Comments on: Jumping bricks, or: inside out oven building

By: Charl Roux

Charl Roux — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 10:01:46 +0000

Thank you for all the detail, I am building a oven myself and this site was very helpful.

By: Ryan Zwahr

Ryan Zwahr — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:56:24 +0000

Kiko,
I have a similar situation with an oven I just built with my kids. The dome ended up being flatter than I had hoped. oven floor width is 36", but height of the dome only ended up being 15.5". I think we may have pushed down too hard when layering the cob - the inside turned out more of a trapezoid shape vs a nice smooth dome shape. I also cut the door a little too high, because it wasn't clear how much the dome had smashed while the sand form was still in. The door height is 11" high, which according to the 63% rule is about 1" too high. I planned to cob the door back down to a shorter height. The door width is approx 15".

Should I tear down and rebuild this oven, or do you think the dome height/floor width ratio is ok?

After firing the oven about 4 times and cooking with it once, it seems that the floor of the oven is not quite getting hot enough for pizza - thought that may be a factor of the door being too high and too much heat escaping.

Thank you,
Ryan

By: kikodenzer

kikodenzer — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:57:23 +0000

bricks, yes, 1.5" thick (the form was made of scrap 2×2)
RE: ratio of door width to height: what matters most about the door, after the proper height (the magic 63%), is the shape, which needs to support the weight of the mass above (including chimney, if there is one). You can make the door wider. For a round oven, I don't like to make the door wider than the radius simply because you start to lose a lot of mass (and, possibly, risk compromising the strength of the dome); too much door can also introduce too much (cooling) air — so if I need a very wide door, I prefer an oblong shape.

By: Çhristo

Çhristo — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:00:11 +0000

Kiko,

Once again you've taken the theory to the dome and made it into wisdom! Thanks for te inspiration!

I'll be tinkering this summer with bricks!

Blessings of Peace, Fire and Mud!

Christo

By: Richard Knapp

Richard Knapp — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:00:27 +0000

Hi Kiko,

Great essay. I think I noticed a typo right above the first picture of you where it says: "The clay is generally more durable under constant use than a typical "cob" mix, which uses a higher percentage of clay to limit cracking." Doesn't the typical cob mix use a higher percentage of sand?

Are the bricks about 1.5" thick?

Richard

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:06:15 +0000

Looks a lot more sophisticated than the oven I am making based on reading your book "Build Your Own Earth Oven"! Would love to attempt one out of adobe bricks…

I have a question regarding door width. The door on the above oven appears to be wider than it is high. Acknowledging the importance of the ratio of door height to interior dome height–does it matter how wide it is?

By: kerry

kerry — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 11:33:12 +0000

Thanks for the info via email. I should have read more closely. I have recently been reading your book and am digging the foundation for my first oven. I am so excited. Thanks for writing the book.

I just noticed the descriptions on these photos do not match the photos starting at 'here she wets the brick form.' though 'pull the form: the brick is ready to slide off onto a flat surface for drying.'

By: Bricks Galore!

Bricks Galore! — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 11:27:26 +0000

[...] oven. I decided to go with the 'build the bricks first' approach after reading about an oven redo using such a procedure. It was written by the same gentleman that wrote the book I have been using as a reference for this [...]

By: jason Saunders

jason Saunders — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:16:49 +0000

Kiko- Very nice pictorial, very well done could not have understood it without the very detailed pix and descriptions. Laying on your back would have been difficult at best!

By: chris

chris — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:59:54 +0000

very cool pictoral I enjoyed it.

Pizza on Guido, pizza on!