Plan and liner detail Secondary Air Superior Clay Bake Ovens

Components: 50 firebrick for hearth Two Base Sections 18" Two Piece Entrance 22" Dome 4"x8" or 8"x8" clay flue HeatStop 50 - 50# bag Insulating Castible - six 50# Bags 18" Entrance Cover These components may be priced and sold separately. Additional materials such as brick, stone, block and additional clay flue liners may be needed for base, surround and chimney. Buy oven components from a dealer near you Buy oven components On Line

INSTRUCTIONS
Building the 36" Superior Clay Oven

1) Build masonry base at least 52" wide by 64" deep, and 38" high for a finished oven floor 42" above the kitchen floor or ground. The inside of the oven is 36" in diameter and the walls will be at least 8" thick so the rectangular or rounded base should be at least 52" wide and 64" front-to back-to allow for a 12" counter or hearth extension in front of the oven entrance. 2) Cast a 2" thick layer of insulating refractory concrete on top of the base and set the firebrick oven floor directly on the insulating refractory concrete.

3) Lay out a 36" circle on oven floor and set the two piece entrance tunnel and two base sections using HeatStop II refractory mortar. 4) Set the oven dome on top of the base sections in HeatStop II refractory mortar. 5) Fill the base components and Parge the dome with insulating castable refractory at least 2" thick.

6) Add more insulation over the castable insulation. Inexpensive pearlite or expanded shale mixed with a little Portland cement is okay - or use mineral wool. Whether the oven is associated with a cooking fireplace and large chimney mass or is a stand-alone oven, the exterior masonry enclosure should be isolated from the oven shell by an air space or a layer of compressible insulation like mineral wool so that, when the oven liner expands with heat, it doesn't crack the exterior masonry. Some masons use metal lath held away from the oven shell with spacers to create an air space and then plaster the oven dome. Many ovens are covered by a roof to keep rain water from entering any cracks in the exterior.

7) The 4"x8" flue liner should be enclosed within a chimney with walls at least 4" thick of solid masonry. If the chimney is inside a house it must conform to all applicable codes dealing with clearance to combustibles and height above the roof. If the oven is outside the flue need only be enclosed in masonry as high as is desired and clear of combustibles. 8) An entrance cover for the oven entrance can be provided. It can be propped up slightly (to provide combustion air) at the outside of the entrance when a fire is burning in the oven and can be pushed in farther against the seat in the tunnel to close off the flue to keep the oven warm longer after the fire has burned out.

Building Fires and Cooking
Superior Clay Bake Ovens
Buckley Rumford Fireplaces
Copyright 1995 - 2020 Jim Buckley
All rights reserved.
webmaster