81 Inch First Build (and first post)

[drogers]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Your business would be a great stop for the Food Network program " Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives". It would give your community some nice exposure.

[lwalper]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

You're about 5 hours from my house, but I can almost see a day trip coming. Get it cooking and I just might drop in on you.

BTW - don't use alanthus for firing your oven. It stinks (smells like coal oil, and no, there's no creosote in my oven) and gives a bit of an "off" flavor to the product. Pretty nasty stuff!

[cannyfradock]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Windage

I have followed your build from the start of this thread to it's final glory.

Although I have built a wood-burning oven myself, I have learned a great deal from your " 81" first build". I love your approach and the technique's you have used in achieving your final result.

Your last picture looks really good, but to anybody that hasn't followed your thread, won't appreciate the work that's gone into achieving your goal.

Many thanks for sharing this special build with us

Terry

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Terry and all,
Wow, we had our first "open house" tonight for friends and family....20+ folk cramed in to eat 18 pizza made...average bake time; 2 minutes. Rave reviews. Hope to open this coming week.
Thanks to everyone for the support and kind words that helped keep me going over this past year. Pics coming.
If I have one thing to say to the person waiting to start till you learn "more, or enough"...get going now. Post your triumphs and failures, folks here will help you get through.
Happy baking!

[calipizzanapoletana]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Windage,
Could you post some pictures of the oven in action and the light setup?
What would you have done differently the next time?

Amazing build and dedication.
Best of luck with the opening!!

[tpd]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Incredible, wish I lived close enough to stop in for dinner.

[mn8tr]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Dear Godzilla oven builder aka Windage

Do you have any current photos, I would love to see the finished product and hear how your oven is performing.

[C5dad]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Dave,

What an incredible build. I can say for myself that I am bowing east towards KY! Next time I am somewhat out that way, I will be there for one of them pizza's to just say I snatched a morsel from a giant!

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Well, we have been open over 4 months now and business has been good. I would not have done anything different and really enjoy the benefits of the larger size. I am losing heat out the sides due to my perlcrete mix being too dense (too much water) as I was thinking that pouring it in, vs troweling it on, would be easier. The cure; trowel on a layer over the entire oven in spring.
As it is now, I lose heat out that side area unless I keep a healthy layer of ash piled around the perimeter of the oven....not too hard to do.
Consumption is around a pick-up load of hardwoods a week...mostly green, $50 per load.
Bake time for our thicker crust pizza with loads of toppings; 8 minutes or so. We build the pie on a pan first, then slip the pan out halfway through the bake to crisp the bottom. Corn meal provides the "lube".
Ideal temps in our oven for these typically thicker "American" pies; dome..700 to 800f, floor...500 to 600f.
Occasionally I will make a very thin, scantily topped pie and go from peel to hearth for a thin, crunchy pie and bake time shrinks down to 5 minutes.
thanks everyone for making this thread one of the most viewed!
Rog

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Roger,

Thank you for taking the time to share your entire project with us. Your build has been most impressively completed and its wonderful to see it operational. If you have a minute, I would love to know your overall assessment of the soapstone performance.
John

[lwood]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

How many pies can you do at once?

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Given that we only use 50 to 60% of the floor space (the rest is ash and fire)..we can comfortably manage 6 to 8 pies...more than that is a test and cant be left alone at all.
the Soapstone is awsome..the 300mm by 1000mm slabs I useds reduce the number of open seams in the floor, it puts out heat like no body's business...we do not have to find new "hot" spots in the floor, even on the busiest nights...the thermal mass, heat absorption and steady release fits the pizza baking perfectly.
I have not tried too many hearth breads on it yet, but those I have tried needed a very cool...300 - 350 f oven to keep the bottom from getting ahead of the loaf.
cheers!

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

I forgot to mention that if I did it over, I would not have the slabs extend out through the arch...they conduct heat right out into the room. I may still yet slice them with a diamond saw to stop that...my original thought was to provide a "joint-free" path to slide in the pizza, but that is really not needed at the arch opening.

And, I would have placed "crushable" insulation behind the outer arch, where it attaches/ touches the inner dome, which expands and "pushes" the outer arch supports and brickwork ever so slightly, but enough to crack it.
thanks!
Rog

[eprante]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Nice job Roger on the whole project. If you are enjoying making Pizza half as much as you enjoyed building the oven, then you are onto a great second career.
Good luck in the New Year
Eric

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Update to all;
today marks 7 months open and just under 10,000 pies baked. Oven still doing well and we are building a very loyal customer base with new faces everyday. I had to put in more seating (originally no inside dining) due to so many "out of towners" stopping in to try the pizza and view the oven.
Wood consumption has lowered and leveled out to about 3 pickup loads a month; roughly $150 worth.
I still haven't connected the buried thermocouples to a gauge...we use a handheld pyrometer to read temps and have gotten used to how she bakes/heats.
Next updates will be; to retire the Hobart 60 qt mixer and go with a spiral mixer able to do a 50 lb bag at a time and to add a dough press to the back line for higher/faster production. Right now everything is hand tossed.
Roger