low dome clay oven

[jpmort]

Hey, thanks for the question. Much has happened and I have decided to go the easy route. I think I jsut thought of getting everything sorted was just too much, however much I would have liked to make my own. I kept going back to using bricks to make an over that heats up enough to do the pizzas I like - 60 to 90 seconds. So, I was looking at what was available off the shelf, and I have gone for a ready made oven. I have jsut installed it and have used it four times, not enough to give any real feedback as I am still learning how it works.

So, I am disappointed with myself for not making one, but recognising that if I carried on with that desire, I would be here in a years time still thinking about it!

But I am still interested and going to look at your link

John

[luca]

I'd be interested in your comments on what oven you chose and why. Also what your impressions after four pizzas. We are all still learning here!

[jpmort]

Well, thats a good question. I some specific requirements:
1. I only make a few pizzas at a time, between 2-4. So, I dont need lots of retained heat. Whats important here is speed to heat up, and be able to heat up to the right temperature for around 15 minutes.
2. Space restriction. I dont have much space for the oven so the minimum size for making one pizza at a time is important.
3. I want to bake Napoli type pizzas, high heat, 60 to 90 seconds. I am not interested in cooking anything else in the oven, no breat or meat.
4. It is wet here, and the winter means 95% humidity all the time. So it has to be able to resist that wet whilst not having a roof over it.

So, what I concluded is that a low dome is very important for high heat and rapid heat up. I could not work out how to make a low dome and make it out of clay easily without it collapsing. In addition, the round oven is optimal for the requirements I have.

The waterproofing requirement meant that clay was going to be tricky. There are ways around it but it jsut added to the complexity.

What I went for is one that is designed by someone who used to work in building commercial ovens. The oven is made of modern refractory materials, and the insulation is effectively on the inside! There is no heat retension inside. So the oven fires up rapidly. In addition is weighs around 30kg, so it can me lifted easily into place by two people. And after a few firings, it can be left out exposed to the elements. No foundation or preparation required!

Internal width is around 56cm/22in, length 63cm/25in. This is JUST enough space for a pizza and a fire at the same time. If I could choose, I would have the width a little wider.

I use a thermocouple to measure temp and at the moment it takes around 60 -70 minutes to get to the right heat. Mainly because I am not very good at lighting the oven. I have also fitted tiles on the cooking surface to provide some retained heat, and consistency, because I found the temperature in the original design created varying results over a short time. I also do some ciabatta type bread and roast coffee beans when the oven is cooling.

So, thats where I am at, and I am very happy with my decision. If I had clay easily available, the weather was better, and had some more space, I might have tried a clay oven

I am attaching a pic...

John

[luca]

Thanks for the quick reply; I am especially impressed by your heat-up time! The only negative I see in this commercially-built oven is that it has no floor for retaining heat to make the bottom of pizza/bread nice and brown. I wonder if you set the oven on a layer of fire bricks or similar heat sink (maybe even cement board) whether this would help with the heat mass issue?

[jpmort]

Hi,
What I have done is to put some glass fible insulation below the oven, and then placed the oven back. This has given me far better heat retention. The last time I tried, i got the oven too hot and the pizzas got a little black!

john

[100million]

John working on fire heat and building is light making pizza dough