 Re: Getting Started
As a historical note: Pompeii oven building arose from frustration with the massive Scott style barrel vault ovens. When I joined the forum in the summer of 2005, the style was to put the vermiculite layer under the support slab. This didn't heat up at all well. Then there was a brief period of putting a second layer of brick under the floor, or just a slug of concrete there, buried in the insulation. This was called the island hearth. At least this left the floor insulated, but it still too too long to heat up. Finally, the idea of extra mass under the floor was abandoned, and makers (myself included) just put a single layer of flat bricks directly on the insulation.
The way to keep the floor hot is to keep a fire with flame licking up the dome of the oven. The produces a lot of heat, and it recharges the floor between pizzas. Commercial ovens have thicker floors (and thicker domes) but they use bigger fires, and they never fully cool down. |