"De La Capra" oven build

[ncsmoker]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

Next step took a little bit of time in that I had 3 arches to make, and each one had to be poured and cured for 1-2 days before resuming cinder block work.

The arches were pretty easy to make, each one is 2 pieces of 2x8 wood, with an arch cut into each piece. The bottoms are smaller pieces of 2x4, and I used metal flashing I had left over from another project to help it release better.

I tried to leave about 3 to 3 1/2 inches of room at the top for the concrete to lessen the chance of it cracking, and also included 2 pieces of rebar in each form. For just a little bit of work, it really gave it that custom look that we were going for.

This is a picture of the first arch that was below the pizza oven where the wood storage will go, and I should have packed the concrete a little better.

[ncsmoker]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

Here are a few more pictures of the fireplace arch, and the Kamado Joe table arch.

[ncsmoker]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

Here are a few more pictures of food we've cooked on the Kamado Joe. We love this cooker enough to build a table where we can incorporate it into the WFO and fireplace.

[Greenman]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

That food looks great. Getting close to food porn!!

[ncsmoker]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

Once the forms were done, it took another day or so to finish the cinder block work. Finally able to see the overall shape for the first time!

While I was at it, I went ahead and added a french drain behind the oven and ran it out into the yard. Although the picture doesn't look like much, it had not rained at all and the ground was like concrete. Took 3 hours of solid digging with a pickax to get that done.

Also started to run the conduit lines for the low voltage lighting below the fireplace hearth and over the pizza oven and side tables. One piece of advice I would give here, go with a larger diameter conduit line than you think you need. Pulling the wire through the conduit proved cumbersome, especially at the 90 degree elbows. I would recommend at least 3/4" for a single and 1" for 2 or 3 lines.

It was also a good time to redesign the back of the yard and combine what was 2 separate landscaped islands into 1.

[ncsmoker]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

More food porn...

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

no messing around with you.........great start.

[Greenman]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

Nice. Your food is inspirational. Sharing your technique and glaze etc would be a good thing for those of us less accomplished.

[ncsmoker]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

Nice. Your food is inspirational. Sharing your technique and glaze etc would be a good thing for those of us less accomplished.

Thanks for the compliment! For smoking food, it's pretty straightforward, I usually set the smoker at 225-275 and cook until done. Chicken gets a salt/pepper/paprika rub (the paprika is what gives it that great color). We make our own rub for pork and beef dishes.

Woods for smoking chicken and pork include apple, pecan and sometimes a piece or two of hickory.

Beef is mesquite for the first hour or so, then usually hickory. I'll try to answer any questions you may have!

[ncsmoker]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

Here's a porkbutt we did a while back, some ribs and a great smoked salmon. All at 225-250 until done.

[ncsmoker]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

Time for the concrete pad to place the oven on. Even though the Casa2G90 comes with the rigid board insulation, if some is good, then more must be better!

Seriously, I could not come up with one negative as to why I shouldn't add more. I simply made a 2" thick wooden template of the oven, placed it in position after the rebar and removed it when everything was cured. Had a small scare when the form wouldn't budge, but nothing that the right sized crowbar couldn't fix. Used some vermiculite/portland mix to add an additional 2" of insulation.

One thing I was starting to realize was that the pad might be too small for the oven (remember, I originally spec'd it out with a different sized oven). That gave me something to think about as we moved toward the oven install.

[ncsmoker]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

Over the last 2 weeks of working on the cinder block and pad, the forno Casa2G90 has been patiently waiting in the garage. Now it's time to get it out of the garage and to my backyard. Logistically, this was not as hard as I anticipated. With the help of 2 very strong neighbors, we simply put each piece in a wheelbarrow (cushioned by a u-haul blanket) and took it around back. More on that in the next post.

Here are some pictures of how well this thing was packed.

One complaint here about purchasing the oven, I wanted to substitute a double wall chimney for the standard single wall that comes with the oven. Apparently, you are not allowed to simply pay extra and exchange them.

I was told I had to essentially buy both and figure out what to do with the single wall chimney. The forno bravo rep's advice was to "sell it to a metal scraping facility and try to recoup some of your money". Really? You have to be kidding me.

If I can order a car with dozens of extra options, colors, etc. it would seem a simple process to swap one chimney for the other and charge the cost difference.

By the way, my single wall chimney (never used!) is available in the "For sale" section if you are interested!

[ncsmoker]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

Next step up - getting the oven installed. Hardest part here was actually getting the floor tiles level and straight. One thing I wished the instructions had included was to go ahead and once the oven was in, put some sand or flour around the inside of the oven to lock the tiles in place. Because there was a 1/2-3/4" gap between the tiles and the oven, the 2 small back pieces shifted backwards and left a gap between the tiles. Big PITA at this point to fix.

I realized that because the chimney sat so forward I would have to build an arch so I had something to butt the cinder block up to in the front of the oven. Overall, came out pretty nice and I actually hated to cover it, but it didn't go with the stone veneer we picked out.

I had some extra insulation, and as we were going to enclose the oven anyway, I put about 4"+ on the top and sides.

As you can see, it was a tight fit! The original plan was to enclose the oven over the base, but we had to leave the right side open to the fireplace and enclose the front and back of that space in order to fit everything in there.

[ncsmoker]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

Had some vermiculite left over, so I went ahead and filled up the oven enclosure with it.

Also started the curing process. I was lucky in that I had off that Thursday and Friday, so was really able to get 12-14 hours of curing over the 4 day period.

[ncsmoker]

Re: "De La Capra" oven build

Next up -
Concrete roof, fireplace brickwork, stucco for Kamado Table area and firewood area, and we finally started the stone veneer.

Stone veneering is taking a lot longer than anticipated, but I wanted really tight joints, and the end result will be worth it.

We also fired up our first 2 loaves of bread. Delicious!