Red clay or fire bricks??????

[bickmeier]

I'm getting ready to build my first oven. I haven't decided on weather to build a Scott/Rado vault, a dome or a traditional french style baking chamber. I will cook, bake bread and roast more than baking pizzas, so I'm leaning toward high performance with fairly heavy cladding and lots of insulation.

My question relates to red clay bricks vs. fire bricks for the dome or vault. Some say a red clay brick with no grain will work fine, some lean toward firebricks.

I'm also having trouble finding dry fire clay. My brick supplier has only premixed Sairset, at $30 plus a gal..

[sacwoodpusher]

You may be asking your supplier for the wrong thing......Try asking for Mortar Clay. Also, try looking at Lowes and Home Depot....Here in Sacramento, both have Mortar Clay....which is mixed with Type S.....3 parts Type S to 2 parts Motrtar Clay by volume......

I am lucky, in Sacramento to be right next to the H.C. Muddox brick plant.

[I am Dave]

G'day, I built a Rado Masterley Tail about 2 years ago.. I used fire bricks (seconds which were half price) for the entire oven then skinned it with solid reds. I couldn't be happier with the result. This oven stays hot for days after the fire is out. I built this using Rados cd which has hundreds of step by step photos. When you build one of these ovens, mate, you become King of your street! We regularly make 40 to 60 pizzas on a Saturday night and its a blast. Whichever way you go, Scott or Rado, I guarantee you will be pleased with the result. As for the bricks, you will be told that reds are ok, then someone else will say don't use them, and so on. I gave up and stuck with fire bricks. Anyway good luck with the build.

Dave (Melbourne Australia)

[lwood]

Red clay brick will work fine but will not last as long on the hearth. You may have to replace the hearth after a few years. Red clay brick are not as hard and durable as fire brick.