New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

[Greenman]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Thanks Dave, WD & Bacterium - Every bit of information helps towards a better result. I will leave some crust space next time. I was pretty happy with the crust, firm without being brittle. Quite pleased with the whole thing really and reckon it measured up favourably with the commercial products.

Onwards and upwards.

[Bacterium]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Steve nice work........ a solo run is good for getting your head around it.
Once you start experimenting with things like topping and dough amounts (crust thickness) you will find your ideal ..... "Pizza nirvana"

I like when the crust can bend back on itself without snapping yet base and toppings are cooked through.

[Greenman]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

I reckon that round pizzas are highly over rated. Some manner of polygon with a random number of sides plus a couple of curved bits works fine and probably provides more crust area for crust affectionados.

[cobblerdave]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Gudday Steve
One of these days I'm going to crack it and produce a round pizza ...till then they taste better than store bought!
Regards dave

[Greenman]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

After cooking casserole, chicken, lamb, vegetables and fish I finally got around to having a crack at pizza. I think I am a fair cook but have had nothing to do with dough or anything more breadlike than pastry. Had I not been alone I would have been accompanied by peals of laughter no doubt. Bloody stuff was worse than graphite grease to handle.

Anyway, persistence has its rewards and I managed to produce 2 pizzas, 1 herb and garlic bread and the fourth piece of dough was wrapped around the leftover bits from the pizzas and baked and that is OK as well. All in all I am pleased with the first effort, pizza was world class (biased opinion) and the rest is fine to eat.

Plenty of room for refinement, particularly in the dough handling department but with some more reading, practice and trial and no doubt error this baking thing will become a pleasure I am sure. At least I know I can produce something worthy of serving up to a guest. I can now issue the invitations!

Now when people ask me about the 'pizza oven' I can say that I have made them but it is excellent for most everything else as well.

[reccymech]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Gotta add my voice to all the others Greenman and say what an excellent job - well done. Additionaly, I enjoyed the thread - only just came by it.

As usual with this site an inspirational thread.

[Cookie Monster]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

This could be a new record. Well done Steve.

Very professional looking finish. You should be proud!!

Make sure you post up some pictures of some of your meals cooked.

[Greenman]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Thanks fellas. I have the advantage of time to devote to my projects now and feel the pain of those who are time poor trying to get to their ovens etc.
After finishing the forno I was amazed when I found myself looking at the whole job and thinking what I would change or do different next time! Must be true that we all need to build 2.

The journey is important but it can be made much easier with the right travelling companions.

Cheers ............. Steve

[Bacterium]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Steve...
..ditto.....nice build and fast work (by some of our standards)

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Nice job, three months start to finish!!! I going on two years and not done yet.

[cobblerdave]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Gudday
Congrats .... Love that dome , must be near on perfectly round and that texture coat softens any hard lines. Like also the tile surfaces on your tops again the use of the random tile breaks the hard lines and softens the effect.
Hope you keep posting the next stages of the outdoor area
Regards dave

[Greenman]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Practical Completion! Finally the last tile and the texture coat on the dome. The next project is to extend the patio to cover this. After being haunted by the aluminium vent cover I made and could not use I ended up installing a poly fitting for the vent and later adapted the vent cover to fit over the poly cap (with a hole in it) to act as a cosmetic cover.

The project has taken me 3 months all up including 3 weeks down time for a bit of minor surgery. The cost is $1200 excluding the 14" brick saw that I bought for the project. I was lucky to find cheap firebricks so that reduced the cost significantly.

I have been using the oven and am surprised by the fact that it holds the heat for days and am very pleased with the food cooked in it. It has opened up a whole new world of cooking for me and the next challenge is to make some good bread.

As I bought no particular skills to the project and learned as I went with the benefit of this forum and the generosity of those of you who offered the benefit of their hard won experience, it has been a very satisfying experience. A big THANK YOU to all of the WFO'ers that provided this guidance. My satisfactory progress is testimony to the value of the forum and it really is the epitome of peer support for a fairly complex job. It shows what can be done with some determination, an eye for detail and an open ear.

I have attached the pics of the last of what will be Stage 1.

Cheers and thanks again ........... Steve

[Greenman]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Thanks for the advice Gulf and Dave. On second thought I have gone down the trail of the PVC fitting with cap. Pretty much out of sight up there.

Put the textured stucco coat on the base while I wait for the dome to cure. It is a bit of hurry up and wait for a while.

Give away to a good home - one miniature flue cap or large vent with cap!

Cheers ........... Steve

[david s]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Today was the day to render the dome. Looking very different in its new sarcophagus. I decided on concrete and lime mortar and a finishing colour coat of Dulux acrylic mortar in a couple of weeks when this dries. I left a small area at the top to put the vent, probably tomorrow.

Also spent some time making a vent from some patterned aluminium I had about. Have attached a pic of what I ended up with. Not particularly original, inspired by headware in country SE Asia. It is 200mm (8") across the 'hat' and 100mm (4") high and I intend to secure it under the render coat after loosening the vermicrete immediately under it a bit. With the small gap between the barrel and the 'hat' the chance of water entering should be remote, particularly with the gap ending up about 75mm above the dome.

Any thoughts about the vent before I literally set it in concrete? Your opinions would be appreciated.

Cheers ............ Steve

Looks good to me Steve. I think that the problem of the outer shell cracking is caused by large amounts of steam creating pressure. A vent can go some of the way to relieving this, but steam will still have trouble finding its way through the vermicrete to the vent. I've found that once you get the oven dry any subsequent rain and moisture take up by the insulation layer is dealt with quite adequately by the vent. A hand held to the outside of the oven can be a great indicator of the dryness of the insulation layer. If it is moist it makes the outside of the oven hot, rather than just cosy warm (in my ovens at least) depending how you have done your insulation and how thick it is, this may vary.

Dave

[Gulf]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Nice work Steve,
I just have a couple of concerns. The vent being made of aluminum and the size of the opening.

I think aluminum can degrade over time where it is in contact with some cements. Also, I think that you could get away with a lot smaller opening for your vent. One that would be less conspicuous. I just installed mine yesterday. I only have a 1" threaded female pvc sleeve exiting the final render. My thoughts was to have a vent that could that could be plugged and be almost invisible when not needed. Look back on Dave's reply above.