2nd layer of brick

Mattone Barile & Mattone Barile Grande Ovens
1

I’m thinking of adding a second layer of brick to the outside of the oven to increase the thermal mass. Any thoughts? thanks

2

Brick is cheaper than the ceramic fiber, but the ceramic fiber will do a much better job of retaining heat. If you’re talking about fire brick, I believe it is more expensive than a second layer of ceramic fiber.

So, I’d say it’s a case of getting what you pay for. What would you do if the second brick layer didn’t retain the heat as well as you’d hoped?

I think the bottom line is that diverging from tried-and-true methods sometimes is fine, but once the oven is built, you have very little recourse should things not work the way you hoped.

3

I have also considered another later of brick. I believe it would then be necessary to increase the platform width and depth as well as the thickness. I know this will increase firing time. I would be happy to be able to make 20-30 loaves if the original design is suitable but I haven’t seen any production estimates.

4

Everyone is correct!

But I’d like to add… If you do brick-on-brick, please note the following:

  1. EXTERIOR CRACKING - If you get a hairline crack on the inside of your oven, you will see the crack on the outside of the oven. Except - it will be larger on the outside than the inside. Example - bring 4 fingers together. Now do the Vulcan salute. See how that small “crack” is larger on the outside? Same principal.

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  1. HEAT LOSS - That second (and COLD) outer layer of brick is going absorb the heat from the inside of your oven like a sponge! The oven will never get as hot as it should / could. Which leads too…

  2. TAKES LONGER TO HEAT UP and REQUIRES MORE FIREWOOD.

  3. There’s a slew of other reasons not to do brick-on-brick… but those first 3 should be reason enough NOT to build a brick-on-brick pizza oven. ALWAYS use Ceramic Fiber Blanket.

Here’s a bunch of great posts about the benefits of Ceramic Fiber Blanket -

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