Installation guide

Pompeii Oven Instructions

Red clay bricks are typically used for building the

decorative arch and optional sides around the oven vent

and vent landing, and can be used for any decorative

feature.

There are three types of brick that you should avoid:

Concrete Brick

These are the concrete bricks you see at Home Depot for

about $.12. They are made from standard Portland

cement-based concrete and are air-dried, not kiln fired.

They will not withstand the heat inside your oven.

High Duty Firebrick

These brick have very high alumina content, get very hot

(1500F and up) and are designed for continual high-heat

applications, such as furnaces. They are expensive, and

will get too hot for some of your oven uses, such as baking

bread and roasting. In general, pizza wants heat between

750F and 900F, while bread and roasts cooks best

between 500F and 600F. (Note that brick ovens are able

to cook at higher temperatures without burning because of

the moist heat inside the oven and shorter cooking times.)

Insulating Firebrick

These lightweight refractory bricks are designed to stop

heat, and as such have low conduction and low heating

holding capacity. They are often used to insulate industrial

equipment. A typical insulating firebrick weighs about 2

lbs, compared with an 8 lb light duty firebrick. They are

designed for insulating and will not do work for your oven

dome and cooking floor.