Perry's Pizza Oven Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss Perry's Pizza Oven in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; The vent was then insulated using vermiculite concrete, which also served as lightweight concrete to form the lintel. I also ...

[PerryPizza]

The vent was then insulated using vermiculite concrete, which also served as lightweight concrete to form the lintel. I also rough cut a door from a piece of cast iron fire-back I found behind the house



The lintel/ vent was finished with terracotta bricks & tiles

[PerryPizza]

Curing took ages, probably due to the amount of water present in all that rockwool! I took it steady over a few weeks, leaving a day or two between firings and only increasing the temperature when I was happy sufficient moisture had been drawn out. Here I'm cooking some simple chips to make use of the heat anyway...



...after a number of previous firings



Finally the oven is starting to get up to temperature - it's nice to see those bricks again!



....and my first pizza from the oven!





Not the best pizza I have ever made, but one of the most rewarding I have ever eaten : )

[cynon767]

Bravo! I love the rustic tile arch, and the way you fit it so seamlessly into the existing structure. Anyone who didn't know better would think it had been there for hundreds of years.

[PerryPizza]

Thanks Jamie, I know it isn't in the same league as some of the precision ovens on the forum, but it fits in the surroundings well and, more importantly, it cooks pizzas which is all I ever wanted!

[PerryPizza]

* a quick note about the dome guide I used for anyone interested.

I wanted a guide I could use for my oven, although I did not want to create an oven with a uniform dome from base to top, rather a lower dome on a set of upright soldier bricks like the Neapolitan style of oven.

I made it using old scraps of wood and clamps, the idea was to have something for next to nothing that could easily slide/ tilt to any angle I desired. In theory the angle would be set using a life size diagram I'd drawn up, taking into account the thin plywood base on which the rotating arm would be mounted (also great for keeping the floor clean). In practice the guide worked up to a point, I think the theory was good but the materials/ workmanship left room for error... still, you might think the idea has potential.

[KINGRIUS]

Perry, I love your oven. Really cool. Thanks for all your documentation. I especially like the pic of you taken from inside the oven. Whoever you got to crawl in the there to take that for you must me a very small person! lol
I have been tempted to construct a brick guide like you and others have used, but since I have decided to construct a low dome (36" dia., 14" H) mainly for better pizza, it puts my dome radius sub-floor and couldn't use one. Thanks again for sharing your project!
Almost forgot to mention how I'm going to steal your angle cutting idea on your soldier course.
-Darius

[PerryPizza]

Thank you for the comments Darius, really glad you like it.

You can use a guide if you are able to have an adjustable offset arm - my oven is small and has the lower Neapolitan dome you refer to, the radius of the dome works out 15cm under the oven floor - if you have look carefully at this picture of the life-size drawing of the cross section of the oven you'll see the radial lines I actually used to set the guide arm for each chain of bricks. It's a bit of hassle compared to a centrally fixed guide but it does work... let me know if that doesn't make sense and I'll try and illustrate it better.



Thanks again!

[KINGRIUS]

Yes it does make sense! My radius works out to be 14cm beneath floor. Now that I'm studying your tool closer, I do think I will be able to use this! I especially like it because its made out of materials/tools I already have. Thank you!

[PerryPizza]

Cool!

Here's a rough diagram showing the principal, your guide will need to slide and tilt, but I would recommend something slightly more sturdy than the guide I made (I ended up using 3 clamps, and those clamps get right in the way!). I also used shims to help whilst the mortar set.

Hope this helps



ps using an adjustable guide like this allows any shape of dome you like

[Mitchamus]

Awesome!!!