Pizza oven #9

The first part of the oven dome is now complete. The first couple of courses are quite easy, the bricks are split and then laid with the mud/clay/mortar mix using a piece of plywood cut in a quarter circle with a 420-mm radius as a guide. You can get about 2 courses done a day, then let the mortar cure before starting again.

Eventually the angle of the bricks is such that gravity takes over and you need something else to continue laying the bricks. A swiss ball is used for this, I thought I might need some bricks to lift it up a bit, but the ball I was using was big enough on it's own.

I still carried on at 2 courses a day, it wasn't hard work but it was a bit tricky. I gave up with using a trowel early on, I put on some thick rubber gloves and picked up the mortar with my hands and poked it where it was needed with my fingers.

Quite satisfying to have completed the dome so far.





The next bit was really easy, a layer of the mud/clay/mortar over everything for a covering of about 5cm. This links it all together, and adds more bulk to retain heat when cooking.










I understand that the most important part of getting pizzas right is getting the oven temperature right. So I have been fortunate in getting a thermocouple from my swimming friend Geoff, thanks Geoff. It's inserted in the oven wall, we'll have to see how it works when the oven gets fired up!