Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

[Dutchoven]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

Well unfortunately here we are in April and we are still not open for business...just so much for a couple of people to do...days are getting longer now and I am getting over a nasty cold so maybe a few more looong days and we'll be in operation...farmer's market season is on again and that will take some time away as well...if this were a college degree we are definitely on the 5 year plan....thought I would post a few photos of other things we have accomplished most recently...and one of where we were when we started!!!
Best
Dutch

[Frances]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

I've been wondering how you were getting on, thank you for the update.

That is such a lovely building you've got there! Love the before and after pics, what a difference. It must really be a great deal of work.

[dmun]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

I kind of like the look of the decayed spark plug sign. It would be cool if you could do your own business signage there to look like it had been painted years ago...

[Dutchoven]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

I kind of like the look of the decayed spark plug sign. It would be cool if you could do your own business signage there to look like it had been painted years ago...

Thanks Frances and dmun
We were intrigued by it also...we have whitewashed over that sign but the plan is to do a sign there...the light post thingie was put there when the building housed "Main Street Video"...think we might incorporate something like that again...don't know though...great minds think alike!
Best
Dutch

[james]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

Man, you guys are working so hard! Hang in there and you will get it done -- and it's looking great.
James

[Dutchoven]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

Very depressed her and wondering what the consensus of our members would do. Firing the oven today as usual for baking for our Farmer's Market. Smelled kind of a funny smell and decided to investigate. We have cracks in our oven like nearly everyone does and I decided to open the backside of the oven enclosure because that is where the smell led me. After opening the enclosure and pulling back the insulation I could see some soot and then saw some smoke coming out of the crack on that side. I have read many of the posts regarding others who have had the same issue. Was wondering ultimately what was done and how the repari if any has served. It will be a commercial oven and I guess it is better to deal with it now. We were hoping to be open in the next month to 6 weeks, so aside from being depressed about the crack we are stressed about time.
Incidentally I couldn't look at the other crack or the rest of the dome yet!
Looking for any advice
Best
Dutch

[Gromit]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

Dutch,

I have fired my oven about ten times and on Wed. I decided to pull back the insulation to take a look at the other side of a crack that developed some time during the curing fire. I was not prepared for how bad the outside of the oven looked. It looked like hell--one huge crack that you could see daylight through and a ton of smaller cracks all over the place. Lots of soot on the underside of the blankets. I think my soldier course is severed in about six places.

I have strung a steel cable over the entry arch and anchored that to the slab. I then attached two more cables to the "arch cable" and circled them around the soldier course; those are tightened down with turnbuckles. I am not very concerned about the soot and smoke that gets through--it doesn't get past the 1st couple of blankets. One false move with my copper brush though and I think I could have blown out my soldier course wall. I will post pictures later this evening.

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

Dutch, I think I would just get some extra refractory mortar and slather it on there if you can access it...

I used some furnace cement for smaller cracks. It has a little bit of elasiticy in it...I got it in a caulk like tube from the local ace hardware...

Hope that helps!
Drake

[Dutchoven]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

Got a bucket of premixed heatstop 50 and looks like I will patch it up tomorrow. Will try to repair any other cracks on the oven while I am in there and then start curing it again. Thanks for the replies!
Best
Dutch

[mfiore]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

Good Luck, Dutch. Hang in there!

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

Hey Dutch, How did the patching go?
Drake

[Dutchoven]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

Just finished it today actually. Shanghai-ed the neighbor into crawling into the oven for me to do the final pointing using the Rutland fireplace repair mortar that comes in a tube. He is a very resourceful guy with lots of experience in construction so I knew he would be up for the task. That and he fit through the door better! Earlier in the week(in between the many rain showers we have had here for 6 DAYS) we opened the enclosure from the back side, pulled out all the insulation, gave it a good inspection and then used the angle grinder to take out what would come out pretty easy. Then tuck pointed the gaps with Heatstop 50(traded the premix bucket back for the bagged mix). Will be starting some fires this week to sort of re-cure it if we can get the insulation back on without it getting too wet! Will let you know more later in the week.
Thanks for asking Drake!
Best
Dutch

[Dutchoven]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

Well...I have to apologize for not posting sooner but we have been very busy. Our restaurant...TriBecca Allie Pizza Cafe is open for business. We opened the Tues and Wed for lunch before Tksgvng and the Friday night after for dinner and were open this week Tues-Fri fior lunch and Sat night for dinner. Very tired, nervous and excited.
Best
Dutch

[Metal Man]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

Dutch are you still going strong? If so next time i'm close to Sardis I'll swing by and order something to eat.

[Dutchoven]

Re: Start of the restaurant/bakery oven

Dutch are you still going strong? If so next time i'm close to Sardis I'll swing by and order something to eat.

Yes we are! Check the website for the hours and hope we can get to see one another. TriBecca Allie Caf?
Best
Dutch