wood fired oven out of steel?

[moose13]

I have been a welder for over 20 years. I have recently got into pizza making and really badly want a WFO. Is it possible to make an oven out of steel? Steel pipe cut and welded with an insulating blanket and stucco? Of course have a real brick cooking floor. With some fancy cutting i could actually make a dome with front arch and chimney. Would this work? Any idea of what kind of heat it would produce? Here is a picture of a monster bbq i make for a friend.

[scott123]

That's some nice work. 

There may be some here who think you need more, but, at a minimum, you need a real firebrick cooking floor AND a firebrick ceiling (that isn't too far from the floor). You also need to find a way to insulate it in some way.

[TXCraig1]

I think you could do it, but there are technical challenges not the least of which are thermal mass and insulation. Keeping a smoker at 250F is one thing. Keeping a pizza oven at 900F is entirely different.

CL

[moose13]

So it would probably be a lot of time, work and money without great results? Might as well build one out of brick i suppose. Just a thought as i am much better with steel and fire than brick and mortar.

[sajata]

sorry i am late to the game here but the engineer in me has just got to get in the frey.  sure you can.  but it is all about heat loss. as long as you can over come the heat loss of the oven it should work. efficient and work are two diffrent design criteria.  the only concern i would have is the metal, high carbon steel  i assume, would evaporate over time along with the caressive by products of the fuel.  i am sure you could get it to work, look at a commerical pizza oven. mostly steel, ceramic floor but mostly steel.  it just would not be efficient or have a long life span but as an experiment, yes...

[Tman1]

Here's (a bunch) of reading for you.  Good luck! I wish I knew how to weld... seems like I could come up with stuff to tinker with.

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f43/steel-dome-oven-3717.html

[pizzaneer]

theres a post on here somewhere where someone with similiar skills made a WFO from a large spherical propane tank.  He cut in half, then did as you described with the insulation and cover.   It turned out great, although in pink stucco (waat?).   But seriously, the thread is a great read.

can't seem to find the thread.. any help here?

[pizzaneer]

theres a post on here somewhere where someone with similiar skills made a WFO from a large spherical propane tank.  He cut in half, then did as you described with the insulation and cover.   It turned out great, although in pink stucco (waat?).   But seriously, the thread is a great read.

can't seem to find the thread.. any help here?

woops: heres the link - http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f43/steel-dome-oven-3717.html

[TXCraig1]

woops: heres the link - http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f43/steel-dome-oven-3717.html

What do you do when it starts to rust inside? It won't take long at WFO temps.

Good looking oven. The chimney opening looks way to small however.

[pizzaneer]

good question:  other than proper venting, I'm not sure how this issue is addressed in commercial steel ovens, but in my experience with a LBE, proper airflow is the key.  The moisture created during combustion needs a place to go, and if it's missing, high heat creates damaging oxidation.

I would think that during the off-season, there would be a lot of rust.  Maybe theres some treatment for that?  I don't know.

[moose13]

Thanks for the link guys! Interesting reading, just a thought to use steel. I can build about anything with steel, and not sure how good of a brick mason i would be. Thanks again, i will read it in full.

[buceriasdon]

Question: Why not use stainless steel for the inner dome? Pie shaped segments rolled and TIGged would be better than carbon steel. i would choose stainless even over Cor-Ten and the cost difference would not be that great. Four inches of ceramic blanket should be enough insulation I would think, then an outer dome of carbon steel to cap off. Copper is nice.
http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/08/ovid-new-york-the-copper-oven.html
Don