Temperature?

[Rodneyf]

I am from Australia and just about to mortar my soldier course (when it stops raining!). My question is, most of the talk I hear about cooking temps say that the right pizza cooking temp is about 700 - 750 degrees, is this F or Celsius? It has to be F right?

[brickie in oz]

Re: Temperature?

Hi Rod yes its in F.
When the carbon has burnt off the roof of the oven its hot enough for pizza in any language.

Raining? Where is it raining?

[Rodneyf]

Re: Temperature?

It is raining in Sydney, 71mm in my backyard in 24 hrs. There is no way I will be mortaring this week.

[Rodneyf]

Re: Temperature?

The heavens stopped sending it down long enough for me to mortar the soldiers in place, along with the first 2 arch bricks on each side. I am so excited about actually building the oven itself and not just the stand. I have some photos here that show my progress so far.

Picasa Web Albums - rodneyaf - Pizza oven

[brickie in oz]

Re: Temperature?

Are you using concrete bricks?

If so save yourself the trouble and stop right now...

[Rodneyf]

Re: Temperature?

No, I am using pressed reds, Bondi Blues or Face bricks which ever name you like to call them. They have come from the front fence of a federation house built in 1911. The Italian community around Sydney have been using this type of brick to build thier bakyard ovens for years with great success. They have an almost purple colour to them and are as hard as all get out, they have red stains on them from the original lime mortar but they are definately clay bricks.

[dmun]

Re: Temperature?

You're cutting your half bricks with a chisel? That's ambitious. The original pompeii was designed to be made that way, but you have to be a lot better with a brick set than I am to pull it off.

Nice visual of the "pressed reds" by the way. They look like pretty high-fire (hard, less porous) bricks.

[Rodneyf]

Re: Temperature?

I will be using a mixture of diamond saw and the brick bolster to hopefully make the oven happen. I have long been a fan of using hand tools over power tools and have been hand carving victorian style rocking horses for years. I am enjoying the challenge of working with the masonary and until I started the oven I had never laid a brick. I think it will be a long, time consuming project that will annoy my wife no end, "She Who Must Be Obeyed" is at the point of "when will this be finished" already. I have been in the back ground on this site for a while now and I am looking forward to the feedback from some experienced WFO builders.

[Rastys]

Re: Temperature?

Hi Rodney,
your bricks look like the 'clinker bricks' used here in Adelaide many years ago and were the ones closest to the fire in the kilns when the batch was fired. They are as hard as hell and ideal for your oven. I hope to find similar ones for my next project.
In the meantime, you mentioned that you carve rocking horses!
I have a good set (some 20+ Dastra chisels) and am keen to embark on such a project for future use.
I have tried Cyprus pine, OK but can be a little difficult in places, mahogony is pretty good I found but way too expensive for a larger rocking horse and dome a few smaller frames, barometers etc. in Jarrah. Very hard but great to carve with very sharp and quality tools.
What timber do you prefer to carve?

Cheers,

Rastys

[Rodneyf]

Re: Temperature?

It is way off the subject, but if you can get your hands on some of the Douglas Fir that was imported as "oregon" in the early 1900's you will have a stable horse that will not "move". If you need some more info on how to build your horse just PM me and I will help as much as I can.

[Frances]

Re: Temperature?

I have long been a fan of using hand tools over power tools and have been hand carving victorian style rocking horses for years.

That is exceedingly cool!

How much of the oven will you be doing with hand tools?

It may be off topic, but I for one would love to read about carving victorian rocking horses - care to make the discussion public? Just post it under "other building projects", I'm sure it'll blend right in...

[Rodneyf]

Re: Temperature?

I tend to pick up a hand saw or a screw driver over the powered version all the time and I don't know why, maybe it just gives me more time to think about the job I am doing. I also tend to plan and replan a whole lot more than I need to, I think. The only concern I have with cutting some of the the brick by hand is the stress that the bricks will go through that could mean cracking later. I am now thinking that I will cut as much as I can with the diamond blade to minimize the stress factor. As far as the rocking horse thread goes I would be happy to advise all that are interested. Frances, I am leaning more and more towards a mosaic finish on my oven and fortunately Sydney Australia does not suffer from frosts to any great deal, the worst we would see is -1C, so do you think i need to worry about the tiles I use?

[Frances]

Re: Temperature?

Yes, more mosiacs!! Cool!

I should think you could put whatever you like on your oven, but as I have absolutely no experience whatsoever with milder climate mosaics, I'd recommend you ask someone who knows about outdoor tiling where you are... Just remember, a mosaic is basically lots of small tiles fitted together, so if you ask about tiles, you'll get more useful information.

I like the idea of using hand tools. If you look at the casles and cathedrals and everything they build before discovering electricity, you just wonder how they did it. Reclaming lost skills, that kind of thing. I do sewing sometimes and started sewing some things by hand, which is quite different and actually a lot more relaxing than using a machine. And the other day I caught myself wondering how long it would take me to teach myself how to light a fire by rubbing two sticks together...

[Rodneyf]

Re: Temperature?

Stick to matches!

[Frances]

Re: Temperature?

... yes, but what if you get lost up an mountain without any matches and your cellphone battery dies?