Bellingham Bread Oven

[maver]

Re: Bellingham Bread Oven

I seriously considered using your wandering lines approach on my house enclosure oven, but realized it looks much better on an igloo than a square. I settled on 'amateur brick layer who doesn't know how to make things straight', which I tell my wife is 'rustic'.

[janprimus]

New pic!

Well, I am making some progress. I got the first coat on the dome of the oven and some good work done on the sides. I utilized one of my mortar heads in the wall of the dome and it is pretty fun looking.
http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/MmmmPizza....jpg
Check it out and let me know what you think.
Peace
Chad

[CAM]

Re: Bellingham Bread Oven

Chad:
Great looking stuff. I'm not a mason, so this question might be dumb. Are you just mortaring right over the loose insulation blanket? If not, could you describe the method? Thanks

Chris

[janprimus]

Re: Bellingham Bread Oven

Hi Chris, good question. I took small squares of the hard cal sil insulation and set it around on over the kaowool batts and then lathed it. It was a bit of a pain lathing, but I think it will be just fine. The hard part was stitching together the pieces of lath with tie wire. I would do kind of a hairpin bend on the end of the wire and poke it through the layers of lath and then pull it back up so it would capture both layers. I got it tied down pretty well I think, there are no seams visible through the scratch coat of mud and I will be putting more on. I think, to help guard against cracking of the dome stucco, my next layer will be mortar mix with the fiberglass fibers in it for strength.
I figured the hard squares would keep the integrity of the airspace between the dome and the stucco. That being said, there is really nothing holding the dome down other than its own weight, but I do not forsee that as being a problem. I hope I am right.
Chad

[CAM]

Re: Bellingham Bread Oven

I can see the lathe in your last pic now that I've gone back and looked at it again. Some of the earlier ones looked as though you were starting to mortar on rocks around the base of the dome and I could see no support. Thanks for explaining.

[janprimus]

Re: Bellingham Bread Oven

http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/Hypertufa%20mix.jpg
A blend great for insulating half the weight of concrete mix and quite strong.

http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/t...own%20vent.jpg
How I decided to do the vent. It took m,e a while to get here but I think it is going to work just fine. I made a form to build around and just filled around it in with mud and added a couple pieces rebar for structural strength.

http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/A...His%20oven.jpg
I need to clean up around it a bit more and repost this picture, but it looks pretty nice now. I will use sheet copper for the rest of the flue and do up the top with either papercrete or stucco the finish off the top and carve petals into it.
Chad
This has been a long process but, I feel it has been worth it all in all. Now it is time to cook.

[maver]

Re: Bellingham Bread Oven

Chad, it looks terrific. Can you tell us more about your insulating blend?

[janprimus]

Re: Bellingham Bread Oven

Hi Maver, the oven is really already insulated, I was messing around with a lightweight mix called hypertufa which uses a porland cement - peat moss-perlite mixed in a 1 - 1 1/2 - 1 1/2 by volume mix. You want to do a good job mixing dry and make sure you dont add too much water. It does not handle at all like regular concrete. You only want it moist enough to hold together when you squeeze a handful and it holds its shape. You can then pack it in and it looks strange and crumbly, but it hardens up just fine. It is commonly used to make planters and other outdoor sculpture as well. I have also been doing some research on papercrete. Very cool stuff. Mix portland cement cellulose insulation and a bit of drywall topping compound. It makes a wonderful sculpting material. http://members.cox.net/jlopp/art/greenman.JPG is made completely with this papercrete media. I may incorporate some of that into my wall...
Chad

[janprimus]

I have made Pizza!

I finally got out of my own way and did it! I lit another fire in the oven yesterday ostensibly to dry it out a bit more and darned if it didn't jump right up to temperature. I dont know exactly how how it was but the black burnt off the inside of the dome. I ran the the vegetable stand and got some pasilla pappers, eggplant, jalapenos, tomatoes, and zucchini from the garden. They roasted up beautifully. I also got a pizza from a local take and bake just because I was not really planing on this when I lit it up. It came out beautifully. The pizza took about 3 minutes. It is amazing just how fast that crust can catch on fire in a hot oven. ;-) http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/F...netheless..jpg Here is a pic of the inside up to temperature.
http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/Inside%20ready%20to%20cook!.jpg and here is one of the top outside, not quite done. I had imagined doing kind of a concrete wave over the vent, but it is not nearly as attractive as I had hoped and I think it interferes with the draw so I will get rid of that and redo it with a regular flue. I have also put a nicer finish on the top. As an experiment, I took a couple of hosta leaves and pressed them into the finished surface of the dome on top and then carefully removed them leaving behind a nice impression of the leaves in the mud. It looks pretty cool. http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/Almost%20there..jpg
Chad

[janprimus]

I have made Pizza!

I finally got out of my own way and did it! I lit another fire in the oven yesterday ostensibly to dry it out a bit more and darned if it didn't jump right up to temperature. I dont know exactly how how it was but the black burnt off the inside of the dome. I ran the the vegetable stand and got some pasilla peppers, eggplant, jalape?os, tomatoes, and zucchini from the garden. They roasted up beautifully. I also got a pizza from a local take and bake just because I was not really planing on this when I lit it up. It came out beautifully. The pizza took about 3 minutes. It is amazing just how fast that crust can catch on fire in a hot oven. ;-) http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/F...netheless..jpg Here is a pic of the inside up to temperature.
http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/Inside%20ready%20to%20cook!.jpg and here is one of the top outside, not quite done. I had imagined doing kind of a concrete wave over the vent, but it is not nearly as attractive as I had hoped and I think it interferes with the draw so I will get rid of that and redo it with a regular flue. I have also put a nicer finish on the top. As an experiment, I took a couple of hosta leaves and pressed them into the finished surface of the dome on top and then carefully removed them leaving behind a nice impression of the leaves in the mud. It looks pretty cool. http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/Almost%20there..jpg
Chad

[janprimus]

first homemade pizza!

Well we have done it. It works wonderfully. 4 minute pizze, beautiful baked potatoes, foccacia, I even roasted a salmon in there to perfection after it cooled off a bit. http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/M...d%20Salmon.jpg http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/Primo%20pizza.jpg http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/c...perfection.jpg http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/Foccacia.jpg
Oh yeah! It was so good. The crust was very tender and wonderfully browned. I loved the brown speckles on the top and how nicely it just browns quickly when you hold the pizza on the peel closer to the domed ceiling. I think my favorite combination was pesto sauce, mozzarella and fresh tomato slices. Next, was one made by our local great pizza place La Fiamma La Fiamma Wood Fire Pizza called a Sophia which had red sauce, finely shredded prosciutto and lightly cheesed along with fresh rosemary and red onion. They were all quite good. The roasted red peppers were incredible as well. Geez, it is all so good, but now I have enough food to last me a couple of weeks and I don't get to cook, unless of course, you all want to come over and I will feed you of course. It is what I do, or at least, one of the things I do. ;-)
Peace
Chad

[jengineer]

Re: Bellingham Bread Oven

beautiful before and after pics

[maver]

Re: Bellingham Bread Oven

That salmon looked outstanding, and the foccacia had perfect color. Mmm, cold cooked salmon on focaccia - salmon's one of the few fish that really does well a day later.

You're living the dream now.

Marc

[janprimus]

Fired it up again.

I had to leave but left the oven in my sweeties capable hands. I was back two hours later and she was pulling the first pizza out of the oven. I was amazed how quickly it heated up and how hot it got! I got out my new Fluke 62 and shot the hearth 810? and then the dome 820?! That was a pretty fast pie. We made several small pizzas trying out variations and it was a lot of fun. I did have one mishap. Mea Culpa Mea Culpa... The first pie I tried, I used flour instead of cornmeal and all the topping slid right off my dough along with a good portion of the cheese onto the very hot hearth. Damn! I got what i could out of there and cooked the crust with just a small amount of cheese and tomato sauce. It was still great.I then got all the gunk i could o the bottom and drug the big pile of coals over the hearth and let it burn it off for five minutes or so. It worked great, but I see a need for a nice brush now to help clean the hearth. I'll get there. Those tools are pricey. Gotta save my pennies. Anyway, it was great again. I must say, it is a lot of fun having the oven. My neighbor came over and wanted me to cook for her again. I encouraged her to get some dough made and she could make her own bread...

Chad

[maver]

Re: Bellingham Bread Oven

The brush is really good to have. When my dad first made his oven he did not have a brass bristle brush so he used a natural (I think straw) brush that he soaked, then shook out the excess water. Not ideal, because the steam generation cools the hearth, but good if you are in a pinch.

The sticking dough is something you should be able to get past, even with flour. It takes a little practice, but even with a 65% hydration dough it's very manageable. Don't leave the dough on the peel very long - just stretch it out, leave on the counter until you are ready to assemble, then place it on the peel (with some flour), top the dough, shake a few times to be sure it will release, then into the oven. I usually make the pizza on a floured wooden peel, then slide it onto my metal placing peel (no added flour) with the long handle, and right into the oven from there.

Marc