FB Pompeii Oven Kit Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss FB Pompeii Oven Kit in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; My question, will the kit come with a UL rating? Im looking into opening a small pizzeria here in Salt ...

[CSWolffe]

My question, will the kit come with a UL rating?
Im looking into opening a small pizzeria here in Salt Lake, and the building department is difficult to work with. They wont allow a Pompeii 'do it yourselfer' without a rating. It has to be a 'manufactured' oven with specs from the factory. I just cant afford even the Ristorante 110, unless I give up work tables, mixer, and seats for my customers....

[Ken524]

There is no way UL can give a rating to a pallet of bricks, mortar and insulation. The Pompeii "kit" is as un-assembled as you can get; raw materials.

If you want to do a pizza restaurant and need a UL rated oven, you really should go with one of FB's UL commercial ovens. Perhaps a small business loan?

[james]

CSWolffe,
That's a tough one. I don't understand your building department not accepting a site built oven -- there certainly are others around the country. I would go back and ask them what their issues are; after all, UL is dedicated to the cause of building and product safety -- not eliminating certain classes of product. You can build a safe site-made oven.

Go get 'em.
James

[Ken524]

James,

After seeing your post and giving it some thought, shouldn't it be like any building-code project? Present detailed plans and get inspections along the way?

[CSWolffe]

That is my plan. Initial conversation with a building inspector indicated I would have a difficult time getting a site built oven approved, without a Ansi/UL rating. The problem is not just safety, they will approve a brick fireplace, the problem is that it will be used to serve food. Building department does not want to ok the oven unless the health department will, and the health department does not want to give permission unless the building department does. I was hoping an ANSI/UL rating for the Pompeii kit could cut out a great deal of headache.
Im still a ways away from building, Im in the process of writing out my business plan for a loan and or grant, so I have time to investigate. I like to be thorough.
And now, to get the thread back on track... Yes, I might buy the kit for my home use. Footing and support are under construction, so there is still time for me to order the kit or buy the supplies myself.

[james]

Food safety is a different kettle of fish. We also have NSF/ANSI-4 certification for our ovens -- which is where they test to make sure we aren't going to poison anyone, use lead products, or have a place where bacteria can build up.

Don't forget that pizza ovens get hot enough to where no bacteria can live through it -- so with some planning, you should be able to get your local food health department to OK your oven as well.

One last item. You will have to prove that your venting system passes building safety as well. There are two ways to do that. The easiest is to just buy a UL103HT chimney system, such as DuraVent -- which we use with our commercial ovens. The other option is to build a masonry chimney, with proper set backs from combustibles. There are instructions for that in the FB manuals.

Good luck.
James

[SCChris]

Thanks James,
The price is right. Now if I can find a compound wet miter saw, that can make the cuts. My bet is that the saw will be more than the kit, after tax and shipping. That said, the tools can make the project flow faster and the end result a tighter oven.

Chris

[blacknoir]

Are the floor tiles basically just large firebricks?

[james]

Hey blacknoir,

Exactly. The floor tiles are the exact same stuff as the firebricks (composition and density), and they are 12"x12", rather than 9"x4.5". Fewer seams is really cool; very nice.

Often you see floor tiles like this at a a really high price (I think their logic is that floor tiles are made in lower volumes) which makes them unpractical. We are able to buy the floor tiles at a really reasonable price. They cost more by surface area than the firebricks, but not a huge amount more.
James

[blacknoir]

Are there any kits available now or do we get put on a waiting list?