# Pizza Oven dome construction



## ChrisG

Awesome post. Reminded me of the ovens we have in my native country of Chile. Great stonework by the way.


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## roofex

JesseCocozza said:


> Around Here you can get a large pizza from a drive up window for $5!
> 
> Looks sweet though! Nice work.



Your right you can get pizza for a fiver, but will it tast as good..


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## stonecutter

JesseCocozza said:


> Around Here you can get a large pizza from a drive up window for $5!
> 
> Looks sweet though! Nice work.


I have had pizza from Canada to FLA (i have family in sarasota btw) to Colorado and Alaska. 

I say you cant get a good pie south of NJ or north of MA in general. I`m talking about real neopolitan style, not pizza hut or chicago deep dish or drive though conveyer pizza. 

That stuff may be ok, I admit sometimes its good, but....nothing, I mean nothing beats a wood-fired thin crust pizza with san marzano tomato sauce and buffalo mozzarella. Sometimes the simple ones are the best!! 

Totally my opinion I know but my neopolitan side of the family is the reason I`m biased!!


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## roofex

stonecutter said:


> I have had pizza from Canada to FLA (i have family in sarasota btw) to Colorado and Alaska.
> 
> I say you cant get a good pie south of NJ or north of MA in general. I`m talking about real neopolitan style, not pizza hut or chicago deep dish or drive though conveyer pizza.
> 
> That stuff may be ok, I admit sometimes its good, but....nothing, I mean nothing beats a wood-fired thin crust pizza with san marzano tomato sauce and buffalo mozzarella. Sometimes the simple ones are the best!!
> 
> Totally my opinion I know but my neopolitan side of the family is the reason I`m biased!!


Yeap your right, I would pay top Dollar for one of your pizzas..


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## JD3lta

If we're comparing ordered pizza to firing up a pizza oven. Being able to make your own pizza if you had company around or not definitely trumps fast food. There's no hours of operation. Just sharing that pizza is more than a novelty in my book.


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## JesseCocozza

I know. I was kidding. We
Like to make our own pizza at home but best I've done is with a pizza stone in the oven. We have a couple places in town that have ovens similar to yours. I say similar because it's the same concept, but your's looks way better!

What does your family do here in town?


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## stonecutter

JesseCocozza said:


> I know. I was kidding. We
> Like to make our own pizza at home but best I've done is with a pizza stone in the oven. We have a couple places in town that have ovens similar to yours. I say similar because it's the same concept, but your's looks way better!
> 
> What does your family do here in town?


Well, the family in Sarasota is mostly the last of my great aunts and uncles, sons and daughters of my great grandparents from naples. So, they are just enjoying life at those magnificent beaches you have. A couple of their children are in the or where in military. One is a retired Marine DI.

I am under no delusion that my pizza is the best...I just love any pizza that is wood fired!!!


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## stonecutter

JD3lta said:


> If we're comparing ordered pizza to firing up a pizza oven. Being able to make your own pizza if you had company around or not definitely trumps fast food. There's no hours of operation. Just sharing that pizza is more than a novelty in my book.


No..not comparing homemade wood fired to fastfood pizza...you cant.

If you like to entertain, I highly recommend building one for yourself. It is so much fun and very rewarding!


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## stonecutter

In case anyone wants to know, the style of dome I built is called tuscan. I have built neopolitan styles too but the high dome of the tuscan oven is more versatile for other uses besides pizza.


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## JD3lta

I've seen domed pizza ovens and where I worked at one point had built a couple pizza ovens for a Sorrentos pizza chain. There's a problem though and it's I'm renting. I really have no neighbors and can do what I want. However, I don't communicate with the EPA and my backyard ties into swampland. I guess that a miniature dome would be possible. Stonecutter, how small, squarely, do you think I could build one?


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## superseal

nice work there SC - help me out here...The first post shows full brick in the arch, but the third post shows two wedge cuts? optical illusion? 

nutter question...What type of clearance to combustibles do we need to worry about? Is the single wythe dome w/ refrac pardging opening up at all (cracking) when heated?... and does that raise any combustible concerns with roof/wall framing? 

Sorry but this type mingling of wood and masonry is not my bag of donuts when it come to pizza oven domes. I'd chicken out and spec it all in masonry :laughing:


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## stonecutter

JD3lta said:


> I've seen domed pizza ovens and where I worked at one point had built a couple pizza ovens for a Sorrentos pizza chain. There's a problem though and it's I'm renting. I really have no neighbors and can do what I want. However, I don't communicate with the EPA and my backyard ties into swampland. I guess that a miniature dome would be possible. Stonecutter, how small, squarely, do you think I could build one?


For practicality sake 30 " inside diameter would be a minimum. You could do your slab on a metal stand with castors then parge the dome with paster after you insulate it..use a K-Wool blanket, it equals about 9" of perlite and concrete.


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## JD3lta

Through looking at your pictures I didn't see that you had used insulation.. Also, when you poured on top of the block I wonder how you formed for that and were able to remove it. I think the manner of building the pit below can be more of a space saver just to get a smaller appeal. Like you said, it can just get parged. I'm thinking a small grade dome made of just block and firebrick. Slab/Pit, Slab/Dome. Just stucco'd. Still confused on where the insulation needs to be, and how it gets tied down.


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## stonecutter

superseal said:


> nice work there SC - help me out here...The first post shows full brick in the arch, but the third post shows two wedge cuts? optical illusion?
> 
> nutter question...What type of clearance to combustibles do we need to worry about? Is the single wythe dome w/ refrac pardging opening up at all (cracking) when heated?... and does that raise any combustible concerns with roof/wall framing?
> 
> Sorry but this type mingling of wood and masonry is not my bag of donuts when it come to pizza oven domes. I'd chicken out and spec it all in masonry :laughing:



I can see how it might look that way. There are two arches. One that is attached to the dome...which is in the first post.

The second arch with the tapered brick makes up the vent..the part that has the flue opening. 

The vent opening was wider than the arch in the dome and needed or brick in the span..so I tapered the brick near the center of the arch. 

If the arch was going to be seen I would have cut all the brick to avoid the wide joints on the extrados..but the stonework covers it so no biggie. I did cut and place small wedges in the spaces like in the dome but they are hidden by the refractory pointing.

Next...the dome will get some cracking when heated but it is minimal..less than 1/8" It happens with ALL brick ovens. Your insulation layer, whether perlite/concrete (4" min) or K-wool blanket will contain any if at all sparks that make it through...but they wont unless your dome fails. This insulation is surrounded by more loose vermiculite or perlite and covers the whol dome. No fire danger this way.

C`mon dont be a chicken..go for it!


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## stonecutter

JD3lta said:


> Through looking at your pictures I didn't see that you had used insulation.. Also, when you poured on top of the block I wonder how you formed for that and were able to remove it. I think the manner of building the pit below can be more of a space saver just to get a smaller appeal. Like you said, it can just get parged. I'm thinking a small grade dome made of just block and firebrick. Slab/Pit, Slab/Dome. Just stucco'd. Still confused on where the insulation needs to be, and how it gets tied down.


Thats because I didnt take pictures of the insulation... a habit with picture taking that I`m trying to break. The dome was parged with 1/2" refractory cement. Then I wrapped it(and the flue) with fireproof insulation because I couldnt get k-wool at the time. The studs where built 6" away from the outside of the dome...4" is a minimum here too. After the dome was wrapped with insulation, the entire thing including the flue was covered with loose vermiculite insulation, filling the inner structure. This makes it completely fireproof on the inside of the structure. 

Build your dome then cover it with an insulation layer like k-wool. the insulation layer is important..do not skip this. Thick masonry walls take longer to heat up so dont use a straight masonry parge layer for insulation. Do some research on thermal mass to help you understand. After your insulation cover it with lath or galv chicken wire then do your stucco coat or even a stone veneer..the dome will hold it.

Check out this website http://www.fornobravo.com/

It has a wealth of knowledge..happy learning you are on the path to pizza bliss!


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## Tscarborough

I have seen a lot of oven construction sequences, this is probably the best of them all. 

The Tuscan as opposed to the low-dome is debatable for how most people actually use their oven, but whatever you do do not build the Alan Scott oven, it is total crap unless you are a production bread baker.

As for cost of pizza, my average cost per 14" NYC pizza is less than 3 bucks, and 12" Neo pies run around 5 bucks.


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## stonecutter

Tscarborough said:


> I have seen a lot of oven construction sequences, this is probably the best of them all.
> 
> The Tuscan as opposed to the low-dome is debatable for how most people actually use their oven, but whatever you do do not build the Alan Scott oven, it is total crap unless you are a production bread baker.
> 
> As for cost of pizza, my average cost per 14" NYC pizza is less than 3 bucks, and 12" Neo pies run around 5 bucks.


The first oven I built was a neopolitan dome. I think it is the best at fast heat up and regulating of the temp in a faster time. 

I think the only thing the tuscan has over it is that you can cook taller items like say a whole chicken or use a rack for bread baking without overcooking. Other than that they both work very well for pizza pies.

I agree that the alan scott oven is overkill for anything other than serious breadmaking. The thermal mass on the oven requires major heat up time and fuel.


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## stonecutter

I thought I would add these to the thread. I didnt put them in earlier because I resized all the other pics before being told I didnt need too..it was a pain.

Just thought some might want to see the stand and slab work.


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## stonecutter

Here you go JD3lta. The floor was supported by 2x4 legs that I knocked out when the slab was cured. The osb came down with it. The space below was for wood storage.


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## stonecutter

Rear view. You cant see it but there is a panel that can be removed to access the dome in case there is ever a problem. The panel is on the back wall, from the peak down 5 courses of shakes.


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