Mouth of the Oven

[culinaryscience]

Hello,
Currently planning my oven and I am wondering whether the mouth of the oven needs to be bricked forward, can it just be an opening into the oven?
When I was in Naples, the ovens have no front bricking but do have a vent about the mouth (see picture)
Thanks for any help!
David

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[culinaryscience]

I only ask because I want to be able to control the Pizza from a wider angle rather than a reduced brick entry. Hope that makes sense!

David

[bookemdanno]

Well, they do it, so it must be okay.
It's just a matter of how you go about setting and supporting the protruding vent, which i assume then runs back over the top and out, behind the "forehead" section?
Do they have a top or rear mounted flue?
I'd also assume that they are more often of the Naples low domed variant too?
You'd possibly have to reduce the height of the opening, to offset the increased width, and you'd have more of a pizza only thoroughbred oven, perhaps, rather than the more overall cooking friendly pompeii, higher domed oven.

I think i'd be leaning towards a fabricated steel vent, which could be fixed to the brick oven and then clad in a cement, or insulating board before further insulating, shaping and then finishing with whatever material you chose.

[culinaryscience]

Hi BD,
Thanks for reply, yes, the protruding vent goes up and joins the other vent at the top.
I am wanting the oven primarily for Pizza and flat breads so should I look at lower domed designs?
Many thanks
David

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[bookemdanno]

You don't have to, but the Naples style oven has a lower roofed design and opening, making it really only useful for flat stuff!

Is that your workshop an project oven?

That looks one mean "Man Lab" too! I'm envious!

[culinaryscience]

ha! No, I should have said, that is when I visited an Oven maker in Naples. I did the Vera Pizza Napoletana course in Naples for two weeks and we visited a oven maker. I wish I had listened more carefully but it was 35 degrees so I wondered off to the Air Con Supermarket!

[bookemdanno]

Still envious!

I've just nudged this thread into the construction section to get better visibility for you.

[culinaryscience]

Thank you! I have a few photos I will share

[cannyfradock]

Hello culinaryscience.

I'm the same mind as Danno ..as in.. although the entrance may be quite small, it still may have a vent outside of the dome, but not visible as most of the oven builds on this forum are. I think they are called "squirrel tail" ovens where a narrow oblong vent made from terracotta is folded back over the "forehead" section...as Danno puts it. These teracotta vents are perhaps 9" x 3" and are cut down in size to be able to form a continuous fold over the front of the dome. The vent then comes out at the top..or slightly to the rear. I have no personal experience of these ovens but from the designs that I've seen, they say that the vent will also give added thermal mass to the roof of the oven from the spent air that this system produces.

On a domestic build the entrance arch serves 2 purposes. 1.....is to create an aperture outside the dome for the chimney and.....2... the entrance arch is built slightly larger than the inner arch to srate a rebate for a door if bread baking...or slow cooking is required.

Many of the ovens on the continent, especially in Italy and Portugal D'ONT have their flue outside the vault/dome ,so direct access IS available without an entrance arch, but on these circumstances you will always find a damper system connected to the chimney (which is usually placed at the top of the dome) to keep the heat in the oven.

Personally I would never put the vent inside the oven structure. Even on a simple clay build I would rather see an opening without a vent, than try to put one on top.

Your build sound very interesting.....please keep us informed.

Terry