Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

[dmun]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

Bluestone is great for a landing on an exterior oven. I used it, after an unfortunate try with local, free, slate, and it works great. It's more porous than you might think you would want for a cooking surface, but staining doesn't seem to be a problem.

[md_massimino]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

Yeah, the dome is a mess I admit. I thought that I could come along with a wire brush and knock all that mortar off easy peasy, but not so. I've had a few different opinions on how to handle it. I was going to get some muriatic acid and give the inside a quick wash, scrub and rinse but it was frowned upon. A few people have said it will just burn off and you won't even notice it. I don't care about how the inside looks as long as nothing is falling in my food when I cook, I've always seen this oven as a means to an end, nothing more than a giant cooking utensil. The Parthenon it isn't, but it should cook a mean pizza.

[md_massimino]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

Bluestone is great for a landing on an exterior oven. I used it, after an unfortunate try with local, free, slate, and it works great. It's more porous than you might think you would want for a cooking surface, but staining doesn't seem to be a problem.

Any thoughts on limestone? It's half the price of blue stone but my concern is that it will stain like crazy.

[md_massimino]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

My buddy also happened to luck into some scrap granite but I have no idea how I would try to cut it to fit. My poor overworked wet saw would die an untimely death I'm afraid.

[dmun]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

I'd pay the stoneyard to cut that piece of granite. They have BIG wet saws that are set up like radial arm saws that will cut long straight cuts in a minute.

[md_massimino]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

Man oh man, I wish I didn't have so many family commitments slowing me down. I thought I'd be almost done curing this thing by now. As it stands, we built up the platform for a sand dome to support the remaining courses and shaped it. Got the 10th and 11th courses done, figure one more and two big ass keystones or two more and a tiny one. It's gonna be fun trying to squeeze through that little oven opening to clean the inside of the top of the dome.

[md_massimino]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

Man this is taking forever! Put the pieces together to make a nice tight fit for the top of the dome. Not the prettiest keystone I've seen, but I think it will be exceedingly functional (aka, not falling down). My buddy and I, two big beefy dudes, stood on top of the oven today after about 4 days of curing time for teh tippy top.

[md_massimino]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

Insulation going on, vermicrete mixed 5-1 w portland cement. Thickness is a little over 5 inches all around.

[md_massimino]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

The first curing fire!!! It's taken two months to get this far so the bottom courses have had quite a bit of curing time already. This was a great moment of elation and expectation. Next is to actually use this thing to cook some food!

[md_massimino]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

Curing fires are done, time to make some pizza! I fired the oven for about two hours, the temperature at the dome was steady at 850 when I started cooking. It cooled off faster than I expected, I made a second fire part way through the pizza cooking to get the temp back up. Made some stuffed long hots while the temp was coming up to eat as an appetizer.

[md_massimino]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

I made a ton of pizzas, though some went so fast I couldn't get a pic. Favorites were a steak and egg pizza and the classic margherita.

[md_massimino]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

Finished up the night's first cooking test run with a blueberry crisp. This was outstanding, topped with fresh whipped cream. Super easy, I'll give the recipe to anyone who cares to ask for it. I figured it's a nice way to use the easier heat left in the oven after the pizza baking is done

[chidding]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

Absolutely awesome, looks like you've picked up the pizza art very quickly! That steak and egg looks amazing..

Love all the pics and updates! keep it coming!


*save me some dessert*

[md_massimino]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

Absolutely awesome, looks like you've picked up the pizza art very quickly! That steak and egg looks amazing..

Love all the pics and updates! keep it coming!


*save me some dessert*

Thanks, I've had a long time to research. I think I've watched every video on youtube with "pizza" in the title.

I've been baking and making pizza in my regular oven for years but without the high temps you don't get a superior product. I tried out three different doughs Saturday: two quick doughs, one using all purpose and one whole wheat, and one with a fermented no-knead dough which I think performed exceedingly well.

I used the leftover heat from the pizza making to make some oven dried tomatoes. Chopped and quickly sauteed in oil, then add sausage and some basil. Makes a great quick pasta, making that sometime this week.

[brianventura]

Re: Big Mike's 42" Pompeii

Wow, everything looks great! Excellent job on the oven. Fantastic job on the pizzas. Isn't it nice to be able to use the oven after all that work that you put into it? With the hours just researching on how to build it and everything else thats going on that also seems to be a priority. You can certainly enjoy it now and how nice it is to cook with some real heat.

Have fun,
Brian