The stuff we used to have in Colorado was quite fractured and broke easily, but it wasn't something you would make garden stones from. Their stability would also probably be dependent on exactly what type of granite it is. After the fire burns at least an hour, brush off the ashes, and sweep a damp rag across them. If they are cheap enough, you could experiment and lay a few on the ground and build a large fire on them. Having smaller pieces would help as they could expand and contract independently. Make sure the granite can take the thermal shock (fire brick or good clay brick can). This cleans the floor, but involves a wet rag or mop. The other thing to consider here is the mopping of the floor before baking. So while you might not use the oven at high temps, it often passes through those temps before use. The idea for bread is to soak the oven in high heat (at least the 700-800 F), let things stabilize, and then get the temperature down to 400-500 for baking. An infrared themometer aimed at the floor at the bottom of the fire goes off scale and the IR tops out at 1000 F. I cook in a 42" diameter all fire brick dome. Incidentally, it never occured to me that the gravel could be a problem, but after dumping the third 50 lb bag of it, I read a warning that says it may contain silicon dust, which I think is only a problem until it settles, but I should have worn a mask while I was dumping it. Does anyone have any information about this? I could try to reach Old Colony, the manufacturer, but what with liability law, I doubt I would get any real information. I have no reason to think they won't be, but then on the other hand who knows how things are made these days. Now that I'm making the part of the oven that will contain both the fire and the food, I started to wonder whether these materials, that were really made for landscaping, will be safe for food. I was shopping at home depot and found some very nice and inexpensive red bricks. Then I put down a layer of cinder blocks, and then foot square granite slabs on top of that for the oven floor, which incidentally Denzer recommends against, but they make a very nice surface. I filled the hole with small rocks that I found around, and then poured in 200 pounds of gravel on top of that. So far, I've dug a hole as far down as I could before I hit ledge. I bought Kiko Denzer's book, and am using some of its principles, and also the lovely picture that someone on this list referred to which shows an oven of stacked bricks. I am in process of building a small and simple brick oven.
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