ovening opening..etc??

[hewynz]

hey i am just wondering how far out i should have the oven opening/how big should it be, as i need a chimney to go in somewhere in the front. my dimensions are..
84" cooking surface,
42" interior height
40" opening width
25" opening height..

with these measurements can you please also explain to me exactly how big my base should be, i have gone by the measurements on the site but not 100% sure.. i have thought it would have to be 138' wide & 152' long..
does this sound right?
thanks

[redbricknick]

Eighty four feet seems a little big for a pizza oven... Wait. Just noticed you are a Kiwi. Is ' centimetres?

[hewynz]

no its inches, sorry so it should be 84 " etc

[Les]

I'm going with Nick on this one - 84" is a huge oven unless you plan on cooking whole cow's. That's 7 feet accross!

[hewynz]

yea i know its huge, im opening it in a restaurant and is going to be used for takeaways too, any help on the questions abaove?

[dmun]

You are in uncharted lands here. Commerical ovens of that size usually have more than the half-brick thickness common to home ovens like the pompeii. Since you're paying for wood and hope to make a profit, you most likely need more than the two inch fiber blanket and four inch vermiculite insulation that home ovens have. Lets say that you have an 84 inch inside diameter, add six inches of brick and thermal mass, eight inches of insulation, and one inch of exterior cladding. That brings us up to 114", or nine and a half feet. That's too much of a span for a single slab underneath.

Have you considered building two 48 inch ovens side by side? You'd fire two on the weekends when demand is high, and one other times. You wouldn't need peels as long as oars if indeed such things could be had. Since you'd need multiple prep stations for such high volume, and they could be split as well, so your pizza makers wouldn't be falling over one another at peak times.

There are people here who could tell you how to build a four foot oven. A seven foot, high dome oven? The heat from the dome reflects down on the cooking area. Have you considered how high a 42 inch high dome is? Could you get it up to temperature no matter how big a fire you built?

[hewynz]

hey thanks that seems to be very helpfull, yes im aware that im in uncharted lands.. that would be a good idea to have two ovens, but i realy dont have the extra space to do that, and the oven is going to be manned by just one person.ME. i have looked at the oven ina 3-D version and it is a large area, but then i take into accout the amount of space for the fire, and the fact that we are going to be a very large restaurant, also including takeaway pizza's. the oven will also be used for cooking the day to day prep ingredients. yes im pretty sure i could get it up to temperature evn if it is going to be a larger oven, and the dome isnt actually that high. also the oven is going to be used anywhere from 13-18 hours a day so it should retain its heat really well.

i do however have a problem with the wood i hope to use over here in new zealand, what sort of wood do you use? eg how does it burn, whats its thickness etc.. also can you please help me by giving me exact measurements for the base?? any other advice of information would be much appreciated.
thanks

ps. when it is up and running i will be sure to post photos..
she's gona be a beauty.