Building a clay oven in Sheffield - help much appreciated!

[mikequille]

Hi All,

I'm a baker, at the beginning of a project to construct a clay oven near Sheffield for a specialist college. The oven will be built and used by young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

I've never constructed an oven before, and have just begun research. Any suggestions of books/links on the subject would be very helpful, as would any offers of useful materials.

Cheers,

Mike

[kstronach]

hi mike

welcome to the forum
you're in the right place! most people who build these ovens have little or no experience so you're not alone there. have a good read through the forum here and maybe try www.fornobravo.com/forum/f43/

all the best

keith

[chas]

Hi Mike, and as well as the Members' builds (where much practical info will be gained) do have a look at this earlier thread:

ukwoodfiredovenforum.proboards.com/thread/1994/building-pizza-oven-italian-style

There's a link to a fuller-sized commercial build in a way that doesn't look too complicated. In particular, the "arrange bits of brick over a sand heap, chuck cement over it then pull out the sand" approach sounds fun for young (and not-so-young) people of any ability.

Do, please, keep us posted and supplied with progress pics!

Chas

[mikequille]

Hi Chas & Keith,

Thanks for your responses. This is something I've wanted to do for years so it's pretty exciting looking over these forums. My ideal would be an Alan Scott style brick oven of decent dimensions for bread making... (or one of those Neapolitan ovens - stunning!) but my budget is tight, so the proposal that's been accepted is to build with clay, which is readily available in the ground on site. I'm aiming for an internal diameter of around 42".  With this in mind I've ordered Kiko Denzer's book on earth oven building.

I checked out your projects - you've both got some nice ovens in your back yards! I'm also beginning to look on www.fornobravo.com/forum/f43/

Keith, you used storage heater bricks for your hearth. Any idea where to look for these in larger quantities?

Cheers,

Mike

[monkeys101]

I have been searching for brick on-line...Gumtree and freebie sights. I have been offered 100's of bricks including storage heater brick 70 so far. Put an ad on gumtree telling of your intentions and usage of the items.. When I told folks what the brick was for they all thought it was a great idea..

[oblertone]

I used storage heater bricks for my build, just be aware there are two main sorts and they are slightly different sizes so not easy to mix and match. The main difference is one has 'Three Dots' on the rear, the other has 'two grooves'. Despite being very dense they are pretty fragile and the corners regularly crumble; when in use the pits fill up with ash so it's not a problem.


I've a dozen two grooves outside my garage waiting for a new home should anyone need them ?

[rivergirl]

I used refractory bricks. Got them quite cheaply in France. My heat retention is fantastic but my base was layers of sand and bottles. My oven was damaged and I recovered it with a new layer of clay mix. I can't remember the name of the book that I used and unfortunately they are packed from the move! But there are some great you tube Clips! When I get around to my new build I am hoping to document it properly! Good luck , a clay oven is really fun to build, really hard to get wrong , and really fun to use!