Finishing inside the dome Design Styles, Chimneys and Finish Discuss Finishing inside the dome in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Does anyone point the gaps between the bricks?... I'm thinking of doing this to clean up the joints, though I'm ...

[PerryPizza]

Does anyone point the gaps between the bricks?... I'm thinking of doing this to clean up the joints, though I'm a tiny bit concerned of causing air pockets. It also means a lot more fiddly messy work!

[DimTex]

I finished much of the inside of my dome when it was easy to do, the first 6-8 chains but towards the top of the dome it became hard to do even after I removed the inflatable ball form. I am kind of big and getting through the oven opening took some kind of doing (I can only imagine how funny it looked to someone on the outside). I asked others and many folks did not mortar the inside of their joints and had seen no adverse effects like spalling. I was planning to start firing up my oven starting Sunday so I will let you know how it goes...

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

i have been using my oven since may, There are a few spots on the top of the oven where i'm not too proud of the joint work... but it doesnt seem to have affected anything from what i can tell, I also mortared the dome at the end of each course with the leftover heat stop so i'm not worried about it falling apart..

[david s]

I paint the inside of the dome white using a mixture of equal parts of calcined alumina, kaolin, white cement and lime. This does tidy up the inside and leaves a brilliant white once the carbon burns off at pizza temp.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Originally Posted by david s

I paint the inside of the dome white using a mixture of equal parts of calcined alumina, kaolin, white cement and lime. This does tidy up the inside and leaves a brilliant white once the carbon burns off at pizza temp.

Hi David,
Have you ever done this on an older oven, Ive been using mine since may, do you think it would still stick properly, I like the idea of it looking so neat and clean inside

Mark

[david s]

I should think it would work. I would try dampening the surface first (maybe spray, leave for 20 mins then paint on. Mix your brew to a paint-like consistency. The reason I used calcined alumina was because I had it lying around. It is just the very fine aggregate. You could substitute with talc, whiting or potash feldspah

[dmun]

Sounds like kiln wash to me. Doesn't kiln wash peel off in sheets after repeated firings? Isn't that what it's designed to do, to prevent things from sticking to shelves? It doesn't seem like anything I'd want on the underside of my dome.

[david s]

Forgot to add paint it on to a clean dome ie. after a pizza firing so the dome is clean of carbon otherwise you'll get a grey colour

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Originally Posted by dmun

Sounds like kiln wash to me. Doesn't kiln wash peel off in sheets after repeated firings? Isn't that what it's designed to do, to prevent things from sticking to shelves? It doesn't seem like anything I'd want on the underside of my dome.

David s, Have you been using this for a while, Mr. Munn has me nervous it may not work,

Mark

[david s]

Yes I've done lots. The addition of the white cement helps it go hard initially, but if the surface is really dry then the mixture may dry to quickly and is left a bit dusty. Spray with water to keep it a little damp for 12 hrs or so. Usually I don't need to do this. Once it is fired it goes quite hard and does not come off. Presumably the portland cement will break down, but the lime and kaolin then do their job. Kaolin is simply a white, highly refractory powdered clay. It is used widely in cosmetics so if you don't want it on your oven slap it on your face.