Pablo Stewartae

Any confirmation on this mix for a high temp concrete? The video claims that masonry mortar mix is typically rated to 2500 degrees. He mixes 50/50 masonry mortar mix and perilite.

You're right -- nothing at the depot, but you link was helpful, Brian. I will look for a mason supply place tomorrow. Was hoping to have woodfired something by Thanksgiving, but I'm cutting it pretty close. Maybe Christmas.

Brian -- Right where I was headed, but the caution against Portland has me heading back to Homedepot for an alternative.

William -- the guy with the oven said he'd already scrapped it. Sigh.

Thank you for the welcome.

Yes... I saw this design -- I'm going to steal a few ideas, but I'm going to try the open burn method first.

Actually, I just found an old commercial/stainless wall oven on clist for a few cents and I might try that as an experiment. Try and drill a hole on the bottom for the rocket and one on the top for the vent. Already has pretty good insulation and a nice heavy door. Put a few stones in the bottom for mass and then see how it cooks. If everyone loves it, then I can move my rocket to a barrel or go all out and design a rocket powered adobe/mason pizza bread oven.

I'll keep you posted. I bought portland cement and perlite tonite. Going to cast a 5 gallon rocket tomorrow and maybe have me some wood fired bread for Thanksgiving!

AH! Found the pizza oven version! But it, too, seems to be a two barrel design.

Well, anyone who has vent/rocket placement advice, I'd be much obliged.

The Winiarski stove is vertical, whereas the Hartley stove is horizontal. But both stoves seal the food from the flue gasses, which isn't the way a wood fired oven is supposed to work. I suppose I could figure out some way to eliminate the outer barrels in the Winiarski stove so the gas/heat can go straight to the bread using the same three shelf vertical method, but I'm not sure that gives me any big advantage and it might mean the bottom shelf burns the bread and to top shelf.

Maybe the Hartley design is in book II?

I love the idea of a wood fired oven, but I don't like the idea of building a massive mason structure and I don't like the idea of burning tons of wood to get the oven up to temperature (see DennisHartley50 video on the tube). But I don't want a sealed oven that just happens to be heated by wood -- I want the food cooked directly by the wood (the heat/smoke will make contact with the food). So I'm thinking dennis hartley's basic design (a rocket stove under and heating a 55 gallon drum) is a sound one, but instead of putting a sealed 30 gallon barrel inside the 55, I would place a mason/stone heating surface directly in the 55 gal drum, feed the rocket stove into the bottom of the drum, and let the heat/smoke run underneath and then around the cooking surface and exhaust the gasses on the top. I will, of course, like Mr. Hartley, place some kind of insulation inside/outside the top of the stove, too, to hold the heat in. Probably fire brick lining the top of the barrel and, if necessary, some sort of insulation on the outside. I think a huge advantage of the rocket stove in this application isn't just the economical use of wood, but the fact that the more efficient combustion means more heat on the food and less smoke (than the typical wood oven in which you build the fire right next to the food).

Clear so far?

But here's my question. I'm trying to figure out the best placement of the stove under the barrel (front, back, middle), the best place for the internal venting (should the heat/smoke run around the cooking surface up front, in back, all up and down the sides, etc.), and where should I place the chimney (front, back, middle).

I have drawn some crude plans. In A, the cooking surface runs from side to side the length of the stove, except the gasses either vent in the back or the front, or even in a hole in the middle of the cooking surface. And I have to decide where the chimney vents for each of those senarios. In B, the cooking surface is narrower so that it the heat can vent all down the sides and/or in the front or back or both.

Anyway -- I'd be grateful for your suggestions. This is my first rocket stove experiment. I'm hoping to build up my courage to building a bigger rocket heater in my barn/shed.