41" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

[Studlyone]

I'd like to say hi and a huge thank you to all of the contributors to this forum. I have been a long time lurker on the forum and have been planning my build for the last year now.

My name is Ian and I am a British ex-pat living in Bulgaria and am in the process of renovating some outbuilding on my property and I am building a brick oven and BBQ into an entertainment area.

I am a bit late in starting this thread as I already have the hearth and the first three courses of bricks in place.

My plan is to have a BBQ and brick oven sharing a common central chimney and to be able to easily cook on both at the same time. The brick oven is a bit of a tricky build as it is already under cover which helps with the rain over here at the moment but will mean that the upper courses of bricks will be - fun.

I am attaching a few pics showing the original building and where I am today. I'm hoping to have the dome finished by the end of next week but with so much work still to do elsewhere no doubt that might slip.

My biggest problem so far has been the obvious language one. I am taking Bulgarian lessons but that doesn't cover technical Bulgarian and so obtaining the right materials especially the correct mortar has been a challenge but so far everything seems to be going to plan.

I will post regular updates and hopefully someone might find it of interest as I have found the rest of the threads here a great help.

[Studlyone]

Re: 42" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

Managed to get another two layers of bricks onto the dome, tomorrows task will be to work out the dreaded inner arch dome interface.

I am watering the bricks and mortar three times a day to keep everything from drying out too quickly. The daytime temperature is starting to climb over here already so I need to keep an eye on the state of the dome.

The build so far has been very enjoyable and a learning process.

[jeeppiper]

Re: 41" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

Looking Great! I am curious why you put your storage area facing outside, when you oven is accessed from the inside.

[Studlyone]

Re: 41" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

Looking Great! I am curious why you put your storage area facing outside, when you oven is accessed from the inside.

Thanks jeeppiper. A very astute observation, there are actually two arches for access to stored wood, one inside and one outside. The underside of the hearth is split in two by a supporting wall dividing the storage area in half.

Finished the inner arch today (what a pain in the bum getting it to tie in with the brick rings).

Attached are some pics showing the divider in the base structure together with the arch and another showing the inner storage arch under the WFO entrance.

[Studlyone]

Re: 41" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

Attached is a pic of the cleaned up inner surface of the arch ready for the sixth layer of bricks.

[jeeppiper]

Re: 41" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

Studly:

Nice design idea (having two storage accesses). If I ever build another oven, that is one feature I would incorporate into my design. I have to get on my hands and knees and crawl into mine to get to the back.

[Studlyone]

Re: 41" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

Yes that's exactly what I wanted to prevent by having two accesses to the wood store underneath.

I have done two thirds of layer six today and the interface between arch and dome is looking fairly smooth.

[yorkshireknight]

Re: 41" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

Hi Ian,

So another fellow ex pat living in beautiful BG.
Thanks for your comment on my build and that you found it a good read and no doubt you have experienced the same problems with the language barrier.
However you seem to have overcome it and your build is looking great. wont be long before your enjoying the fruits of your labours.
Where did you manage to get your insulation from? Carry on the good work.
Regards
Paul

[Studlyone]

Re: 41" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

Yes its a beautiful country.

I got the Perlite from a local builders yard and they have medium duty firebricks and refractory cement as well.

The insulation blanket is something that they also stock, it has an aluminium backing and when I next go down I will be enquiring about the brand name so that I can do some checks online before buying it.

I'm about halfway through the dome and designing the flue interface now so its the fun parts of the dome to do now.

[Studlyone]

Re: 41" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

Finished off the sixth course of bricks finally locking the keystone in place, now its complete rings of bricks.

I will be ditching the indespensible tool in favour of a platform and sand fill for the top of the dome, it should speed thing up a bit.

The outer arch and flue interface is done and fitted and I feel that I am making progress now.

[Studlyone]

Re: 41" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

The dome is now completed and the key stone in place. My 70 year old dad (ex Para) who is amazing had to get involved with cleaning up the inside of the dome, it was a case of - "I can do that".

So in he went, once sorted out the cat had to do a final inspection before we start the drying and curing process. I swear the cat thinks I am constructing a bedroom for it.

[yorkshireknight]

Re: 41" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

Well done Ian, looking very grand. I know what you mean about the cats house, ours was the same until the door went on.

Looking at your opening design and the curve angle, may be a good idea to buttress these particulary if your putting a chimney on top the stress outwards may be too great.

Your dad at 70 years young is still a para at heart, (always 1st in ) good on him getting stuck in.

Paul

[tractorman44]

Re: 41" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

That is one heck of a project you have there, fellow serf. It seems to be coming along quite nicely.

[Studlyone]

Re: 41" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

Well done Ian, looking very grand. I know what you mean about the cats house, ours was the same until the door went on.

Looking at your opening design and the curve angle, may be a good idea to buttress these particulary if your putting a chimney on top the stress outwards may be too great.

Your dad at 70 years young is still a para at heart, (always 1st in ) good on him getting stuck in.

Paul

Yes the arch has been butressed now and the chinmey is in place, it is an offset chinmey that is shared with the BBQ which is the other side of the central colum. The chimney load is on the column and the arch is only supporting two terracot chimney tubes.

The outer arch is done and the chimney has now been insulated, the first layer of insulation is now on the dome and I will be starting the main curing fires this weekend.

I have had a lamp on in the dome all week and a hot air blower keeping the air temperature in the dome at a nice warm 50 degrees C to aid drying.

I am looking forward to starting the curing process proper.

[Studlyone]

Re: 41" brick oven and BBQ in Bulgaria

That is one heck of a project you have there, fellow serf. It seems to be coming along quite nicely.

Thanks tractorman it's a labour of love as I guess they all are mine is just on a grander scale as it involves buildings as well as the WFO. I'm looking forward to a nice cold beer with the first pizza that comes out of it.