Flat roof or total dome

[sonomacast]

I have just read somewhere that the perfect oven has a flat roof which only curves on the edge into the wall as opposed to a semi circle type. Is this true?

[shuboyje]

That is a very touchy subject around here as most people have pretty standard Pompei ovens with hemispherical domes and love them. That said the traditional shape of a pizza oven is a low flat dome. A cast oven like you are planning eliminates the main issues builders have with flat domes from brick...they are harder to build and need horizontal re-enforcement to make them structurally strong.

[sonomacast]

Yes I have just found on this site that the best dome height is 40.3% of the diameter which would make it somewhat flat. My brick oven was a semi circle and cooked a treat, i guess it is all too easy to get anal about all these dimensions and percentages. But I want to get it just right, thanks again

[mklingles]

You might want to look at this post. I've recently done some calculations and think they demonstrate that the radiant energy from a flatter dome is somewhat more even on the floor but only minimally so.

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/9/ma...tml#post107059 (Mathematical analysis of dome geometry)

[dmun]

The world is full of flat roof pizza ovens. Stroll down to the corner, to that shop that says "pizza". Flat as a pancake.

We want something a little better.

[Tscarborough]

Realistically, unitized masonry ovens are built in a dome shape because that is the best shape with which to build them. If the oven is not a compression structure, then that part of the design doesn't really matter that much, or all kitchen ovens would be round and domed, low or otherwise, I would presume.

[brickie in oz]

Originally Posted by dmun

Flat as a pancake.

Pizza surely?