Oven build in Holland Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss Oven build in Holland in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Hi Plootsnot,, Nice looking build, My only concern is that your arch is going to be very long, Are you ...

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Hi Plootsnot,,
Nice looking build, My only concern is that your arch is going to be very long, Are you able to see in the oven easily and add wood, Also reach in with tools and turn the pizza's sometimes the pictures can be deceiving and its hard to tell....

Mark

[plootsnot]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the feedback. I dont know the answer this being my first build but it seems to be ok. If your commenting about the distance from the front tip of the "structuraal layer" to the middle of the oven yeah its a bit of a stretch, but when you stand next to the oven with that tip to your right (I'm right handed), Im actually closer than most people would be who have built a "shelf" in front of the landing. Will let you know once I get going. One thing for sure, crawling in there on my back was a major pain in the ass but shouldn't need to be doing that regularly if at all.

Regards,

Kurt

[plootsnot]

New pics of the 5th firing. Have a few hairline cracks now and the one at the very top of the dome is letting a small but steady amount of smoke or possibly steam thru. Wondering if this is going to be a problem?

[Alter ego]

Kurt,

My oven build that I have just started is similar to yours in that it is right in the corner of a fence. Did you have any particular method for working at the back of your dome where access is limited?

Paul

[plootsnot]

Hi Paul,

My particular method was that I had recently built the fence and left the corner panels attached with only a few screws. They are removable! But in all fairness it was only neccessary to lift them out when we poured the structure hearth. I think that could have also been done from only two sides with a little more effort. As far as the dome, no I stood in the middle and added bricks around me until it got to small to stand in. Then I just stood on the landing and worked from there. You should be good, just get a good ladder and keep the beer count down while climbing. Just curious: XXXX or Victoria Bitter?

Enjoy!

Kurt

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

hey ploot,,
probably just steam,, never worry about cracks until you can see daylight thru them...

Cheers
Mark

[jmhepworth]

We call the cracks "expansion joints."

Joe

[paulyboy]

Originally Posted by plootsnot

Hi Paul,
You should be good, just get a good ladder and keep the beer count down while climbing. Just curious: XXXX or Victoria Bitter?
Kurt

LoL, being a Newcastle boy he'll probably say Tooheys or something.
VB rules!
Paul

[Alter ego]

Originally Posted by plootsnot

Just curious: XXXX or Victoria Bitter?

Just as life is too short to eat bad pizza, it is also too short to drink poor beer so no VB or XXXX will take part in my oven build. In defence of my alcholism, most of the empty bottles are low alcohol beer but there is a mixture of Boags, Coopers, Little Creatures and Barons

[plootsnot]

7th curing fire today got pretty hot, cracks opened up to the point where I can look thru them and a small amount of smoke was coming out, see pictures.

Just did a search of "cracks" on this forum and found quite a few people with similar "expansion joints". This being my first build I have no idea if it’s going to be an issue. It seems the general opinion that as long as the dome is structurally sound it should be ok. Should I be worried that I can see thru most of the cracks?

Gravity being what it is I can't see the oven moving to the point where it will all come tumbling down. I plan to use a superwool blanket over the dome then vermucrete. Am I on the right track to assume the dome should be able to expand into the superwool and and not significantly move the outer layer of vermucrete?

Thanks for any tips.

Weather permitting first pizzas TOMMORROW!