Today, I wanna share something about fire bricks I messed around with from Lowe’s. It all started cause I was looking to build an outdoor oven, you know, for baking bread and pizzas and stuff.
So, I headed over to Lowe’s, just browsing around, and I stumbled upon these fire bricks. They got different kinds, and it was kinda confusing at first. There were these light ones, they call ’em IFB, which stand for insulating fire bricks. They were super light, felt like holding almost nothing. They’re good for keeping the heat inside, I guess.
And then they had these other ones, harder, denser. I figured these would be better for something like my oven, where you want the heat to stay steady. I asked one of the guys working there, and he confirmed, said the dense ones are the way to go for something that’s gonna get real hot regularly.
I decided to go with the standard size, seemed like they would be easier to work with. They had different colors, too, but that didn’t matter much to me, I just picked the regular yellowish ones. Oh, and the price is much cheaper than refractory bricks.
Then came the fun part – building the thing. I did some research online, watched a few videos, but honestly, it was a lot of trial and error. Laying the bricks, getting them to fit right, it took some time. I used fire clay as mortar, which I also got from Lowe’s. It was kinda messy, but hey, it’s part of the process, right?
- First try, I messed up the arch. Totally collapsed.
- Second time, I got it, but it wasn’t pretty.
- Third time’s the charm, they say, and it kinda was. It held up, looked decent.
I fired up that oven, and man, it got hot. I mean, really hot. Baked a few loaves of bread, they came out amazing. The crust was perfect, and it just felt good, you know, eating something you made in an oven you built yourself. I even tried making pizza, and let me tell you, it was better than any pizza I’ve ever bought. Or you can use ceramic tiles as an alternative to fire bricks, it’s cheaper.
So, that’s my story with the fire bricks from Lowe’s. It was a learning experience, a bit of a challenge, but totally worth it. If you’re thinking about a project like this, just go for it. It’s rewarding, and you end up with something awesome you can use and be proud of.
