Salv's WFO Build

[Salv B]

Hi all,

I finally took the plunge and started my WFO build in early December 2008. I am on Christmas holidays for a few weeks so I have finally got my act together in the last few days and sorted out some photos. I've used this site so often and looked at so many builds that I thought it was time to make a contribution. I must thank all the forum members for the fantastic information available and the great replies to questions I have posted in the past.

A bit of background: I am aiming for a 42" pompei oven. The work team is my Dad and myself and so far things have gone well. My Dad is now retired and is also very enthusiastic about the project. I must say it is great having someone else to share the work and sort out problems.

I must concur with numerous comments on this forum about how obsessive the build can be - it does tend to dominate your thoughts both day and night! It even starts affecting the kids - I was walking with my 6 year old son past an old house that was being rennovated. He turned to me and said "Dad you should copy the arch from that window for your wood oven and tell the forno bravo people about it". Hey, you have to get them in when they're young

I have attached some pics that shows the work done on the foundation. I decided to lay a slab large enough to add something either side of the oven. We saved a heap of time with the foundation work by getting a mini mixer in to deliver the concrete pre-mixed and ready to pour. Here in Adelaide the company is called midget mix. I haven't worked out yet what will go either side of the oven but a possibility is some type of preparation counter on one side and maybe a grill pit on the other. Any ideas would be welcome.

Cheers

Salv

[Salv B]

Re: Salv's WFO Build

A little more progress on the oven. Managed to level the floor up and finally get rid of the wooden frames. I am looking to get some dark grey tiles to finish the floor.



I've been using the oven every weekend and my favourite pizza at the moment is one with a little tomato, fresh mozzarella, reguar mozzarella and a bit of rosemary and basil. Heres a pic.

[Salv B]

Re: Salv's WFO Build

spot on Frances - the figs do look like cast iron! Like some sort of paper weight.

For the loaf of bread the Hearth temp was just over 500 F - but the side where I had the fire going for the pizzas was hotter - I was in a mad rush after cooking pizzas and was trying to be ready in time for the bread to go in. I've cooked bread three of four times since and have got the oven management sorted out and I aim for about 550 F. Using the same formula the bread has come out different every time. In fact on my last bake I took great care preparing the bread dough and did an overnight rise but the best bread by far was one made with some leftover pizza dough!

[Frances]

Re: Salv's WFO Build

Those figs do look very pretty . You could imagine they're out of cast iron or something.

I'm very impressed with your first loaf of WFO bread - I wish mine had looked anywhere near as good! For a darker crust, maybe you could try baking it at a higher temperature - what was the temp when it went in? An overnight rise is always a good idea aynway. You'll soon get into the swing of it, I'm sure...

[Salv B]

Re: Salv's WFO Build

A quick update on the snail pace effort to finish my oven. Put on the final texture coat on the dome. I ended up using Marblecote, which, as the name implies, has marble grains in the mix. It came out ok - I don't think we applied it very evenly and ended up using much more than the theoretical coverage on the spec sheets. It is meant to provide a strong water resistant finish and, amazingly, it rained in Adelaide a few days after I applied it! It seemd to work. Here are some pics



On a funnier note - I put some figs in the oven at the end of a night of cooking and forgot all about them. The result was the following



They are perfectly charred - could be a piece of modern art almost

[Salv B]

Re: Salv's WFO Build

Tim - looking forward to seeing the progress on your finish.
Thanks for the comments on the bread. You are right there was a lot of execess flour on top - need to be more careful next time. This bread included a bulk fermentation of about 2 hrs and then a proof of about an hour and a half before baking. I was a little rushed and disorganised as a I baked the bread after having a small pizza party. I was thinkng of maybe doing the bulk fermantation overnight as I do with my Pizza dough. Does this make sense?


Carlos - I think I wil linclude the granite in the front of my landing bricks and then use dark grey tiles for the rest of the floor. As you can see from the picture I have the forms in ready to level up the floor. By the way thanks for the earlier advice on the granite - I tried some drops of water on it and it didn't seem to absorb it.

[carloswlkr]

Re: Salv's WFO Build

Looks great, Salv. Love the big air pockets in the bread. I can almost taste it! Have you decided what to do about the granite?

[Tim F]

Re: Salv's WFO Build

Hey Salv, love the render. I have to get on to that myself soon.
The bread looks delicious to me, looks like the crust is pretty brown although is it hidden under the flour a bit on top? One thing that can help with crust browning is a longer fermentation, which breaks out more sugars and gives you that really reddish golden brown colour (as well as better flavour). How long did you let that one rise?

[Salv B]

Re: Salv's WFO Build

I finally got some work done on finishing the oven on the weekend. Managed to get a polymer enhanced reder onto the dome. I used a product I mentioned earlier called pro render. It was really good to work with and it dried really hard. Heres a pic



I also got around to organsing a stainless steel door - but haven't yet sorted out the handle! Any suggestions would be welcome. You can see my present system for the door with firebrick in the photo below.



But by far the most exciting thing was that I baked my first batch of bread. I am new to this bread making caper so it was fantastic to get something out of the oven that tasted so good. Still needs lots of improvement - for example I'm not too sure why it didn't brown more. I really need to thank James for the excellent e-book guide on baking wood-fired breads - for someone starting out it was a great introduction. I followed the instructions very closely and they were easy to understand. Anyway, heres a pic and any comments on improving would be very welcome

[carloswlkr]

Re: Salv's WFO Build

Granite sounds nice! Don't take my word for it, but I think there are different types of granite, some more porous than others. you might want to spill a few drops of water on one of the pieces, and see if it gets absorbed. If so, you should seal them to avoid other liquids (pizza juices, oil, etc.) from soaking in.

[Salv B]

Re: Salv's WFO Build

I had a bit of good luck which prompted me to try and get some work started on finishing my build. A friend got me two nice pieces of white and grey granite (around 40cm x 70 cm) that were leftover from a building project. They have a smooth side but it is not polished to a high sheen - more of a smooth matt finish. I am planning on cutting one piece to extend the landing to the edge of the front of the base and am planning to use the other one for my dough and pizza preparation. I would appreciate any views on whether I need to seal or do anything else to either piece of granite before I can use them?

[Salv B]

Re: Salv's WFO Build

Thanks everyone for your encouraging words. It's a great satisfaction to eat a half decent pizza that you have made yourself in an oven that you have constructed. I must say I now plan my weekends around firing the wood oven! As a result the finish of my build has ground to a halt - must get it back on track soon!

[exceloven]

Re: Salv's WFO Build

The bottom of the pizza looks perfect, you nailed it!

Mark

[gjbingham]

Re: Salv's WFO Build

The pizzas look perfect to me. Nice work!

[drogers]

Re: Salv's WFO Build

Salv,
Those are very mouth watering pizzas. They look delicious!
Don