Can I Use Normal Brick To Build A Pizza Oven?
Pizza ovens are great because they can be used to cook up different things, not just pizzas. A pizza oven can be used to make meats, vegetables, and even desserts.
Building a pizza oven is a niche but achievable DIY project. This makes it a versatile addition to any kitchen and with the reclaimed bricks from existing stucture you can build one at cheap.
You can put it on your deck or patio, and then you’ll be able to cook a pizza to perfection any time you like. But how can you tell if normal brick will work to build your pizza oven? Here’s what you need to know.
Can I Use Normal Brick To Build A Pizza Oven?
Building a pizza oven is a niche but achievable DIY project. But using the right brick for your oven remains a tricky question; especially when some of the experts claim only fire bricks make a good oven.
So can I use normal brick to built pizza oven. The simple answer to this question is; “Yes” you can use regular ( traditional ) brick to built your pizza oven.
While Fire bricks made the best oven regular red clay bricks do just good. Ensure the bricks you are using is not made of concrete and is strong and level.
So, in simple terms if the bricks that you are using are constructed from clay material and kiln-fired (red clay bricks or refractory bricks), they can be utilized in pizza ovens.
However, if they are concrete bricks, then you should stay away. This is because clay bricks can bear up the pizza oven heat while concrete bricks cannot.
The type of bricks matters for many things in the pizza oven, particularly how long the oven will last over time and how hot it will get.
So what’s in a Brick and Which Do I Use?
Ideally, bricks are made of many different manners and many materials, and they are put in many different places. There are 3 types of bricks including Red Clay Brick, Firebrick, Concrete Brick.
Firebricks are special types of bricks that can handle high temperatures. You can use them in industrial furnaces, fireplaces, fire boxes and wood-fired ovens.
The bricks are indeed white and the big difference from other types of bricks is that as clay composition (the silica and alumina), the mixture is highly resistant to heat and is less likely to flake or crack.
Red clay bricks are considered traditional red house bricks. They come in different shapes and are naturally red. These bricks feature a different types of clay (silica and alumina) and admixtures.
These can be hollow cored or solid cored. You can likewise find red clay bricks in pavers for the patio, driveway, or road. These types of bricks are not very heat tolerant when compared to firebrick and high heat or long use causes them to start to flake or crack.
Finally, Concrete brick comes in a range of styles and is found in modern construction. These bricks can be created with a variety of patterns, shapes, and colors.
They are made using gravel, sand, water, and Portland cement and are then poured and dried instead of kiln fired. Since these bricks are not kiln-fired and too brittle, they are not ideal for making pizza ovens.
Can you use house bricks for a pizza oven?
There are several reasons why it is a good idea to avoid using pavers and house bricks for the pizza ovens inside.
You can use standard bricks for building the stand and outside the pizza oven- in fact, we recommend it since standard bricks are better in wet weather.
Note that red bricks are ideal to use in a fire pit provided you are not planning to build a very hot or large fire. It can pop when it gets very hot.
Unless the concrete or other materials around the bricks can manage to block the pores in the brick, there are less chances of the fire bricks breaking.
Ideally, red bricks can withstand temperatures of up to 1750 degrees F (945 C). But if the content of alumina is above 25%, then the service temperature can be much higher.
Nevertheless, if you are planning to build large fires, it is recommended to buy fire bricks. Similar to other appliances, a pizza oven is also required to be vented.
When using regular red bricks for oven rather than fire bricks just make sure you give time to both heat up and cool down the oven. Do not push it fast as the one thing red bricks are not good at is its ability to withstand thermal shock ( i.e sudden change in temp).
Which means if you cool down your oven quick every time your red bricks will start to deteriorate over time. This doesn’t also mean you need to give weeks or even days to cool down.
Just leave it idle to cool down for hours ( 3-6 hrs ideally ) after each use.
When you vent your pizza with a chimney, it will ensure a few things, removing the smoke from the oven inside, keeping the flames burning efficiently, and stopping the smoke from blowing out on your face.
Difference Between Normal Brick and Fire Bricks?
Firebricks are generally heavier when compared to traditional bricks and usually have lower porosity- this means that they are much denser than normal bricks.
Moreover, the firebricks have lower thermal conductivity than normal bricks meaning that the temperatures are not transferred between bricks, this creates an insulating effect.
Fire bricks offer a consistent high heat needed to blister a dough of pizza perfectly, and their non-porous exteriors are safe to cook on.
Even when your backyard is not graced with a brick oven you can reproduce the results with a good grill or a few fire bricks. The firebrick concept is very simple; it usually reflects some heat on the firebox and will protect the firebox’s inner steel area.
Ideally, Firebricks has a pale yellow or whitish color, though there may be other colors. Moreover, they will be very exact in edges and dimensions, however, used ones have ragged edges and chips.
Look for fire bricks that do not have holes through them. Get newer hard bricks.
A good quality firebrick costs around $2.45+ each. These bricks are constructed from clay and then fired in a kiln. Local clay is used to build them and is then fired to a temperature between 2000F to 3000F.
Shipping can also be too expensive. At the same time, you can also use red clay brick to produce a safe and excellent oven, although it will not be as long-lasting as the one made of fire bricks.
With that, it is very important to check your firebricks regularly to make sure that they are not damaged or cracked in any way. Other materials you can use as Alternatives to Firebrick include:
• Red Clay Bricks- are another great choice for heat retention.
• Ankar Sandstone- ankar is a sandstone-type material that comes from a volcano.
• Refractory Concrete- it can be used as another option in place of the firebricks.
• Soapstone
What is the best base for a pizza oven?
The base is a solid foundation that usually supports the outdoor pizza oven. This base can be made from house bricks, even old railway sleepers, or even breeze blocks.
Their materials must be level and strong, as the oven will be heavy. In case you’re using breeze blocks or bricks to connect, then connect them together with cement.
Can I use a normal mortar for the pizza oven? Normal mortar can crack or expand very quickly when it is exposed to wood-firing pizza oven temperature.
Therefore, you require to make a heat-resistant mortar mix that will not break even when it faces high heat. Depending on the size of your oven, you might need between 100 to 250 clay bricks with 20 to 25 concrete blocks.
Are pizza ovens worth it?
According to most buyers, they said that pizza ovens can be a good investment since they will save you a lot of time. However, we believe, that when you save time, then you will lose the pizza quality.
Nevertheless, it is energy-efficient and will take less time to preheat.
Ideally it can take about one hour for it to fully heat a wood-fired pizza oven. Though, this depends on the wood used, the design and size of your pizza oven, and the weather outside.
If you have a small oven, it can only take 40 minutes to heat up, on the other hand, larger ovens can take even more than 2 hours to heat up to the required temperature.
And to answer the other most asked question “Does a pizza oven need to be round?”; I would say Normally, the Round pizza Oven cooks evenly, and the spherical, round dome does a recommendable job of ensuring that the heat is distributed evenly on the cooking floor.
Moreover, you can be able to cook pizza everywhere (or veggies and roast) in the oven and it will cook evenly.
On the other hand, a rectangular oven usually has a barrel vault that can give you cool and hot spots, dependent on where there is fire.
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