Oven Height

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Hello All,

Is there a formula for round oven height/diameter/opening ?
My oven will be 48" round,
1. How high should it be ?
2. How high should the door be ?
3. Does the door tunnel have to be a certain length ?

Thanks for all your comments/suggestions

Mark
TOG

[Wiley]

Hi TOG,

Most of the books say there is a "sweet spot" at 63% of the ratio of the interior height to the height of the entrance. This ratio has been determined by emperical studies that have shown that the flow of air in and hot gases out of the oven seems best when this ratio has been used in the construction.

So if you were to build a hemispherical dome your interior height would be 24 inches and 63% of that height would be 15 1/8 inches approx. If you wanted a shallower dome then the interior height would be less as would your entrance. Not rocket science in this, some say anywhere between 62% and 64%. So one could blow off the 1/8th inch, and frankly IMHO it would vary a bit depending upon the surface texture of the interior and a whole lot of small and maybe not so small variables which might collude to make one particular oven perform well and another less well.

I have not seen anything relating a ratio of entrance length to height nor to width. Both dimensions it would seem are individual and usually based upon ease of working the WFO.

Hope this has been of help,
Wiley

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

hi Wiley,

thanks,,, I believe that answers my questions,,,, your help is appreciated,
I will send you a pizza sometime around july (hopefully)

Mark
TOG

[Neil2]

Wiley is right about the 63% ratio of door height to inside dome height. The door width is not critical - it should be wide enough to get a large pizza in, mine is 17 inches wide for a 40 inch oven.

The dome height to radius should be considered. Some say an elliptical shape with height in the 85 to 90% range will cook pizzas better. For example, your 48 inch dome would then have an inside height of about 21 inches instead of 24. The true Neapolitan ovens are even "flatter".

[Neil2]

also:

Does the door tunnel have to be a certain length ?

Only long enough to support your vent/chimney.

[pipittenger]

For a barrel oven -- I understand the door/height ratio is that 63% you've mentioned. Any information about the oven interior width or depth to height?

[Dutchoven]

Originally Posted by pipittenger

For a barrel oven -- I understand the door/height ratio is that 63% you've mentioned. Any information about the oven interior width or depth to height?

Width or depth in a barrel vault is not usually an issue...usually they are a bit deeper than they are wide...many I have heard of in a midsize are about 36W by 40D...since they are often clad in concrete and sometimes harnessed the vault can be sprung quite aggressively to achieve quite low dome heights...for instance our barrel vault has a 14 inch high arch with a 34 inch width...
Best
Dutch