Yorkie checking in

[danledgard]

Hi all

Another newbie checking in here

I'm based in York and after a recent family trip to Menorca the kids are desperate for an outside pizza oven so I am rolling up my sleeves to give it a go

We have decided on the Pompeii igloo style and having determined a spot in the garden I am looking at around a 1m² base (give or take a little). Any one any ideas on what sort of internal area we will be able to achieve on that?

This forum looks like an excellent resource for my research and planning, and I hope to be able to post pictures and let everyone know how it goes

Thanks in advance

Dan

[bry]

If your planning a brick oven you'd be looking at 115mm thick brick walls x2 then around 50mm of blanket (if you go that way) x2 and then anything for 15-100mm depending what you decide to put over that so will loose around 350-500mm leaving you internal possibly as small as 500mm. Personally I would plan on a bigger base if you have room. If you check out forno bravo forum they have free plans for a 36 and 42 inch internal diameter dome including plans for base

[danledgard]

Thanks bry,

500mm sounds quite small, we are constrained by size so might need to think about ripping out some of the bushes and making more space

Have been looking at Forno Bravo but not found the plans, will take another look. Not after anything massive and cooking 1 pizza at a time would be fine for us I think (unless the neighbours get wind and are round regularly!)

Dan

[bry]

www.fornobravo.com/pompeii-oven/brick-oven-table-of-contents/

I believe some one on here built a pretty small one can't remember exact size but worth having a search for

I was constrained by space and have settled on a 800mm internal diameter dome as a happy medium

Main issue was having the space for the entrance and chimney, so really the length of the base is more important than the width if your not too worried about work surface

[albacore]

Bear in mind that the Americans like things big - and they usually have the space, pizza oven wise.
My oven is 800mm ID and I think that's fine. I can cook three pizzas at once - not huge ones, as we prefer smaller ones and use 195g dough balls.
The bigger the oven, the longer it will take to heat up and the more fuel it will use.
Having said that, I think that 500mm ID is too much the other way. Try and find some more space.

Lance

[downunderdave]

Sept 29, 2016 20:26:49 GMT albacore said:

Bear in mind that the Americans like things big - and they usually have the space, pizza oven wise.
My oven is 800mm ID and I think that's fine. I can cook three pizzas at once - not huge ones, as we prefer smaller ones and use 195g dough balls.
The bigger the oven, the longer it will take to heat up and the more fuel it will use.
Having said that, I think that 500mm ID is too much the other way. Try and find some more space.

Lance

Hi Lance,

As far as pizza goes, regardless of oven size, most folk only cook one pizza at a time because they cook faster than you can prepare them. The ovens I build are 540 mm in diam and parties of up to 40 people are fine at 30 pizzas per hour, provided guests share whatever comes out of the oven rather than individual pizzas. For roasting the height of the door is a limiting factor. I can just fit a 5 kg turkey in mine, plenty of room for a family roast, but forget cooking a whole pig. The big advantage is the extremely low fuel consumption. I often fire my oven to cook just one loaf and a couple of baguettes (how much bread can your family eat in a day?), or perhaps only three pizzas. You wouldn't want to do that with a large oven because fuel consumption is directly relative to chamber volume.

Dave

[danledgard]

thanks for the info

after much reading I am thinking of aiming for an 750-800mm ID, will mean the oven becomes more of a focal point of the garden and the lad has a slightly smaller football area!

hopefully everyone will appreciate it though

[oblertone]

My 800mm internal oven has proved very effective and limited only by the skills of the operator (me) but one at a time is the best I can manage as there's simply not enough time to manage two. My best evening so far produced 70 pizzas, along with some garlic-bread test pieces so crack on with your build and post lots of pictures.