Post by Piet on Jul 15, 2020 12:33:09 GMT -8
So, this has been on my mind for a while now. I waited to share it until my design was solid enough and stood enough testing. Here is my take on Matt Walkers riser-less core. I turned it into an - and in this case I am not too shy to say :-) - ultimate wood-fired pizza oven. When I saw Matt’s cooking stove, I expected the area under his glass cook top could be a sweet spot to bake pizza’s. After building a quick dry stack mock up, things looked very promising. One year later, after hundreds of burning hours, my prototype design is getting solid and almost ready to go into production.
The idea in short: The ceiling of the flame path is the oven floor
Burn path (bottom level) made of ceramic fiber board (burn chamber and afterburner) is covered with fire brick splits. That becomes the oven floor. So fire is burning underneath the oven floor. The combustion gasses then flow through the oven (over the pizza) before leaving through the chimney. The oven floor gets hot (350C) in about 40 minutes with kindling and just 1 decent log of wood (beech, oak,…) It doesn’t go over 400, no matter what I do, and stays at 300-350 with around 2 logs per hour. That’s a sweet spot for pizza’s! Needless to say that when its up to temp it burns smokeless.
For the whole combustion part I stick to Matt’s proportions as close as possible.
The outer shell is 3mm CORTEN steel. I had it bend and weld in a shop.
The oven is made of 1” calcium silicate board, covered with stainless steel sheet. I’ll put in some mass I think.
After Matt discovered the RA330 steel to be durable enough to use for the vertical sec air part, I suggested he should try some RA330 sheets to line the CFB in the fire box. He’s tested it and it proved to be a very good solution. Unfortunately it’s impossible to get it in Europe. Working on designing a commercial oven, I have to find a way to protect and cover the CFB in the fire box since that stuff is very soft and abrasive.
I’ve tried:
- 1mm mild sheet steel: holds up fine but spalls and those pieces are sharp. Also it deforms too much. Good option for personal use!
- 3mm CORTEN steel: spalls after 1 burn. Not suitable at all here.
- ceramic glass: holds up great, until it breaks. Not good for a commercial product
- just started testing with a solid stainless BBQ grid. Too early to tell but I have a good feeling about it.
I’ve learned so much from all of you guys and I happy that I am ready to share some of my experiences with you now.
Cheers!
The idea in short: The ceiling of the flame path is the oven floor
Burn path (bottom level) made of ceramic fiber board (burn chamber and afterburner) is covered with fire brick splits. That becomes the oven floor. So fire is burning underneath the oven floor. The combustion gasses then flow through the oven (over the pizza) before leaving through the chimney. The oven floor gets hot (350C) in about 40 minutes with kindling and just 1 decent log of wood (beech, oak,…) It doesn’t go over 400, no matter what I do, and stays at 300-350 with around 2 logs per hour. That’s a sweet spot for pizza’s! Needless to say that when its up to temp it burns smokeless.
For the whole combustion part I stick to Matt’s proportions as close as possible.
The outer shell is 3mm CORTEN steel. I had it bend and weld in a shop.
The oven is made of 1” calcium silicate board, covered with stainless steel sheet. I’ll put in some mass I think.
After Matt discovered the RA330 steel to be durable enough to use for the vertical sec air part, I suggested he should try some RA330 sheets to line the CFB in the fire box. He’s tested it and it proved to be a very good solution. Unfortunately it’s impossible to get it in Europe. Working on designing a commercial oven, I have to find a way to protect and cover the CFB in the fire box since that stuff is very soft and abrasive.
I’ve tried:
- 1mm mild sheet steel: holds up fine but spalls and those pieces are sharp. Also it deforms too much. Good option for personal use!
- 3mm CORTEN steel: spalls after 1 burn. Not suitable at all here.
- ceramic glass: holds up great, until it breaks. Not good for a commercial product
- just started testing with a solid stainless BBQ grid. Too early to tell but I have a good feeling about it.
I’ve learned so much from all of you guys and I happy that I am ready to share some of my experiences with you now.
Cheers!
