Choosing the right Bricks for building your Pizza Oven

Our custom Thermal Shock Test Rig is effectively a gas heated furnace with a series of pneumatic actuators, controlled by an Arduino Uno. The idea is pretty simple, we know that it's not actually high temperatures that cause pressed bricks to fail, it's repeated cycles of thermal shock - rapid change in temperature from cold to extremely hot.

Follow us at:

Facebook:

Instagram:

[gregk]

I just sat through a 15 minute video about bricks for no particular reason and found it one of the more interesting videos I've watched recently. 🤣🤣 good video

[ClosetWorkshop]

Thumbs up for the sheer amount of effort you have put into this! From building a jig, to writing arduino code to automate this jig and making a clear video explaining all these concepts without bias - Thank you!

[galatig]

Congratulatórios, you just went from "I think" or "I was told" to actual real proof, Hats off on your effort and rigurosity.

[anthonykinrade]

This video has given me the confidence to build my domestic pizza oven from the cheaper red pressed bricks and replace them when necessary. Thanks!

[quantumofconscience]

The old Russian stoves used for hundreds of years in the coldest parts of Russia were composed of 500 to 800 red bricks with (white) plaster over top many of them. They simply didn't have firebricks until a few decades ago and probably still don't use them in "remote Siberia." The reason these ovens lasted for 20 or 30 years is, just like he said, once they were brought up to temperature (say, the first day of October, ) they were heated twice a day, every day through the winter, and the bricks were not allowed to "cool down" until, say, June 1. The thermal mass, as a whole, kept way above room temperature. I'm sure they had to do some minor repairs on the firebox every five or 10 years, but not on the rest of the brick stove.

[shaunramadan]

Never been so interested in wood fire ovens now, … the bricks, the temperature, the pre cast vs brick decision, and even cooking times amaze me. Great content. Now I just got to save up for one!

[joec]

Great video. This actually makes me feel better about using regular old red bricks in my outdoor pizza oven. Mainly because it’s temporary and will only be used a few times. If I’m to build a permanent one definitely going with the fire bricks.

[hazlox]

Cracking is all about the COE alumina and fire clay have relatively very little movement within their thermal expansion whereas red brick have lots of iron which is less dense and Ferris non- Crystal Inn

[Stevef]

Respect for this mans building potential. Such an awesome rig. Dont forget the steel going in and out of that oven. Another modern marvel. Thanks for putting together this video.

[petematthews]

Awesome content. I just viewed a video recently about building a pizza oven using the pressed red bricks. A lot of the comments mentioned that these bricks would explode if used in this way. Your demonstration was good to see, so that I would feel more comfortable knowing the bricks won't explode during use but develop cracks over time. I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation!

[JimHensel]

I built an Alan Scott design (the Bread Builders book) wood-fired oven 10+ years ago. I would guess I have fired it more than 100 times since. The hearth is fire brick but the dome and end walls are used red brick (probably 80-100 year old brick). I take 3 1/2 hours to fire to 800F 1" below the hearth or dome surface), cook the pizzas over the next hour and then it takes 24 hours to cool back to ambient. I have not had any spalling of the dome or end walls. The red bricks may have cracked, but nothing has fallen on the pizza or the hearth. I wonder if the slower cycle times accounts for the lack of spalling. Also the Alan Scott Design has a cast concrete cap over the dome to hold everything in place.
I don't know of any pizza oven that cycles as quickly as your test rig. I realize that a 24 hour test would take a long time to complete multiple iterations but your current test seems to not mimic reality.
A topic I would like to see explored is thermal mass. The Alan Scott design is really a high mass bread oven designed for multiple bakes in succession. Pizza does not need that thermal mass. It just needs high heat on the hearth to cook the bottom and the fire to cook the top. As a consequence of the thermal mass, I use a lot of wood to heat up the oven .

[macbaar]

Thank you now I know about thermal shock and bricks... 🤓🤓😢🤓🤓🤗🇨🇭 👍👍👍👍

[georgesantis]

At last someone who knows what they are talking about. Great video.

[djcichlid]

Thank you. Very informative! I bought red concrete bricks for my small outdoor oven, i hope it will do ok. And as you said, i will slowly acclimate the hot temperature to them before i cook them pizzas😃

[nathanieljoseph]

thorough and concise - good well done. whenever i get around to building an outdoor pizza oven, i think it's safe to say the investment in fire bricks are well worth it. cheers!

[floyd-head]

Coolest test tig.. tests done very nicely. Enjoyed your full video though watched it without any context. Glad i watched it. Cheers mate. Keep up the good work.❤

[MrMusickey]

So to prevent red brick flaking, how slowly should it be heated? Would they flake if it was brought to temp over an hour?

[huntersforgingwoodworkin]

I used red bricks for my forge and it worked well. It was a cool forge but after a couple uses some the bricks cracked. You probably when to use firebricks when making a forge if you don’t want to make one from a truck rotor, 1/4 or 6-8mm plate. Wield it in the shape of a box tapering down like maybe a 6x6in tapering down to a 4x4in. Or a 8x8in tapering down to a 4x4in. That is 20x20cm tapering down to a 10x10cm. Probably 3 1/2 inches deep or 8xm deep.

[ryancarper]

Great video! thanks for doing this - excellent demonstration. Just a question, will covering the front of the bricks with a centimetre or so of fire clay stop this rapid deterioration?

[RameshNayak-bgew]

Thank you. I was making a wood fired oven in the garden and i came across your video. Now i know what is thermal shock and flaking.