Starting new 36" build

[deejayoh]

Re: Starting new 36" build

Aidan -
After some initial trouble getting the oven hot enough (she grabbed some green wood I had laying around) she seemed to quite like it. She said it was bigger than the commercial oven she was used to! Her employer is also the local Forno Bravo dealer - but she didn't know about the forums. I pointed her here because she said she and her husband were thinking about putting in an oven

Amy - if you found my thread - Thanks for the great pizzas!

[deejayoh]

Re: Starting new 36" build

Just back from 2 weeks of vacation in Ecuador, and will be getting to work on the oven this week. I picked up some decorative tiles to put on the front of my enclosure while I was there.

WFOs seem to be pretty popular down there, I took a few pictures to document that I will post later.

[deejayoh]

Re: Starting new 36" build

Here are some pics of what I have been up to the last couple weeks.

I finally got the soapstone in my entryway. Promptly got a big ol' grease stain on it, but I guess that is what it's there for. I think it looks pretty good with the stainless heat break.

I also finished framing the enclosure for the oven, and framed up a cabinet for a kitchen/bbq that will be off to the left of the oven.

I have ordered a 30" BBQ, plus an under-BBQ drawer, pullout Trash bin, and corner cabinet door. Those should arrive next week.

This weekend, I am hoping to get OSB sheathing onto the roof of the oven house, and hardiboard on the exterior walls/cabinet.

I am still trying to decide what to do with the BBQ countertops. I have access to a free 3cm granite slab that maybe with a bit of creativity, I can get to fit the space. But I am guessing even with free granite - transit, cutting, and installation it will cost me $1000. So I am also thinking about pouring concrete. Any advice? A picture of the granite is below

Once that is in, I am going to face the BBQ cabinet and lower oven housing with a stacked slate veneer that is dark grey. I got that for free too, though I may need to source a bit more. Top half of the oven housing is going to be stucco.

I also need some guidance on a decorative arch. Is that full bricks? Half bricks? Veneer? how much should it stick out from the oven?

Still a lot of work to do...

[SCChris]

Re: Starting new 36" build

Re. the Grainte, Don't assume on the cost. HomeDepot has wet saws for rent and so you can do the cuts if it gets transported. Or, maybe the giver would, for a cost do countertop cuts and deliver and install. Anyway, if the Granite color is agreeable to you, then you're ahead..

:-)

Chris

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Starting new 36" build

deejayoh,

Nice steel work and BBQ area. Interested in seeing your tiles from SA. I ended up refacing some of my firebrick for my decorative arch and adjusted length to about 6" to factor in insulation and stucco which will butt up against the arch. We will seel.

[dvm]

Re: Starting new 36" build

Regarding the decorative arch. I am building my surround (from 4 inch cement blocks and Durock) flush with the front of my "outer arch" (the structure supporting the chimney). I intend to form a decorative arch out of splits leaving 1/4 inch (to be filled with ceramic rope) between the outer arch and decorative arch. I will have a "limestone" veneer that runs up to the outer edge of the decorative arch.

[deejayoh]

Re: Starting new 36" build

dvm -
Why the rope between the outer arch and the decorative arch? It's not so hot there (assuming your flue is drawing) and you don't need to worry about insulating for heat loss as it is open to the air.

[dvm]

Re: Starting new 36" build

dvm -
Why the rope between the outer arch and the decorative arch? It's not so hot there (assuming your flue is drawing) and you don't need to worry about insulating for heat loss as it is open to the air.

I guess I am thinking that if the flue is not drawing (windy?) I would not want smoke entering the "enclosure". I plan to take the oven to pizza temperatures tomorrow (insulation is installed), Hopefully The draw will be so amazing that no smoke dare make a break for the outer arch and this is a non-issue.

[david s]

Re: Starting new 36" build

Insulating between the outer arch and the decorative arch is a good plan IMO because it will act as an expansion joint allowing free movement of the inner elements of the oven to expand without having any contact with the outer shell. The second advantage is that it reduces the temperature differential, responsible for developing cracks, on the decorative arch. A third advantage is that the decorative arch is left cool enough to touch making it safer by reducing the possibility of burns.It is much simpler to have this expansion joint in this position rather than between the oven and the entry structure.

[Amac]

Re: Starting new 36" build

It is much simpler to have this expansion joint in this position rather than between the oven and the entry structure.

Also even if you put the heat break or expansion joint between the oven and the entry - the flue gases will still heat the outer arch via the entry (and those gases are hot) - so the decorative arch will still be liable to excessive heating

[deejayoh]

Re: Starting new 36" build

I do not find that the front arch of my entryway gets very hot, even when the oven is at full temp. Perhaps that is because I have a heat break, perhaps it's because the oven draws well and the gasses are going up the chimney. What ever the case - an expansion joint seems like serious overkill for an area that probably never hits 200 degrees. I'll have to check it with the IR thermometer next time I fire the oven.

As for it be easier than a heat break at the oven, I guess that may be true - but it also seems far less useful in terms of retaining heat in the oven. A heat break between two surfaces that are exposed to open air isn't going to do much for heat retention at all.

[Amac]

Re: Starting new 36" build

Maybe you're right Dennis - mine gets hot - too hot to handle - and I had one crack in a mortar joint at the outer arch - but it seemed that just at the top of the arch it gets too hot to put your hand on.
Somebody else - I can't remember who (who built a round tower type enclosure?) had a similar crack which transferred out to the decorative part - so it's not really for heat retention.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Starting new 36" build

Great feedback, Dennis. You have obviously thought through many of the properties as they apply to construction and performance on your oven. Question: How hot does your SS entryway get during pizza-time, vs an hour after closing the oven up for the night vs the next morning. I think this curve is the measurement that reveals the effectivevness of the heat break.
I'm struggling with the decision of keeping my firebricks under my entryway floor (3/8" stainless plate) or going with some form of insulation. Thanks in advance.
John

[Les]

Re: Starting new 36" build

I do not find that the front arch of my entryway gets very hot, even when the oven is at full temp. Perhaps that is because I have a heat break, perhaps it's because the oven draws well and the gasses are going up the chimney.

The topic comes up often about the effectiveness of a heat break. The issue wasn't even a dream when I built my oven but I am skeptical of how much value they add. At the end of the day, fire brick are not great conductors or insulators of heat. My oven's entry does not get hot as well - I can put my hand on it when the dome has burned clean. We should document the temps from dome center, to halfway to the exit, and exit. I'm curious to see if there is a real payback for the labor (there are obvious variables that will skew the results). What does the forum think? I had no plans on firing the oven up tomorrow but I will do it for the cause.

[deejayoh]

Re: Starting new 36" build

I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Got the wiring in and the lights installed

all the sheathing on my oven house and the outdoor kitchen. Woo hoo!

I did a test fit of my cabinets and doors, and propped up some of the stone I will be using on the oven base and kitchen area to see how it will look

Check out the view from my back door! Oven pron!