What is Firebrick and why use it for the oven floor?

The word firebrick has no universal, specific definition we can site; you will find it used in conjunction with words like refractory and fire clay. Generally speaking, all of these terms are used to describe materials with the ability to withstand very high heat without falling apart.

One confusing thing about defining a firebrick is that the term has been used to describe different materials for various uses. For our purposes, we will concentrate on the nature of a modern firebrick and why it is the material of choice for a pizza oven floor.

The webpage http://refractorymaterials.net/fire-brick/ has shown professional information about firebricks.

The floor in a wood burning oven is subjected to intense heat for long periods of time. The cooking temperature on the floor may be as high as 750˚F and the temperature under the fire will reach 1200-1400˚F.

The floor needs to store this high heat and allow the heat from the fire to move through it. Since heat rises and cooking food pulls heat out of the floor, the ability to conduct heat plays a large part in the preheat time and recovery time of the floor.

The floor is also the cooking surface for pizza and breads. Pizza dough has a very high percentage of water and the best crusts are achieved when this water can steam off into the floor and get cooked out of the dough quickly.

The floor is subjected to physical use with each firing. Sharp metal utensils are used to move pizzas on the floor, heavy cookware is slid across the floor and ash rakes move red-hot coals across the floor with each use.

The factors we pay the most attention to are:

• Strength and temperature ratings

• Thermal conductivity

• Porosity

• Abrasion resistance

So the goal for a wood fired pizza oven floor is to have an appropriate strength and temperature capacity, good thermal conductivity, appropriate porosity and high abrasion resistance. This combination is only found in a firebrick.

#firebricks