Alternative brick

[Mojoe]

I understand the principles of using the low/medium duty firebrick for the floor but what about the dome? Would the oven perform more efficient if the dome bricks contained more alumina/less silica than the low/medium duty floor bricks? Granted $$$/brick is more expensive but I may have access to such a brick for less than retail.

Regards,

Joe

p.s.
Just a newb who hasn't even dug the foundation...yet.

[nissanneill]

Hi Joe,
you can use the higher grade fire bricks but be aware that they will absorb much more heat and raise the temperature of your oven temperature.
Remember that the low or medium fire bricks will get to and hold around 500°C which is DOUBLE that of a normal domestic oven, so why would you want to achieve an oven temp of say 600+°C. Pizzas will cook in around 90 seconds and cooking them in 60 seconds is getting rather short especially to be able to 'control' your cooking!
Those bricks are designed for high temperature furnaces where moulten metals are heated and poured, not for food cooking ovens.
They are a lot heavier and also a hell of a lot harder to cut, even with a 14" diamond brick saw.
I cut one to see the insides (as I was using second hand bricks), and it was like cutting a steel brick! I certainly wouldn't like to cut 120 or so of them for a 40" Pompeii oven!

Neill

[Mojoe]

Thanks for the reply Neill. The bricks I am thinking of are used in cement manufacturing kilns and I think weigh around 10lbs(will check tomorrow when I get to work).

I'm exploring the idea of an oven that would have the benefits of both dome and barrel shaped ovens. Construction materials, layout, design, etc and whether or not it is possible. If a full dome of high duty brick is too much perhaps every other row, every third, or just the final top bricks of the dome. Is there anything to gain by using manufactured wedge shaped bricks?

Just bouncing some ideas around and I apologize if I am being to theoretical.