Refractory Chimney vent & Choke

[david s]

I've found that if the oven chamber is overloaded with fuel then flame will come out and into the vent and sometimes smoke out the front. If you don't overload the chamber then no problems.

[james]

I agree that a 6" chimney should be fine for a 32" oven. My experience is that you need your vent area to be at least 3-4" deeper (front to back) than the vent opening itself, in order to contain the smoke and hot air before it goes up the chimney. Otherwise, your oven will smoke -- even though the vent opening and chimney are large enough. That means that the vent area needs to be 9-10" (1 1/2-2" on either side of the 6" opening).

It's a real design trade-off, in that you have to add depth to your oven without adding cooking space, but my view is that it is well worth doing. You are able to completely close the oven with the door; the vent and chimney draw well and you don't have a huge amount of smoke pouring out the front door. Plus, the area under the vent is very useful as a landing.

My two cents.
James

[THX1138]

Thanks James for your 2 cents, in today's economy that is quite a bit.

I understand the reasoning, like a manifold prior to exhaust,

Thank you all for your points

Phil