|
Post by thestens1 on May 14, 2021 10:24:29 GMT
New to the board so hello to all. I have posted this in introductions as well. Really seeking advice on building a brick and slab pizza oven. I found a Youtube video of an American who built a rudimentary pizza oven using 50 bricks and 2 slabs( www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHMQ_QQJtbY). OK I thought I'll have a go at that. I had 2 60x60 concrete slabs and bought enough bricks ( commons). Built it and have done two test firings . First it did not get hot enough. Second more wood and essentially it was a disaster. It got to a suitable temperature but after about 40 minutes the slab used for cooking on exploded - disintegrated and some of the bricks nearest to the fire split. Fortunately no one was close at the time. Obviously I am using the wrong materials - I don't want to spend a fortune ( not much really up to £50) so should I get blue engineering bricks and stone slabs? Or should I just forget the whole thing? thestens1
|
|
|
Post by oblertone on May 14, 2021 21:56:19 GMT
Commons have frogs (indents) or holes and therefore have variable reaction to heat, as you've found out. The best bricks are old solids with neither frogs or holes. Stone is a natural but unfired material and if subject to localised heating will inevitably crack. The cheapest material for a cooking floor are storage heater blocks which can often be had via Freecycle or eBay.
|
|
|
Post by downunderdave on May 15, 2021 3:11:45 GMT
New to the board so hello to all. I have posted this in introductions as well. Really seeking advice on building a brick and slab pizza oven. I found a Youtube video of an American who built a rudimentary pizza oven using 50 bricks and 2 slabs( www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHMQ_QQJtbY). OK I thought I'll have a go at that. I had 2 60x60 concrete slabs and bought enough bricks ( commons). Built it and have done two test firings . First it did not get hot enough. Second more wood and essentially it was a disaster. It got to a suitable temperature but after about 40 minutes the slab used for cooking on exploded - disintegrated and some of the bricks nearest to the fire split. Fortunately no one was close at the time. Obviously I am using the wrong materials - I don't want to spend a fortune ( not much really up to £50) so should I get blue engineering bricks and stone slabs? Or should I just forget the whole thing? thestens1 The performance of any pizza oven is severely compromised if it is not insulated. I've tried firing an uninsulated oven and couldn't even get it to pizza temperature. In addition if the surface facing the fire gets hot while the surface facing the atmosphere is cold then there is extreme stress on the material because of a difference in thermal expansion. This often leads to cracking, insulation evens out this big difference in both temperature and thermal expansion. If the oven materials are damp then steam spalling is also likely. I don't know what material you used for the slabs, or what material is used in the youtube video, but a normal concrete slab will not withstand the heat of direct flame impingement.
|
|
|
Post by catfish50 on May 15, 2021 9:27:52 GMT
New to the board so hello to all. I have posted this in introductions as well. Really seeking advice on building a brick and slab pizza oven. I found a Youtube video of an American who built a rudimentary pizza oven using 50 bricks and 2 slabs( www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHMQ_QQJtbY). OK I thought I'll have a go at that. I had 2 60x60 concrete slabs and bought enough bricks ( commons). Built it and have done two test firings . First it did not get hot enough. Second more wood and essentially it was a disaster. It got to a suitable temperature but after about 40 minutes the slab used for cooking on exploded - disintegrated and some of the bricks nearest to the fire split. Fortunately no one was close at the time. Obviously I am using the wrong materials - I don't want to spend a fortune ( not much really up to £50) so should I get blue engineering bricks and stone slabs? Or should I just forget the whole thing? thestens1 The performance of any pizza oven is severely compromised if it is not insulated. I've tried firing an uninsulated oven and couldn't even get it to pizza temperature. In addition their the surface facing the fire gets hot while the surface facing the atmosphere is cold then there is extreme stress on the material because of a difference in thermal expansion. This often leads to cracking. If the oven materials are damp then steam spalling is also likely. I don't know what material you used for the slabs, or what material is used in the youtube video, but a normal concrete slab will not withstand the heat of direct flame impingement.
|
|