolutely necessary?i am thinking about buying a domed pizza oven on ebay where there is no chimney how does this work? its made from steel re-inforced, cast volcanic pumice stone, clad in traditional stone
its 1000 pounds...so i need to get it right
It looks lovely and is made in Denmark...HELP!!!

[gjbingham]

A chimney is not necessary. Just expect a lot of smoke out the front of the oven. Check out this thread on an earthen oven built recently in Texas. Sounds like what you're considering: http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f3/h...exas-3397.html (Hello from Texas)

[Inishta]

Hi shvuntz, welcome to Forno Bravo forum. Hopefully the decision to buy this isn't imminent (for 1000 quid it shouldn't be rushed.) Browse the site, especially the photos, before making a decision. Contact a couple of UK builders. Seems to me that for the kind of money your spending you could have a pompeii. We all know how good these ovens can be and no smoke in your face! Perhaps an FB pre-cast would fit the bill. Lots of options.

[Frances]

Wait... 1000 pounds, would that be the weight or the currency??

[shvuntz]

Its 1000 pounds money!!
Argh I'm getting terribly confused and sad. because I have done nothing for the last month but look at the net about what I can get, how i can build it, and there are so many ways to do it wrong and equally as many ways to do it right.
I dont want a clay one because it seems its not permanent enought and in our climate (uk) it could crack or not withstand the bad weather.
At first I wanted to make one then I got confused with the science, then I thought i'd buy one of those ready made domes, you have to encase in all sorts of stuff but they are around 1,300, and thats before youve done anything else...So when I saw the one on ebay which was 1000 and says;

Made from steel re-inforced, cast volcanic pumice stone, clad in the traditional stone indigenous to the islands of Mors in Denmark, this oven is both weather and heat resistant.

And is quite generous in size
Diameter 110cm
Weight 500kg
Height including legs 100cm
Door width 34cm Door height 34cm
The oven comes in 5 sections, plus 3 legs due to it's weight.
Fire cement is provided to seal it together.
Thickness of the segments as shown in picture: with stone 16cm and without 13cm.

I cant show you the pic as this site wont allow me, but its a very interesting dome faced with stones, and stands on legs which are short fat ones which I would raise onto a plinth, then box them in to store things underneath.
(its on ebay under pizza oven... )

Otherwise I could get the help of a builder,,DOES ANYONE OUT THERE KNOW ANYONE IN LONDON WHO COULD HELP!!!!


Cheryl xxx

[shvuntz]

Outdoor Pizza Oven on eBay, also, Other Garden, Garden Plants, Home Garden (end time 19-Mar-08 21:08:12 GMT)


thats the link someone take a look and tell me what they think please!!!

[dmun]

That sideview of the segment is interesting. It shows that, on the good side, it has lots of insulating concrete. Pumice, btw, is a perfectly good insulator for ovens. Not so good is that there is only about half an inch of, what?, refractory concrete on the inside. Masonry ovens work by absorbing heat and reflecting it back on the food, I think you would have something that would have so little masonry in the dome that it would not retain enough heat to cook the top of your pizza, let enough to do retained heat baking once the fire is out of the dome. By comparison ordinary pre-fab ovens have about two inches of masonry, our hand built pompeii ovens about four inches.

About the chimney: You don't absolutely need one, but you are going to want one. The most work of starting the fire is just when smoke is pouring out of the opening. Do you want that in your face? As a bonus, a chimney increases the air flow through your oven, and makes it easier, faster, and less smokey to start a fire.

I would absolutely not buy this oven until I'd talked to someone who had used one on a regular basis. Better still would be to go start a fire and cook in one. I don't think you would want to be the guinea pig on this project, particularly if it involves pulling a thousand UK pounds out of your pocket.

[dmun]

Also, remember that London is a Smoke Control Area, you may not be able to use open fires there at all.

[Frances]

I can see what you mean, it does look very nice.

However, having built an oven and gained a little bit of experience cooking in it, I would agree with dmun in this. Listen to him, he knows what he's talking about.

I dunno, but since you're on this site, why not check out the Forno Bravo ovens? I see you can get an oven including chimney, insulation and everything for not much more than that - and you'd be absolutely sure it would be brilliant for cooking. If you're going to spend that kind of money on an oven, and don't want to build from scratch, do make sure you get one that works!

...And then you could always copy the outside finish of this one Actually someone already once made a stand that was pretty similar.

[shvuntz]

I have decided to buy one from Forno Bravo and spoke to a lovely man called Alf Armstrong, who is the UK distributor... I think its silly to go ahead with the one on ebay and I would rather design it myself aswell...I shall mosaic it..