Alternative build

[turkey]

well dont on getting over the hump and starting, its all fun from here.

you could always take some pics now in between build efforts ? if only because we love piccys

btw 45 gallons of fruit juice concentrate? thats a lot of squash!!!

[barney]

I think this is a great idea for a budget build and will be really interested in how it works out. I'm no bricky, but I think that base looks pretty good and plenty solid. Some of the monster bases you see around are overkill in my opinion. Are you going to cast a slab of concrete over the top?

Good luck with the build, I appreciate the difficulties of having kids running around. I've only got one little girl, but it makes both finding the time and having your garden as a construction site difficult.

[barney]

Lintels will be great, saves on shuttering, mixing and reinforcing all that concrete. I also used paving slabs under the hearth on my oven, they're so easy to work with.

[turkey]

depending on the qty of lintels you have you might be able to make a beam and block floor across the oven, if using the same blocks as your wall this would make your insulated floor in one go, mind you if you also have paving slabs that need using or ditching you might as well add them in.

Lucky man having all this stuff to use, a very green recycled build

[cannyfradock]

Dann

I am no structural engineer....just a common brickie, but I think your plans are fine. The insulation block walls will be OK. Any bigger of a structure and you would have to think about supporting pillars etc. Many people have also built a central wall for piece of mind....I don't.
The lintels will hold everything together....be sure to use enough lintels to support the slabs.

Couple of points......I don't know anything about using a barrel for building a vault oven, but many people have very successfully built these metal constructions including "Marcus"...one of the Mods. He makes some great stuff from his converted Barell/vault oven. Not sure on putting concrete straight on the the barrel .....and I think your container looks a tad to narrow......I would say you need at least 60cm in width.........but.....I could be totally wrong.

Hope you get some more feedback on the subject.

All the best with your build.

Terry

[greensheepuk]

Hi Dann,

If I can just chime in on this before you get started cutting! I have an oil drum based oven and although I am more than happy with it's performance considering my initial intentions and experience levels, If I could change just one thing right now then I would make it wider. This wasn't much of an option for me making a half BBQ half oven where I had to maintain the structure of the drum, but for you making your drum wider would simply require more raw materials and some patching on the rear/bottom face of the drum where you would have to remove/section the steel then refix/repair once its stretched.

I can't speak for your thermal characteristics and insulation methods, but based purely on oven width and 11/12" pizza cooking, for me, an extra 150-200mm width along with the added bonus of reduced dome height would be a godsend and I can't recommend it enough.

JK

[minesamojito]

Hello there fellow barreller,
I built one of these babies a couple of years ago and it has been amazing to cook on.
See the build on my website below for how I did it.
Only thing I would have done differently was to put more chicken wire over the join between barrel and chimney to stop cracking.
I'm going to be doing this remedially over the summer. Has performed really well.
Cheers
marcus

[turkey]

I suppose you do not really need to keep it barrel shaped so you could cut both ends off and then slice vertically, that will give you a large sheet of metal which you can then make a wider and lower oven with? with brick arches at each end to support the metal and the concrete thermal mass that will also act as support when set so I do not think you need to worry overly on structural strength of the arch you make. You might need some support in the middle when you pour on the cement until it cures.

I am not sure exactly how strong these sheets of metal are, but I would think you can stretch it a little without too much issue.

or is this just a crazy idea?

[cannyfradock]

Hey Dann

A good bit of feedback on your oven design......has this helped or hindered?.... ....that's the beauty of building your own oven!!.... decisions, decisions....

If it's any help to you, I have gained a lot of experience in building and baking pizza's in ovens over the last 5 years......but I still only ever bake 1 pizza at a time.

Terry

[cannyfradock]

Dann

"Out of curiosity, when you say you only cook 1 pizza at a time, do you think the width wont be an issue?"

....that's difficult to answer. I haven't built a barrel oven so I must relate to a Pompeii or Clay oven. The main reason I mention a minimum width is that...although you can cook and bake virtually anything in these ovens, most people use these ovens for Pizza party's. With a pizza party the oven is used with a "flickering" fire burning all the while the pizza's are being baked. You need to push the fire to the rear or side of the oven to leave enough space for baking a pizza.....so a width of 60cm....for me is a minimum requirement for this to work.

Your width is ...as good as...60cm so this should work, although I'm not sure where the embers...and flickering fire are pushed in an oblong hearth which a barrel oven creates.

One thing I do know is.....once you've held a Pizza party, you will be itching to host the next one. .....there's something special about the buzz you get from these simple beasts.

Terry

[minesamojito]

Hi Dann, not sure the dimensions, but the door is a shade over 14" as I can fit my 14" tuscan grill in, I would say there are 2-3 " either side when the grill is in, more than enough, I usually cook 1 or 2 at a time, and have made around 40 in an hour at best, I was on fire that day (not literally).
I cut my barrel 2/3 of the way and then placed on bricks
see this pic
countrywoodsmoke.com/2011/06/11/day-4/#jp-carousel-37
Hope that helps
Cheers
Marcus