It is begun

[Tscarborough]

Re: It is begun

Yes, aside from property line set-backs you should be OK. I did trim some tree limbs for a better clearance, and made the chimney a little higher than I wanted, but it sucks like a Hoover, and I haven't had a whiff of smoke out the outer arch.

[Derkp]

Re: It is begun

Here in Utah the fire marshall said 10' feet from combustables, and also 10' from property line. I inquired about a fire pit. Open flame is a whole different story, 25 feet from any combustable with the 10' property line requirements. Our home is dead center in our lot, a 1959 thing I guess, so there is no point in our yard that is more than 25 feet from combustables. Out of luck as far as the pit goes.

Derk

[WoodchuckDad]

Re: It is begun

Do you have any more pictures of the chimney build? did you insulate around the clay flue?

[Tscarborough]

Re: It is begun

Just the pick in my sig link, and yes I did fill it with perlite for grins.

[WoodchuckDad]

Re: It is begun

how much room do you leave between the tile and the bricks? and what holds up the tile and keeps it seperate fromm the bricks?

[Tscarborough]

Re: It is begun

The chimney is 12x12 ID and the flue is 8x8 OD leaving a 1" airspace, and there is nothing between the brick and the flue (it is full of perlite for grins, but that isn't holding anything). The cap holds it in place. If it were substantially taller, I would have wedged the flue with brick slivers on 2 adjoining sides every two foot or so.

[Tscarborough]

Re: It is begun

Fire in the Hole!

Grill and oven going at once.

Chicken fajitas on the grill, baguettes in the oven, and sausage jambalaya on the stove. The stack on the grill draws much better than I thought it would, but I did cheat and burn some paper in it to get it started.

I am giving the Wife a break from getting up at the crack of dawn to cook for the after church meet and greet. I, as overnight cook, will sleep in.

[Derkp]

Re: It is begun

Tom,

Can you remember the name and approximate cost for the grill you have?

I think I might look into it or something similar.

derk

[Tscarborough]

Re: It is begun

It is made by Vestal Manufacturing, Vestal Manufacturing - manufacturers of fireplace accessories, gray iron castings, building materials, municipal castings and more. After using it twice this weekend I am impressed. It is easy to clean both ash and grills and with the chimney it has excellent draft across the coals. For the Northern types it is made to be slid in and out seasonally, although I plan to leave it in place.

I do not want to talk pricing, since I am a dealer, but compared to other units I see in the market it is a good value, 4 cast iron grates, cast iron doors and front, and a SS raised grill that I did not install. There is no bottom to the unit, so it will not rust out. I lined it with common brick over 1/2" hardi-backer.

And the bread that I cooked this morning at 6:00AM was the best I have ever done. Those are 12" loaves.



(The wife nixed baguettes, she wanted big loaves)

[Derkp]

Re: It is begun

I will look them up. It sounds like a pretty simple install if you have the room.

[Tscarborough]

Re: It is begun

@#$%@#$% I did a really long hot burn yesterday, and made a double batch of pizzas (8) last night. I doored it up still very hot, 800+. This morning I went out to re-heat a pizza for breakfast, and while removing the door I dropped the lower half and broke it! It was too hot to hold, even with a high heat oven mitt.

I guess it is time to mold another and improve it further.

[Derkp]

Re: It is begun

Tom,

Is that door number 3 or 4? Practice makes perfect, and thicker gloves.

Derk

[Millstone Man]

Re: It is begun

Bummer... but I can't wait for your next version as I hope you get it perfected before I get around to building one .

[thamnophis]

Re: It is begun

I'm modeling my oven after yours :-)

Given my inexperience you could say mine is a bit rougher :-) A difference is I'm using full firebrick and just a single layer.

As you know, the arch is higher than in many designs. How have you found it to bake with? I'll be baking bread mostly.

Can you get a fairly even bake, ie place bread fairly close to the sides, front and back? Or do you need to cluster them more in the center?

Anything else you've learned about cooking/baking in an oven of this design?

A link to my build:
Picasa Web Albums - Joe Monahan - Wood fired ov...

Thanks!

[Tscarborough]

Re: It is begun

I haven't done a great amount of bread, because my family doesn't eat that much bread, but what I have found is that it does not matter side to side, only front to back. The deep in the faster it cooks, so I put bigger loaves in back, smaller ones in front.

I am cooking 3 or 4 batches (of 6 loaves each) for the church week end after next, I will post about them then.

The only thing I would do different is offset the inner arch so that one side is flush with the wall, leaving more room on the other for coals and fire while baking pizzas.