I purchased your book and now I am building the oven. I live in Florida, USA. I have tried everywhere to find the fire cement (also known as HIGH ALUMINA CEMENT), but I can't locate it. Do you have a list of suppliers in the USA for this material, or does this material has another name?

please advise. Thank you for your help.

Hi Joe,

Unfortunately I don't have a list of suppliers in the USA, High Alumina Cement is basically the same cement used to build a chimney in a house. chimney's get super hot and as such use a special cement, also sometimes called Refractory mortar. If you go in to your builders suppliers/store and ask for this or they should be able to help you.

If all else fails you can use this recipe for heaths and refractory mortar which use lime, fire clay, portland cement and sand in a 3:6:2:10 ratio This recipe does without the need to use High Alumina Cement and is a traditional recipe used for building chimney's & ovens.

Personally if you can use the High Alumina Cement as it is more stable and more forgiving, if you use the traditional method then please make sure to use the correct mixture as stated above.

I hope this helps you out Joe, and please email me a picture of your oven when you have completed it…

Happy pizza making
Rob

Hi Janice,

The plans as a whole are designed as an out door oven, that said, whether you are building an indoor or out door over the predicables of the dome and the method in building it are the same.

What you would have to do is use more of the vericulite or perlite insulation. as loose infill around the dome aster the final layers.

The only other thing you will need to change is the chimmily, I would use a flue from a wood burning oven to create the chimmily with any extra bends that you may need.

I hope this helps & I wish you all the best,
if you need any other help please feel free to ask

Rob

Hi Toby,

Base L =1340mm (52&3/4”) x W = 1100mm (43&1/3”) *(without side table)

Oven external dimensions are approx. L = 1400mm (55”) x W = 1200mm (47) *(this will depend on the length of the oven hearth you use)

These plans are for an oven with an internal dimension of approximately 700mm (27.5”) wide by 900mm (35.5”) deep.

You can build the oven against the main retaining wall as these ovens have been built within houses, I would suggest leaving a 75mm (3”) air gap around the oven or filling the air gap with Vermiculite or Perlite for added insulation. As these ovens get amazingly hot when they are working & if it’s against a house wall you wouldn’t want to peel the paint on the opposite side.

You can make the oven larger or smaller depending on your requirements, but you will have to adjust the materials lists accordingly. This would become clearer if you purchase the full plans.

I hope this helps & happy pizza making
Rob

Also is high fire cement absolutely necessary? I've seen other recipes for heaths and refractory mortar which use lime, fire clay, portland cement and sand in a 3:6:2:10 ratio

Hi the answer is yes to the high alumina cement, it is also know as fire cement and normaly when you go in to builders merchants they know what you are talking about unless they are not use to selling cement for fier places..

I know the recipes you are talking about and these can be used "BUT" unless you get the mix 100% rite it has a habit of cracking badly and disintergrating under the high tempretures. Where as the high alumina cement is a lot more forgiving and you know the mix is rite. High alumina cemen is a little bit more difficalt to get off the self but can be orderd from any builders merchants.

Thake care & happy pizza making
Rob

Hi john,

Thanks for the enquiry…

In answer to your question the size of the oven that is built within the plans provided is really for domestic use. However that being said the build method is the same whether you want to build a larger or smaller oven for that matter.

What you would have to do is work-out what size you would like your oven to be (ie how any pizzas you would like to cook at the same time. This can be length & whith) then using the method laid out within the plans build the arch to this size. If the dome is too high the oven will not heat up properly so you may have to drop the supporting side bricks to suit. Or even make the dome slightly shallower to take care of the additional height.

The other thing you may need to do is build an air hole within the door so the oven an breath easier when building a large oven. This can easily be done by placing a cut out in the bottom of the door when making it.

I hope this helps
Rob

my final questions, i am about Phase 4 and the Thermal mass, do you build that up on one or two times (the 50 mm Thermal mass).

Why are you using Exterier plasteres beads on the front and on the chimney sides ?? you say if you don't use face bricks, why not just render it with weather proof mass ??

once again thanks.
Ole

Hi Ole,

You can build up the final mass in layers, depending on how wet your mixture is will depend on how thick the layers can be.
What I would suggest is to put it on as thick as your mixture will allow, allow each layer to go off enough to allow the next one to go on.

The use of exterior beads is to achieve a crisp line look on the edge of the chimney which would be impossible to achieve easily without them.
However it is purely a personal option and the great thing is you can choose to finish it whichever way you wish. Rendering without beads will give a more natural feel, rendering with beads will give a crisper look & using face bricks without rendering will give a more traditional chimney feel… however if you go for a colour’d face brick you can achieve a modern contempery look.

Take care
Rob

Hi Richard,

The guide is not sent out as it is downloadable.

IE when you complete the payment page you will automatically be fwd to the download page for you to download the guide to your computer..

The video and recipe books are all downloadable to.

this means you get the product instantly & can print out the guide or pages to the guide as you need them.

I hope this helps
Rob

i have bought your plan and are building it right now, i have to ask why you use Vermiculite and is it fine or more coarse one,

thanks for a great and good pizza plan

regards,
Ole

Hi Ole,

The reason for the Vermiculite or Perlite is to work as an insulator… Get the coarse grade, these look like tiny worms about 1/2 inch (15mm) long.

But if you can't find this then you can use a coarse stoney sand but just remember you may loose a little in heat retention.
(BUT in truth using a coare sand was how the ovens have been made for hundreds of years before moden materials)