What now for this part-built oven area?

[Puy de Dome]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

Thanks Peter,

I know it's no defence, but that wiring is only there to give me power while construction was underway. It was culled from the shed that I demolished to make way for the oven.

I'm planning on replacement and re-location of the power in the next week - when I am clearer on what I want to light/power etc. in the future.

The cable in the ground is protected by steel conduit.

PdD

[PeterW]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

Just a little Off Topic...

Please tell me that isn't standard twin and earth coming out of the ground into a round 20amp junction box...?? As a minimum it should be armoured, and into an IP65 connection box before it goes anywhere else.... Also, any connections or switches outdoors should be IP56, they're not expensive and could save you getting a serious shock.

Cheers

Peter

[Puy de Dome]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

Thanks Frances. Yes, I am happy with it - looking ofrward now to gettign some insulation on and then a final layer of render.

[Frances]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

Nice! I recognised the oven at once and think the whole set up looks great!

Are you pleased with the look of the bricks there? The oven blends in really well.

[Puy de Dome]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

Just in case you didn't see the pics I posted elsewhere:

[biondoli]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

If you need to do so much baking you may want to consider increasing the mass of your dome to retain more heat and last longer. I would solicit input from the forum for such experience....

[Frances]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

If you try for three Frances, I'd recommend doing a longer than normal initial firing, perhaps an hour more once the dome clears. The more heat you apply with fire while burning, the longer the oven should stay hot on the cooling curve.

Purely hypothetical in my case, I really wouldn't know what to do with all that bread... but I think with some practice it should be possible to bake three loads of bread - probably with a longer firing as you said.

[SpringJim]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

I too like the look of the brick, very nice!

....an alternative look would be to face the oven base with the same stone you used on the ground....would be a nice contrast but tie in the two nicely.

just thinking....

[gjbingham]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

If you try for three Frances, I'd recommend doing a longer than normal initial firing, perhaps an hour more once the dome clears. The more heat you apply with fire while burning, the longer the oven should stay hot on the cooling curve.

[james]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

There are some case studies in the back of the Bread Builders book that describe how commercial bakeries get the most from each firing -- many batches per firing. We're talking hundreds of loaves from a single firing -- hey, you've got to put all that retained heat (and the cost of fuel) to good use.
James

[Frances]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

I put 8 loaves of bread in my (round) oven on a regular basis, works like a dream. Baking two loads of 8 loaves would certainly also work. Three loads of bread... I think it should work.

Has anyone here tried that with the pompeii oven? What is the maximum bread output from one firing?

[Puy de Dome]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

Thanks.

The original slab in the phtos was built with a barrel vault in mind and it measures about 4' (wide) by 5' (long).

I would like to make the most use of this area, naturally - would the plans for the igloo shape be a good fit or too small/big for this slab?

I think I've been converted to an igloo shape now, btw.

I would be happy to get four loaves at a time in there, if possible. As you can see, I would like also to be using the area for the occasional bbq/children's party, not just baking. I don't bake for a living or anything like that.

I set aside one day and bake about 8 loaves a day, but would like to up this to 20 or so.

[gjbingham]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

PUY,
The question you should be asking yourself is how much bread you want to bake. If it is just a few loaves, then the standard round pizza oven as presented in the plans is what I would recommend. If you want to bake more than just 4 or so loaves of bread and rarely make pizza, then a barrel vault might be a better choice. I'm sure others might disagree....

[CajunKnight]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

I mean like a cover to keep the rain off your head. Like a carport type area. Those beautiful wooden countertops are not going to like the sun a lot so some protection would be in order.

[Puy de Dome]

Re: What now for this part-built oven area?

When you say 'wooden overhead cover', do you mean some kind of roof, but having the appearance of being detatched, or 'floating' above the main, say, dome oven shape?