Stefanno Ferara Napoli Oven Constuction

[Tscarborough]

I have not seen anyone dis his ovens, and I certainly won't. I do not agree that there is anything special about them and his construction methodology leaves something to be desired, and if OSHA visited him during construction he would be shut down and fined.

He builds great ovens. So do the members of this forum who will build a total of 1 oven in their life. <shrug>

[Tapir Force]

Well so much for avoiding the debate. This is a topic that just seems to bring up controversy. To those of you that addressed the slurry question, thank you. Your answers seemed consistent with what I know about concrete (some similarities do exist I believe) and to those (if any) whose perspective was that there was some disrespect couched in my question, I apologize. I really was just curious about Stefanno's use of slurry. I will be finishing the dome without entertaining any notion of using the Napoli method.

[Tscarborough]

There are 2 issues there, Tapir. The use of a highly hydrated slurry is not a good choice, but the technique of setting the brick with tight joints on the face and then tuckpointing the backside with a reasonable mortar is a good one.

Mortars, silacious or portland based, both need moisture to cure. Excess water weakens the final strength and induces shrinkage cracking. Mortars, as a rule, are not harmed by slump values that would cause concrete to be deemed worthless and require tearout and redo. Do not compare concrete and mortar, they do not share the same set of desirable properties, only a commonality of ingredients.

[Les]

Originally Posted by Tscarborough

The use of a highly hydrated slurry is not a good choice, but the technique of setting the brick with tight joints on the face .

I used a grout bag, and to get it to work, the mortar has to be very wet. I was done with my build way before we saw this thread. In hindsight, I think its a viable approach. Had I cut all my bricks (in the same manner), shimmed them to height using scrap cuts, I can see where pouring the slurry would have saved me a lot of labor.

[lwood]

Tapir, great question because it generates discussion. I think I can safely say that you can get all your questions answered here on this forum about any oven issue. If you want to do a low-dome oven then you want to consider buttressing like Ferera does. Although it's questionable how necessary it is for a residential application, under 40" dia.

Over 40" dia. it's probably a good idea. Again, how you accomplish it is up to you. Ferera has been doing the slurry process for a while and has success with it. Probably a special proprietary mix, I'm sure he wouldn't share it with you. And he gets away with it....After all he has a lot of ovens to build...he can't waste time placing all that refractory one by one and mortaring. There is too much $$ to be made out there to do that.

[Cheesesteak]

Originally Posted by Tapir Force

Well so much for avoiding the debate. This is a topic that just seems to bring up controversy. To those of you that addressed the slurry question, thank you. Your answers seemed consistent with what I know about concrete (some similarities do exist I believe) and to those (if any) whose perspective was that there was some disrespect couched in my question, I apologize. I really was just curious about Stefanno's use of slurry. I will be finishing the dome without entertaining any notion of using the Napoli method.

My apologies if my post came across wrong - it wasn't really meant to suggest anyone was "disrespecting" Steffano. I was just saying that I'm not one to criticize what he does. Some here have a great deal more experience than I.

I guess all I was saying was - whatever one thinks of his methods - they appear to work quite well. With all of the apparent potential pitfalls - his ovens appear to perform very well and I haven't been able to find someone with one of his ovens complaining about longevity or performance.

I'd like to see a pic inside of one of his ovens that has a decade or so of service . . .

[fxpose]

I would imagine one factor in using slurry is to save time. It seems like you can cover the entire dome in a matter of minutes. This would be practical if you're building ovens for a living.
Perhaps another reason why he builds his dome over a sand mould and a pre-cast entry.....time savers.

[lwood]

Stephanno is probably the best known pizza oven builders.....there are many competent oven builders in Italy. Giuseppe here in RP is very busy and he is from Sicily. Someone n NY probably bought an oven from SF for their pizzeria and he became a instant rock star of pizza ovens. Good for him. Doesn't make him the only authority....and I'm sure he isn't giving away any of his secret....unlike this forum. No secrets.