How to make Perlite Ovens FAQ
Вставка
- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- Here are my top most asked questions regarding making Perlite wood fired ovens.
If you have questions I haven't answered chuck them down below in the comments section and I or others can answer.
SMASH the thumbs UP!
Subscribe and help me break 5K Subscribers by the end of the month!
About Food Related
Hello! My name is Tom. I'm a teacher and creator.
I love making stuff, but especially when it's got anything to do with food.
I love to grow food.
I love to build food contraptions/inventions/creations.
I LOVE to eat food!
Join me on my journey of never ending learning about FOOD!
Follow me on Instagram:
/ food_related_growbuildeat
Follow me on Facebook:
/ growbuildeat
Follow me on Instructables:
www.instructables.com/member/...
VIDEOS
Perlite Oven Series
• Perlite Oven Series
Pizza Oven Odyssey
• Pizza Oven Odyssey
Perlite Hibachi Series
• Tabletop Hibachi Grill - Навчання та стиль
Thanks for all the tips. I can't wait to get started!
Thank you for this and your other videos. Very helpful.
Thanks. Im about to go for a construction soon and have bought the perlite! Very helpful stuff.
Have fun!
Thank you for such useful tips! I'm gonna build my first outdoor pizza oven based on your videos (my Neapolitan pizzas need it! 🍕🤪👍)
I've seen many, many oven videos and books and yours seems to be the most practical, easy to build and apparently thermically effective. I will give it a try! Thanks again! 😃
Thanks for watching.
Great vidclip, Great Q & A .... Keep well ... Cheers from ChCh
I have watched just about all your videos they are very helpful and hopefully my pizza oven will be cured in another two weeks and I will post pictures thank you very much
Thanks for watching
Hi! Awesome videos. I’ve watched them many times. I’m part way through my own pizza oven build (first layer of perlite down) and had 2 main questions...
1. I’ve seen a few ovens that have cracked around the flue. Do you recommend putting refractory mortar around it so it adds to the heat resistance?
2. What is your opinion on putting a fire blanket between the layers of perlite? I was going to wire it down and then cover it?
Any help welcome! And thanks again for all the info in your videos!
Thanks for the video. How are the heat retention properties of a Perlite oven compared to clay and cob?
Nice video thank you for sharing 👍👍👍is perlite and refractory cement mix safe ?
Thanks for all the videos, I made my own hibachi grill last week and taking it out the form tomorrow and I made a rocket stove the week before and it’s drying off for the next month. I’m going to use it to build a rocket pizza oven so I will let you know how it all goes.
Very cool. Thanks for watching!
Hi, from Chile. Great video, there are many videos of perlite / vermiculite wood fire oven, but none of theses explain clearly this doubt. One more question: its enough the chiken wire to avoid cracks? or thera are a better reinforcement. Thanks again
I want to line my charcoal grill to make it last longer... I was thinking of firecast cement, how would I apply it so it molds to the form of the barrel like shape?
Tom, building a pizza oven atm going by your method but using a perlite vermiculite mix for bricks and oven dome. Love the videos, keep it up
Thanks for watching!
hi thanks for the videos, Iam planning to add perlite cement mix as a 2nd layer outside my new brick oven with no blanket, do i still need to wait 5 weeks? and does this mix waterproof from rain or i need to seal it?
Loved the video. I couldn’t find white cement for a good price (I live in the US) and am going to use Portland cement. I am planning on making the walls of the oven about 4 inches (100mm) thick and reinforcing with chicken wire and possibly steel wool. Do you think this mixture would still work? I saw the vermiculite oven you built with Portland cement began to chip and I was worried the same would happen to me.
Hi, great video series and super informative, thank you for posting.
What temperature can these go up to? You mentioned not to go too hot to avoid cracking.
I’d say around 450c. I have a video coking out soon testing out the heats and performance for cooking
(where I live it rains alot) is perlite waterproof? and do you use refractory cement?
Have you firebrick on the base? if so how are they supported? , thank you
Any benefit if i lined the interior surface of this oven with fire bricks?
can you add something to the pearlite/cement mixture so that the oven retains the heat better?
Thank you, Thumbs Up!! Would you mind giving me your opinion on what sort of problems I'll encounter if my contracter used the SAKRETE High Heat Mortar with actual "Fire Brick" but instead of just using the mortar underneath the brick, he used it underneath and then made grout lines instead of placing the brick next to each other. Can I use that as my cooking surface? Or do I have either replace the whole thing by putting another layer of fire brick. I hope this question make sense
After you finish completing your perlite oven and it fully cures and you have used it can they be left out in the open in the elements or rain and freezing temperatures in the winter or do they have to be under a canopy
Can you stucco over the perlite for a smooth finish
Hello;. What do you mean by saying "parts" ?
Parts by Volume or parts by mass ? Thanks
can i use fire cement with perlite instead?
Bom dia!
Estou querendo fazer um fogão de lenha Rocket stove compacto
Usando apenas massa com perlite
Sem usar tijolos!
Poderia me informar o traço de massa adequada????
Hi Tom. After 5 months of curing, how difficult is it to lift up the oven and move it? Is there any concern that it will crack?
After all the perlite and cement layers, chicken wire and fibre blanket. Can I boost the insulation by adding layers of clay ?
Thank you for the videos, great stuff. What is your base made out of( where the pizzas lay on)? It looks like pavers to me. If they are what size and width did you use? Thanks again.
They are special firebricks not pavers.
Hey mate, great vids and very informative...
Have any of your ovens gone onto a mobile base I.e trailer mounted?
I’m very keen to build my own trailer mounted option and obviously I’m concerned regarding vibration during travel.
Any thoughts, ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.
Never built one for a trailer, only a trolley, which doesn’t get moved much!
A perlite oven once dried out is pretty solid but I’m not sure how well it would go I’m afraid...
Would you suggest the same curing time for refractory cement mix too? I’m in Auckland
Best advice would be to give it a go! Should be a similar time but if you’re doing it now in summer it will cure a lot faster.
Can you use a concrete base instead of bricks to cook on?
Im interested in the fire bricks floor? of the oven looks like you made them beforehand then sat the oven on them?
They are made from a material called Pyrolite. Great insulation properties. Made for pizza oven floors.
Thanks for the interesting video. Question:how should I cure an oven , at what temperature? Thank you
Cure at low temperatures, keeping it damp at the start.
Leave it at least 3-4 weeks before a first small fire
When using the perlite in the way you did,how did you stop voids/airgaps from happening. In mine ,I dont know if the mix maybe wasnt wet enough but I've been left with several voids I can see on the entrance of the oven. Thinking maybe using a slurry coat the fix this? Any suggestions would be grand thanks
Yes possibly not wet enough...
You could try some cement putty or some refractory mix.
Thanks for the pizza oven videos, they've been really helpful when making plans for my own oven.
Can I ask if these perlite ovens will stand up to the elements? I'm thinking specifically heavy rain?
Honestly not sure, as the ones we’ve made for people are covered. Let’s see what others on here have to say?
Does Perlite become powdery in high heat? Will it affect the pizza with this powder?
Very educational, I think you give a really good stuff for knowledge from your experience, very useful, thanks for that. I have a question. If you decide to go with high temperature cement, will you still add perlite? If so, which you think it will be the ratio?
If using high temp cement, probably a similar ratio, with perlite.
@@foodrelated Thanks for the speedy reply. I will give it a try.
Hi Tom. Excellent videos! I'm planning a bbq shack area and want to put a perlite pizza oven in it next year. What are the overall dimensions of the finished item when you're using a 65cm ball?
Not sure exactly but the base area which the oven sits on is 1200mm long by 1000mm wide.
Hi, I cast my dome last week and it's been kept under damp rags since then. How soon do you recommend I keep the rags on? Also, what is the optimum time in weeks for removing the ball and tunnel mould? Thanks.
Sheets can come off now.
Wait another week before removing the moulds.
Thanks for the update!I am slowly putting my supplies together. I have a couple of questions: I bought refractory cement instead of the white or standard cement. Is the ratio the same? (5/2/2) I also bought chicken wire for support and a ceramafiber blanket as extra insulation. Have you used the fire blanket? I really enjoyed your videos and am subbed. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for watching.
Not sure of the ratio for refractory.
Make a small test brick in an ice cream container, and let me know if the ratio works?!
Insulation blanket sounds awesome.
Great concentrated dose of oven building tips! I've been wanting to build one for over a year, finally purchased some materials and about to start construction. Ironic that after waiting so long to start, I'm heartbroken to think I'll have to wait weeks instead of days before I can light it. I've ordered a ceramafiber blanket as well. Instead of chicken wire, I'll be treating the blanket with a rigidizer spray to keep it from squishing down thin as the outer layer of cement goes on. But I may use wire in the cement for additional strength as well. Hope your project goes well.
You talk about using medium grade perlite verses course, is that correct? It looks like if the perlite were medium grade the “percrete” mix would be much finer but not as porous and harder to stack when molding the dome. Should I go for the course or medium (horticultural) grade?
Medium
Hi what do you think of wrapping my perlite oven with ceramic fire blank james
I’m fairly sure It would work
Hello Tom, thank you so much for your wonderful videos. I just found your channel, but will be watching more and more - I'm personally interested in making a pizza oven atm, but I'm sure that's just the beginning. I do have a few questions. I'd like to use a fine cement such as Rapidset Cement All, to cover the outside of the perlite oven, to trowel it smooth and possibly add some decorative brick pieces. This will make the oven quite thicker - I will add chicken wire. My questions are 1) Does it hurt to add this thicker layer for any reason? 2) My perlite cement will be made with refractory cement. This outer layer of Cement All won't have that - do you think/guess that's ok? Any other thoughts with adding this extra layer? THANK YOU!
Probably will be ok, but I’d be a tad worried about cracking...eventually.
Sometimes we just have to try things!
When I used to make cob ovens we used to make a lime plaster with hydrated lime and fine sand. This would give a very white breathable player layer which lasted a few years before cracking.
I followed these instructions during lockdown. I used
perlite and cement fondu, it’s worked really well. It’s been used several times, yesterday it was heated to 500c and no cracks. Thanks for all the help. The only thing I disagree with is waiting so long. Ours dried out for 2.5 weeks and we heated it slowly the first couple of times. Mine is a little bigger, I used a 75cm ball and needed almost 200l perlite and 2 sacks of cement. Thanks for your help.
Great news! Well done
Hi - how wide is the flue and how far down inside does it go?
I used a 100mm diameter pipe, and it goes in about 40mm.
Just use whatever you can get your hands on!
Hi, great thing. Could you please answer few additional questions?
How long does it take to warm it up?
How long does the oven retain the heat after you stop heating it?
Could you bake bread in it?
And another thing: don't you think you could use hydrated lime instead of cement? Lime should withstand high temperatures... but I don't see anybody using it for pizza ovens....
Thanx and Regards
About an hour to warm up.
Retains heat for 1-2 hours after.
We have cooked bread, roasted chickens etc after cooking pizzas.
Not sure about lime. I have used it as an exterior render for cob ovens in the past but not sure how it would work otherwise??
If I let the pearlite refractory mix cure for a few weeks, could I cover it with a thick layer of clay cob for better insulation?
Yep I reckon you could…
Can you insulate the ovens in between the perlite
Not sure. Probably could.
Have you tried "liquid glass" (sodium silicate) in the mix? If so, how much?
Never tried it
Какие пропорции?
what are the square slabs in the floor?
He answered earlier_ special fire bricks
Is it the same perlite used in agriculture?
Yes
Hi Tom, greetings from a Brit in Sweden! Just ordered a 100L bag of perlite and looking to buy a 25kg bag of refractory cement to make my pizza oven. Wondered if I should/shouldn't add any sand to the perlite concrete and 1. If it's necessary/beneficial and 2. what it would do to the finished product. Would appreciate your insight! TIA! - Tom
Yes you can add some sand.
My advice is always to make small test bricks with different amounts so you can see what works best
Do you think placing the oven in a room with a dehumidifier would speed up the process of curing the oven? Or would it promote more cracking as it would be drying to fast?
May crack it if it dries too fast would be my guess.
Do a test brick and see?
@@foodrelated Good idea. I will give the brick a try and see how it goes.
What was the result?
Hi please tell me if I have super course perlite can I use it ?thanks
Yes but you may need some fine stuff as well to bind it together, maybe some sand
Food Related thank you so much. I ‘ll use sand. Best to you all
Thanks for the Videos. What grade of Perlite do you recommend, I can get Superfine
I use about 2-3 mm but I’m sure you could use a mixture for a smoother finish
@@foodrelated Thanks so much for the reply. Stay safe in these different time! I'll be making a Perlite Pizza Oven for my next project.
what grade of perlite did you use? fine, medium or coarse?????
Fine
Hi I have asked this to few different people but not got an answer. Will the oven be ok outside uncovered once built? Will rain soak in to the walls and soften the cement? In other words will the oven need to be covered at 'll times?
Cheers for your help
Ideally it will last a lot longer covered.
Mine is covered as are the 10 or so I’ve built for people, except 1. They told me that after a year it was fine.
@@foodrelated thanks for getting back to me. Cheers
Can you use a pearlite oven to cook meat?
Yep
You've probably been asked this before, But I'm toying with the idea of building a cheap(Ish) DIY alloy smelting forge. Do you think this pearlite mix would take the heat for any acceptable length of time?
The idea is to cast an octagonal base, and a load of trapezium shaped "Bricks" to all fit together in a metal frame. I want to do it like this (Rather than casting the body as a single part) so I can replace bricks individually as the inner surface deteriorates.
I know the temperature difference between baking a pizza (apparent around 500°C/950°F) and melting aluminium (Around 800°C/1500°F) is quite a significant step, But this material looks just what I'm after with regards to strength and cost, So if it would survive the heat it looks like it would tick a hell of a lot of boxes.
Also, if this stuff could be usable, what kind of wall thickness would you suggest?
Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.
I can’t give you a definitive answer but if you used refractory cement and perlite I’m sure it would.
Thickness again not sure as it’s a completely different application. Maybe 200mm thick?
Hey Tom, i am from India and i want to build a wood fired oven in my farm. Is there's a way to build an oven which wont crack ever? I'll source everything that is required. All i want is to build an oven that lasts really long. I am spending on it anyway so might as well spend on best quality build
Can’t go past a brick oven for longevity.
@@foodrelated thank you mate, what mortar should i use to lay fire bricks?
i live in the USA where can i buy Perlite
Horticulture wholesaler, or Amazon
Hi Tom, made mine very similar to yours same ratio with perlite and normal Portland cement and in parts it's very brittle? Left for about 5 weeks and had a few small test fires. Really disappointed
Hi David, sorry to hear that.
Which bits were brittle?
How thick did you make the walls of the oven?
@@foodrelated lots of areas, Ive rendered the top so can only see on the inside. I can rub it away with my finger. Hopefully it's not fatal but it's not looking too good. May patch with fire cement.
Could this be used to coat an entire house?
No idea! Sorry!
Question 1 -Why are you wearing NZ T=shirt ?
Live in NZ
Hi! Awesome videos. I’ve watched them many times. I’m part way through my own pizza oven build (first layer of perlite down) and had 2 main questions...
1. I’ve seen a few ovens that have cracked around the flue. Do you recommend putting refractory mortar around it so it adds to the heat resistance?
2. What is your opinion on putting a fire blanket between the layers of perlite? I was going to wire it down and then cover it?
Any help welcome! And thanks again for all the info in your videos!
Hi thanks for watching!
You could definitely use refractory if you have it.
I’m yet to use a blanket but I’m sure it would work.