Im getting ready for my first building a pizza oven i watch the videos to get courage and cofidence yours by far is the most confidence build simple but yet strengthening thanks bro

Super!!! Thank you very much from Russia. This is very valuable information!

A very cheerful and informative comparison. Thanks!

Great video. Thanks man

Great set of videos, This weekend I have started my build using Perlite and white cement & hydrated lime on the first layer, then wire mesh followed by perlite and ordinary cement(ran out of white cement) + hydrated lime on the 2nd layer. Now need to wait 6 - 8 weeks for it to cure and dry. Will give me time to build the base. Used you 5,2,2 method with 1/2 hydrated lime on top.

Thank you for this information. I was wondering about it.

Awesome! Well thanks for making the video. Just found your channel. I’ll be watching more. I’m in the process now of finishing up and bronco patio I should’ve built years ago. Ha. I’ve been wanting to build an oven like that for a while now and the good news is I can get perlite super cheap so I think I’m going to try my hand at it as soon as I get the patio finished.

Thanks you have convinced me on 2 ovens. A perlite dome for pizzas and a barrel for longer cooking needs.

If you check concrete technology, grey cement powder is more suited to construction. Great job, however, I think the issue is not so much white versus grey, but perhaps the addition of chicken mesh, water to cement ratio, drying methods (heat) and perhaps perlite, you certainly gave me something to think and research, thanks

You showed up in my recommend today. I subscribed after watching your video.

Chimney should be closer to the opening of the oven to retain heat and get the smoke away from your face.Some insulation and another layer would of made it lot more efficient.

what a great video , thanks for sharing my friend 👍

I used ceramic blanket over oven shell to insulate and then rendered over to finish it. It's a bit larger but keeps hot all night

Thanks for the info 👍 Thinking of building one what have you used for the base of the oven it looks like slabs 🤔 cheers 👍

For added strength, you can do a portland wash over whatever aggregate you decide, then wrap it in a furnace blanket and mesh n render it up.

Great work. I have my gym ball and am on the cusp of beginning my own oven. A few questions please: Hello Gentlemen. Perhaps a foolish question but would you be indicating 5:1 or 4:1 perlite:cement by weight or volume? Did you pour your ovens floor out of the same material? Yours appears to be segmented but it's difficult to tell if it's poured in place or cast prior. Do you have a sense of the weight of the completed oven? Would you have a recommendation as to how to seal the dome once complete? I have to protect it from water infiltration as I get freeze/thaw here. Would you recall how many bags of cement you required for the 10cm perlite oven?

Could you post a tutorial podcast on your next build please with the info like mould set up. quantities of cement, perlite etc. Thanks enjoyed your vid can you build me one, lol.

Very helpful😊

Great vid what are you slab bases made of

Enjoy watching your builds. I am presently building an oven. It’s currently a cardboard structure just over 70 cm. I was thinking about a castable refactory interior. Would a perlite/ refactory cement exterior afford the oven enough protection to hold heat in?

hi i normally use Vermiculite but find the same issues you did so might try Perlte. My question is what mm Perlite ............ OK just saw your perlite oven video and on the bag it says P400 so now i know. 👍👍👍👍 even funnier i just saw the name on the bag and realized you in NZ as well 😁. Love the videos, just subscribed. So a drive to Auckland and i will be starting my second wood oven in a few weeks. built first one out or red clay fire bricks that was the best oven worked so well, Also my first video for YT of making that oven.

Nice. I'm torn on which one to make. Could a cement mixture of perlite & vermiculite both be mixed together for the oven dome?

Very interesting, thank you! I am building a brick oven (I can buy bricks rated to 1100C) capped with concrete then Perlite concrete. I also used Perlite cement to insulate the slab from the firebrick hearth.

Thank you for sharing your learning experience

Tom, awesome videos... love them all. I've finished my first dome by using Medium Vermiculite, big mistake. Sadly, it was all that was local to me. I did more of a 5:2:1.5 ratio and it has turned out to be a beast, quite heavy. I haven't even moved it from its table yet, I'm still trying to separate it from the table after 14 days of drying... Anyway, what is your final recommendation for the dome mix? Perlite or Vermiculite? medium or coarse or super coarse? I have a feeling that my current shell is going to not make it and I will be starting over, but with the ball and the shell, it will be easy and fast to start over... Thanks again for your insight, it is very, very much appreciated. I look forward to your reply. Brian in Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Thanks for putting this together, Tom! I'm working on my first oven and had a question about your experience with perlite's heat transfer through the dome. I did a 5:1 ratio of perlite:portland at 75mm thick. I haven't done curing fires yet to test the insulation but I'm wondering if you find the dome/walls to get very hot when cooking or if the perlite does a good job of insulating?

hi there thanks for a great video with useful information.. 1 question when u say dont fire it too high what temp are you talking about? or what tempt did u have it that caused it to crack. cheers

Thank you.

Cool vid thanks mon!

Great tip thank you. QUESTION - what did you use(recommend) for the base (floor) of the oven.

Hi Tom! Great Video BTW! COVID has given me and my brother plenty of time to go into our own Pizza oven project. Like you this was the first time we'd ever taken on such a project and we've pretty much been winging it ever since (a few set backs in the beginning... but still so much fun!) Our oven is a vermiculite oven and approx double the thermal mass of your vermiculite one, and we are now at the stages of "curing" the oven. Quick question is how long did you cure yours for before working it up to a full firing? Keep coming with the video updates! Cheers!

Hi Tom loved the video. I have a question or 2 just wondering if you could answer them please. 1. What ratio of perlite would you use to high strength cement? 2. And what thickness would you recommend for the perlite pizza oven please. 3. And what constancy should I be looking for when adding water. Many thanks Jacob

Awesome video thank you, what is the base made off and if made the oven thicker would that hold the heat longer Cheers Troy

I have seen people who dedicated 5 days to start the temperature in the oven starting from 175 degrees up to around 400 degrees, increasing it day by day - in any case I keep the idea of ​​perlite in mind, I will certainly use that not only on the outside but also on the inside construction of the base together with expanded clay + refractory cement logically - greetings from Italy

Tom, Can you believe it's been a year now? I have a wood fired oven because of you and your videos. I'm super happy with it. I'm trying to do some some real "oven" tasks now with it. Have you gone any further and tried any bread or meats in your oven's? I wanted to see if you have. Thanks again for the encouragement and the videos!! The Cooper family thanks you!!

Would like to send a photo of oven you helped me with. Cheers for the advice and inspiration Pete

Thank you for sharing great VS ! I did several experiments, finally always cracking. The last repair has been made with about 20 mm mix Portaland ciment + perelite on chicken wire/ Looks holding much more heat. What is your proportion mix ?

great vid! 1st time sub'd!....how did you make the base with the stones? was that fire bricks or perlite hame made stones, if you have a link let me know , thanks mate!

Nice! I'm working up an idea to build a rocket pizza oven, I want to do it in layers, the first layer will be a mix of bentonite clay and Portland cement, a layer of Aircrete then another layer of the clay mix. I torch tested some samples and the clay mix held up quite well.

Tom, really helpful vid, I was almost going to do a vermiculite/ pearlite layered number but now after seeing how soft it can become I’m sticking to pearlite and will use the vermiculite in the garden. Many thanks Rob

Great videos, thanks. Where did you buy the square firebricks from? Cheers

Ha! My favorite new channel. Building stuff to cook food 😄

Thanks again for all of your awesome help. I am finally in the process of my first fires to prep for first pizza day. I don’t know if I’m crazy but it seems that smoke is coming through the top of the dome? Have you ever seen this? I’m pretty sure it’s at least 2 inches of not 3. Thanks for your support. Brian in Philly USA

If you build another oven, you might add some chopped fiberglass to the mixture. That might also reduce the chances of cracking. Since it is pretty cheap, it might be worth trying.

Looks good man. Stuff the cracks. If it works it works. :-)

Tom, Great Vid. how hot is too hot to fire a perlite oven? Thanks

Hi Tom, very useful indeed. I particularly like the way your hair comes out the front of your cap. Or is it the back?

Hi as fire (fondu) cement is very expensive could I mix my vermiculite with normal Band Q cheap cement, also have you ever crushed old Red bricks and used them in a concrete type mix, love to hear your ideas thanks.

What about fire blanket insulation in between the layers? Is that worth the extra effort/cost?

Very helpful video. As you said it's not really a fair comparison if they're not built to the same specifications (thickness, chicken wire). Did you use the same cement ratio in both?

very good video, it is possible with perlite, cement and sand refractory furnace type kamado

Very interesting video. A question: did you ever experimented using expanded clay instead of perlite or maybe even a combination of the 2, with a perlite based layer at the beginning followed with a thicker layer containing mainly expanded clay, but also a percentage of perlite to fill the spaced between the clay as it has a bigger dimension and leaves bigger gaps that have to be filled bi the cement? Expanded clay has been already cooked at high temperature in the making process, is very light, so allows thicker wall without having a too heavy construction and thicker walls should lead to a better heath retention as the mass is the same, but there is more insulation. Strange enough I never saw expanded clay in home made pizza ovens, maybe there is a proven reason why it does not work, but maybe it can really improve the result, so I ask to you, as you claim to don't be an expert, but you surely have experience and you give us a long term comparison, while most of the others show only the oven new, but don't give any feedback on its durability over time and use. Thanks for the answer, hoping that you find the time to write it, if not I understand it. Ciao from Italy.

Have you ever tried or considered mixing Perlite and Vermiculite in different ratios for your mix? I’ve been meaning to experiment with this idea. Furthermore I’ve considered first soaking Vermiculite in water for it to saturate and expand prior to mixing it with cement to make it more workable and to prevent cracking due to expansion when heated

I'd be interested to see if the cracking would reduced if you added glass fibre reinforcing to the concrete mix. It's used to give strength to concrete worktops so they can be cast a thinner (up to 75% weight reduction) while keeping the same strength. If you believe the blurb, it also stops the concrete from expanding/contracting as much.

Pearlite is actually Hydrated Obsidian, so perhaps the Lava came in contact with water, as such there is only a limited amount of Pearlite in the world.

Hi 👋 Great video. What was your ratio for perlite to cement to water? Thank you.

I see lots of clips using perlite for pizza ovens , then read on lots of websites that perlite is only suitable for filling holes in walls , and not for heat retaining ovens. Please ...... does the perlite retain enough heat to make a successful oven ? Cheers in advance.

Very useful comparison! Thanks for sharing. So I wonder why not just give your vermiculite oven another layre of perlite over top to fix it up nice and to save all the forming and other such jobs?

Good morning, I'm about to build a pizza oven but I'm having trouble finding perlite in Italy! I saw your video where you explain the pros and cons but I also saw that in the first oven you made some mistakes, for example not having put a reinforcement between the layers and having turned it on for the first time by heating it too much which caused the cracks. My question is this: since I can't find perlite I would like to make it in vermiculite by placing the mesh between the various layers and turning it on slowly the first few times. In your opinion, if it remains outdoors, the vermiculite is too weak to resist?

What material did you use to patch the cracks? Original mix or fire temp cement. Thank you.

Hi Thanks four posting this informative Video. Can I cook directly on the Perlite/concrete base (ie no firebricks) I have not made my oven yet, but think the base will be about three inches thick..Thanks

What's the temperature at the outside of the ovens, if the are fired for some hours? It's not about precise readings, just if you can touch the outside without instantainiously bruning/hurting your fingers/palm.

I mixed 6 parts perlite, 1 part refractory concrete, 1 part Portland cement, and water, for the oven floor under the tiles, It's been curing for 5 days, but it hasn't fully hardened yet. I can still dent the surface with my nail. Could it be that I used too much water, and it won't cure properly? Or will it just take more time? Or could it be the mix itself?

Hi, how much pearlite and how many cement bags would you advise? Many thanks and great vids. 👍

Pizza ovens look great! I looked abit through the comments and cant find it it anywhere else, What volumes of Perlite/Vermiculite and cement do you use? and did you work to a 4:1 ratio with cement? thanks

Literally building my 2nd pizza oven today after the first one worked but cracked and was debating whether to try perlite

oke thanks for this super idea of titel video but wich matrial will be the best for extremly high degress like 500 degress

Hey guys, Awesome youtube chanal and instagram page here. I was wondering how many pizza you could fit in a 60cm diameter build dome? You recon you could cook 10 pizza's/hour? Thx for all the info sharing

If I render the inside of my pizza oven with fire cement after I built it do you think that will help prevent cracking

Do you use the fine prearlight or the course 😮

Very interesting a helpful. What is the recipe for the perlite oven please?

oh my god, as you did reinforcement and another material-strength with the perlite, it actually is not comparable at all, is it??? Anyway: both are interesting materials, and THUMBS UP for posting!

I saw another video where they said use perlite and cement in a 4:1 ratio with just enough h2o to hold it together.

Great comparison! how hot is too hot? Thanks

How many part of perlite per cement you use

What kind of bricks do you use for the bottom where you put the pizza? I wonder if its bad for the food to just use cement or something on that too...

Hey thanks for the videos really helpful. I've bought vermiculite and am struggling with how soft it is, have you any recommendations on how to best dry it after applying to mold? I'm sitting on maybe 7-8 days and it's still very damp and crumbly but does hold the shape. I used a similar ratio to you. Thanks J

Why can’t both be used to create the refractory mortar mix? Like 1 part of each, 3 parts sand and 1 part white Portland concrete…water etc? Wouldn’t both be best of both

thanks , have been told that perlite although a very good insulation and light structure , when it is heated can release toxic substances th4 is not recommended for ovens . any views on that ? i was going to make my own oven with perlite (and cement) but this stopped me dead in my tracks.

you used different cements, did you also do a cross comparison?

Yea, I’m getting bag of refractory cement and perlite this weekend, total cost $60 ;) worth it

Need to build one with the vermiculite and white cement to give a true comparison between the two

I would like to see a pizza oven with a rocket stove for heat source. One that you can slide in the back slot so you can remove and dump ashes , so no more cleaning out the oven . Just a thought

Any Calcium aluminate cement will do better than a Portland cement for heat resistance. Consider adding rock wool to your mix to prevent cracking.

What if you mix both vermiculite and perlite

Regarding the Perlite, I used waterglass, a substance made of water+lye+Celica.

what composition of the solution do you make for making a stove?

Did you make the firebricks under the oven as well? If so, are those verm and cement?

Regarding reinforcement, did you ever consider adding glassfibres (length approx. 12..25mm / 0,5...1in) to your perlite/vermiculite - concrete? Here in Europe, dry-mix-DIY-concrete is already sold and advertised "fibre-reinforced" in DIY stores. Wikipedia suggests to use about 1...2 kg of glassfibers per cubicmeter of concrete. (Hope you can convert that to imperial units) If you ever build one with glass fibres, I'd appreciate if you share your experience!

Hi. What kind and where do you get the fire cement from

How would Refectory mortar work instead of refectory cement

Do you think increasing the amount of portland or FB mortar in the mix would increase the hardess of the vermiculate?

What did you make the oven with?

What mix do you use, I'd like to make a Perlite oven?

@ 06:15 "One of my top tips is not to fire it too hot"???? The whole point of getting a wood fire pizza oven built, besides great flavor, is to achieve the high heat = very hot. So how hot is too hot? Maybe if your pizza oven is constructed properly, then it should not crack due to being "too hot".

Is building an oven completeley out of refractory mortar a good idea? I have alot extra

How are you? Perlite is a definite stronger material to be used. I got a fire-box made; almost 2/3 of it done. It's made of swords - red hot temperature. (I used to it to temper with blade). Instead of cement, I used "waterglass". I wish you can see it, are you in Hawaii? The outer box made of paper, it still haven't removed. I plant to blow some hot air 🔥 into it to dry.

The problem you have with any pizza oven that is made with cement either grey or white white Portland cement you will always get cracks eventually that is because cement expands and starts to break down under extreme temperatures even after it has has cured for years. I build my pizza oven with a 50 millimetre wall thickness and pay the extra and used refractory cement which I got from vitcas £30 for 20 kilos I used 50 kilos on a 900 mm diameter oven

Why didn’t you use heat resistant cement instead of normal cement? With heat resistant cement the cement won’t crack until above 1200 degrees Celsius.

What's the ratio for perlite, water and white cement you used?