Building the Perfect Brick Oven

That would be the one you're working on or dreaming about.

Sometimes working with other people makes a project shine.
The oven in St. Charles, MO which I  just finished on Saturday, Dec. 1 was made better by the assistance I got from the owners and from two masons who took time out from other tasks to help me.  Though the 5' by 4' oven was a big build, involving hundreds of bricks and over a thousand cuts, the result is illustrated here and in my mind, so worth the attention to detail.

We three masons noted that where a is space limited from front to back (not side to side as in this case) the mouth could be built into the elongated section of the dome.

Next spring (actually beginning in February under shelter) I will be building a 54" interior dome oven for an orchard/bakery.
From the first conceptual idea, this is a collaboration, and I look forward to working with contractors I already know and some I've just met.

Many projects require the effort of a number of people.  The final spirit of teamwork becomes part of the resulting building.

Over the course of time, refining the design for the brick ovens I build has led me closer to the real brick ovens of Pompeii, Italy.

A generous, wide space in front of the mouth for handling the baked goods also works for residential and modern baking ovens.  As I've mentioned before, the ability to see and manage the interior of the oven by having a wider face than the mouth is not new; the oldest ovens were built that way.