If you had the chance to rebuild your oven, what would you change?

[wotavidone]

I enjoy the oven size discussion. Davids' 21 inch oven sounds small at 530mm, but then FB sell 600mm/24inch, and 700mm 28 inch ovens. That's pretty much how I decided on the size of my oven. I didn't want a collossus cluttering up my outdoor area, but it had to be big enough to be practical. So Ifigured if Davids could get by with a 21 inch oven, FB sold a 24 inch, and a "big" 28 inch, then 750mm/30 inches would be cool. Bunnings sell one that is only 600mm, and a bigger one that is 660. And firewood played a part. Up here the redgums fall over with monotonous regularity. The last few years we've been getting sudden gales, which when combined with drought weakened trees, means a lot fall over. The sort of thin branches that would be of a good size for a small oven are easy to cut, and are generally passed over in favour of thicker logs by the other firewood scavengers.

[cobblerdave]

Gudday Mick
High dome V low dome don't worry if the top of you pizza cooking a little slower than the base.....onto the peel with that pizza lift up towards the roof the heat up there is real hot and will crisp and brown that pizza in secounds....regardless of high or low dome.

Regards Dave

[Bacterium]

Ahhh hey worst case with pizza..... If you find yourself in the middle of a cook up getting distracted with a beer/glass of red ......and your not keeping the fire on track"..

if the top is cooking quicker than the bottom, stick the peel over the top to shroud it to get the bottom over the line
Or
If the bottom is getting close and the top is looking a bit under done, stick the pizza on a tray or 2..... O well gets them over the line....

[brung99]

Originally Posted by cobblerdave

I have a 42' oven and its great but since building it my boys have move on and If were to build again would even consider going down to 30" why? a number of reasons
A 30 inch should still cook 2 pizza at a time trust me a 42' can handle 3 to 4 x 12" in pizza at a time but I can't ...its too quik you sure to burn one. The time is in the pizza making not the cooking.
Unless I cooking a small pig/lamb the 42' ovens overkill sometime 30" should give you a high enough wide enough entrance to handle a really big baking dish anyway.
Anyway I'd never pull my oven down to build smaller however. the fornos the best design remember what ever you do..... insulate well as you can

Regards Dave

Thanks for your input Dave. I love hearing others opinions on this issue as im still trying to figure out what would best suit me & my family.

Regards,
Bruno

[Puckncrazy1]

Well... not hire my mason buddy with no oven building experience to build an oven.

[brickie in oz]

Originally Posted by Puckncrazy1

Well... not hire my mason buddy with no oven building experience to build an oven.

Just because they are bricklayers doesnt mean they know how to build an oven..

[jimkramer]

Seems like using FB board instead of vermicrete was a common wish for #2 oven. If you went with vermicrete only...is the problem that it's hard to reach cooking temp, or that you can't cook on the second day without refiring? I don't imagine I'll be doing too much cooking two days in a row, and if I do, I have lots of wood. Still trying to swallow all that cash for FB board shipped to NY, but it hurts.

[Les]

Originally Posted by jimkramer

I don't imagine I'll be doing too much cooking two days in a row, and if I do, I have lots of wood

Jim,

Insulate well! I cooked pizza last night and from the remaining heat (380 deg) I cooked a chicken tonight. I would still be able to slow cook something tomorrow night but will probably opt for BBQ. The money spent on insulation will pay for itself over the years. (unless you are in tornado alley or the hurricane belt, where wood falls from the sky)

[mrchipster]

I have mentioned this on another post but this is the proper place for it.

I built my oven floor inside the dome and am happy with the configuration but I put down sailor bricks as my first chains, and there is a tendency for the peel to catch slightly in the mortar joint at floor level. If I were to build another oven, I would put down a split for the first brick chain and then the floor would meet the middle of a brick and have no where to catch.

Chip

[jimkramer]

Wow, never thought about that mrchipster. Another reason why this thread is so great. What's the difference between a soldier and sailor brick? Is it full vs half brick?

I have bitten the bullet and ordered my HF 10" saw as a result of this forum (and Les' inspiration). Still not sure if I'll go all in and get the FB board, too. I think it will definitely take my mind some time to come round to the $400 bucks for 4 sheets + shipping to NY. Would have been much easier and cheaper to build a wood fired toaster oven.