Brick Oven Specs #6

current project awaiting brick facade

Some ovens require a flat lintel over the mouth and face rather than the brick arch.  The oldest ovens I've seen have a flat lintel made of stone.
When needed or requested, I use heavy angle iron to support the flat lintel on ovens that I build.  The angle iron rests on the walls of the  mouth and support a set of bricks that bond to the dome bricks on the inside of the throat and also support the bricks that span the face of the oven.

True Brick Ovens mosaic, white-washed brick, and stone face

Construction of the dome where it meets the lintel still requires some custom cutting so that the dome bricks can continue to form the sloped surface that forms the shape of the completed dome.
Once the dome is complete, the lintels also support the chimney.
A decorative arch can be built in front of the face lintel.

Urval, France community oven

I use angle iron lintels most frequently for portable ovens since the jarring of poor road conditions might damage or loosen a brick arch.
The domed ovens in France often had arched mouths and flat lintels over a large hearth.

The oven dome itself is a very integrated form and even after years of bouncing down country roads, my original oven is as solid as ever.