oven design

[sumu]

I was wondering if you square up the walls and put a arch roof on it would it still heat up and cook pizza. does it make that much differance in how it cooks wont the heat stiil bounce back to the floor.

[GianniFocaccia]

Sure, the properties of firebrick are such that retained heat radiates directly off the face of the brick into the cavity of the oven, whether it emanates from the floor, walls or top of the dome. The biggest consideration in dome geometry is the angle of thrust created by the verticality of the side walls. The best cooking pizza ovens are ones with low domes and a flatter arch to the ceiling.

[dmun]

When you square up the oven, you end up with a square oven. What are those corners for? How do you get the ash out of them? If your walls are very high, you need to buttress them against the lateral force of the domed roof.

If you haven't read it, and worth reading again if you have:

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f2/w...s-round-2.html (Why Italian Wood-Fired Ovens are Round)