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We're ALMOST finished with the oven!!! Yippee, it's been cured and we've cooked a few dinners in it with tremendous success!! Am absolutely loving my WFO. I need to put the last coat of stucco on and then the finish coat and paint it, but before I do that, I need your help. After about 7 fires, it developed a hairline crack from the arch, past the chimney and about 12 inches into the dome. It opens up a tinsy bit when the oven's hot, but shrinks once cool. I know that won't affect the operation of the oven, not worried there, however, in Texas we frequently get rains and freezes that could cause bigger cracks in the future. Here's the question, can I just stucco over the crack and if it cracks through that layer, can I put some caulk on it to seal it? I'm guessing that the chimney expanded (we probably messed up by putting some fire mortar around it to help anchor it in place) and that's the root of the issue. My husband is wondering if we should chip that part out and put in more perlcrete at the base of the pipe. I'm worried that will cause more problems. What do you think?
Anyway, so far, we've cooked a number of personal size pizza's, roasted a beer can chicken (Highly recommended!), ribs, pork tenderloin, and focaccia breads. Tonight I'm cooking a batch of bread, another chicken, more ribs and of course pizzas!!! It's our 26th anniversary and I would so rather do this than go out!!! Plus, the wine here's a little cheaper.! LOL. I covered plywood with sheets of copper to make the door(s) which is working well, but would love thoughts on making handles for it. It seems to only hold enough heat to cook in for about 24 hours, but then, we're also using mostly scrap wood and very little oak or hard woods. The experiment continues!!
Our backyard is really getting cool, my husband and I built the 10ft redwood table and are planning benches to go with it. (FYI, redwood is incredibly dense and ate lots of drill bits!). The grape arbor in the background is the ideal place for the hammock and the garden is loaded with tomatoes and basil!!! Now I need to work on making my own wine from the grapes (also have a terrific orchard with peaches, pears, apples, figs and plums). I may burst into song..."Faaarm living is the place for me!!!"
I'll post photos if and when I sculpt something cool to cover the chimney pipe...
Thanks for all your help! Looking forward to posting recipes! - Shelley (Poetryart).
Anyway, so far, we've cooked a number of personal size pizza's, roasted a beer can chicken (Highly recommended!), ribs, pork tenderloin, and focaccia breads. Tonight I'm cooking a batch of bread, another chicken, more ribs and of course pizzas!!! It's our 26th anniversary and I would so rather do this than go out!!! Plus, the wine here's a little cheaper.! LOL. I covered plywood with sheets of copper to make the door(s) which is working well, but would love thoughts on making handles for it. It seems to only hold enough heat to cook in for about 24 hours, but then, we're also using mostly scrap wood and very little oak or hard woods. The experiment continues!!
Our backyard is really getting cool, my husband and I built the 10ft redwood table and are planning benches to go with it. (FYI, redwood is incredibly dense and ate lots of drill bits!). The grape arbor in the background is the ideal place for the hammock and the garden is loaded with tomatoes and basil!!! Now I need to work on making my own wine from the grapes (also have a terrific orchard with peaches, pears, apples, figs and plums). I may burst into song..."Faaarm living is the place for me!!!"
I'll post photos if and when I sculpt something cool to cover the chimney pipe...
Thanks for all your help! Looking forward to posting recipes! - Shelley (Poetryart).
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just came out of the oven, beef short ribs still in there, (a Rick Bayless recipe), 6 small loaves of bread earlier, 6 pizzas and one dessert "peach" pizza with ice cream. Everything worked great, except the pizza crusts were too thick...I'm considering getting a job at a pizza place with an oven for spy purposes... The thermometer in the door is showing about 300 degrees, but then, I don't know just how many pieces of hardwood he used this time. I do know that he no longer has any hairs on his right arm...
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