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Dan, my first entry arch was an uninsulated exposed brick. Stuccoed the dome and liked the look of the brick. Big mistake. Had it covered but whole entry arch broke into about six pieces over the winter. When I took the tarp off (which didn't do a great job preventing water from coming in), I saw the disaster. Busted it all out and rebuilt entry floor and arch with cast refractory concrete. Loved that process. If I build another oven, it will be cast. Insulated and stuccoed the whole thing. We'll see how this winter goes, but I plan to put up some type of structure next year that provides some cover. You can see the pics of the process in my thread or album.
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Cooked in my oven for the first time last night.
It was only day 3 of my curing fires (after a few weeks of halogen light curing), so we kept the cooking floor under 400, but it was still fun.
Still need to do the p-crete layer over my ceramic blanket, then the stucco over that, but my brother is leaving for Oregon for a few years on Wed, and we wanted to use it before he left.
Winners of the night:
focaccia Bread - The temperature seemed to be perfect for making bread, and it was as good as any I ever had. Garlic, Extra course salt, and thyme on the crust before cooking,
Giordano's Pizza (It actually tasted better than the one I got while in Chicago)
My Oven (I was tempted to skip a days curing and bring it to 500, but I was glad I didn't.
Loosers:
Pizza Crusts- to be expected with temperature, but they were still as good as any I have cooked in a normal oven.
The pizza my sister-in-law decided to make while I was out cooking, which had a stuffed crust and half of the fresh mozzarella I bought, along with about ever other topping I had available.
From what I have read, I should do curing fires after P-crete layer, but before stucco. Will I need to start from day 1 again with those, even though I already cured the brick, or can I skip to about a 400 degree fire.
Also, has anyone ever user a water repellent for the entry arch brick? Some of the newer ones, specifically the Silane Siloxane ones, seem like they might be viable.
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