Homebrew castable build, Newcastle UK

[AndreasP]

Mesoiam, thanks for going out and measuring! I may just go with 18". Nice finish!

[mesoiam]

Over a year later I've finally rendered my oven. Weber through colour render.

[mesoiam]

Hello and thanks for your interest in my oven build. I went out and measured there. The inside of the porch is 490mm (19.3") and steps in to an opening of 440mm (17.3") with a height of 245mm (9.6")
I'm happy enough with it, however I would go with the slightly larger option if I was doing it again. It would be nice to have a bit more room when sliding dishes in and out past each other. I got lucky that my Tuscan grill just about fits.

[AndreasP]

mesoiam , I enjoyed reading your post, well done.
I am in the process of planning my own oven. I have all the materials and am getting ready to cut the firebrick. One decision I am struggling with is the size of the dome opening. I have a 32" oven and am trying to decide between 17" and 19" width (10" height).
What size opening did you use, and are you happy with it?

[Mullster]

mesoiam congratulations!!! I can almost taste it

[mesoiam]

Pizza at Last! Pretty pleased with the results, had two friends of ours round last night for the debut. Didn't take very long to get the oven up to temperature, (maybe just over an hour and the floor was 400), as it was already nice and warm from all the other fires. The first pizza was a bit burnt at the bottom but tasted good enough, nice and light and well risen with a nice thin crunch. I let off on a fire a little and let the floor get down to just below 300 and it seemed much more manageable, the next pizzas were excellent and everyone loved them, a bit of a relief as I had felt a bit of pressure to perform.
Homemade pizza sauce, thanks to Mullster for the inspiration to actually make my own sauce, definitely an improvement over the random pasta sauce we were using before.
These guys running their ovens crazily hot, how are you not burning the bottom? Now that I think of it my dough was a bit cold, as it had been in the fridge, maybe should have let it get up to temperature for longer.
Anyway I'm a happy boy now, having a few more friends around tomorrow for more pizza and the littluns 1st birthday. Thanks to the great help from all on this forum. A friend of a friend has expressed interest in building one, I'll be sending him this way.

[Mullster]

mesoiam That looks great!!! Congratulations on making it so far - bet you can’t wait for that first pizza and I bet it is so satisfying when it comes enjoy!

[mesoiam]

Hello all, had a bit of time this weekend to start my curing fires and build a bit of a temporary roof until I can get it rendered. Into day 4 of curing fires now and it's going well. Oven is retaining heat quite well over night. Had the floor to 200 degrees C last night, it was about 100 C in the morning and about 70 by the evening. While waiting for the oven to dry I made a door out of two sheets of steel with the edges folded back, then filled the gap with about 50mm of 10:1 vermicrete. Door is functional but a bit crumbly so I'll probably fill round the edges with a bit of a stronger mix to keep the vermiculite in.
Tonight I made my first bit of food as a tester, I had already had my dinner so I just got a potato waffle and put it in the skillet with a bit of cheese, 'Waffle Surprise', it was very nice and cooked in no time. Roll on pizza in a few days! Thanks to everyone for their advice and support, I'm chuffed with it so far. It was very nice just admiring the flames on a summer evening and thinking about all the nice food I'm gonna make in it.

edit: I expected to see some condensation coming off my insulation onto the underside of the plastic sheet, haven't noticed any so far which I guess is OK. Insulation is doing well, can barely detect any heat on the outside.

[WoodywWun]

Just going back to the earlier discussion about breathers/valve to release pressure under the final render coat, does the idea of a bent copper tube have any disadvantages (other than some folks don't want to leave something in for appearance reasons)? A bit of spare copper tubing and a plumber's spring and there is a cheap and effective solution? Does it need to be high tech and one-way?


https://community.fornobravo.com/for...w-some-options

[Mullster]

Alomran that is so helpful - thank you!!!!

[Alomran]

UK guys that find good materials (valves, caps, etc) for achieving this please share the info.

Try https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/29276960597...CABEgKTjfD_BwE
or
https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/12263131235...iABEgJLB_D_BwE

or
https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/15201330389...SABEgK1ifD_BwE

or https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/33332646255...CABEgKSM_D_BwE

or https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/248565222?i...SABEgL3MfD_BwE

City plumbing has
http://www.flowfitonline.com/mintor-...CABEgJDEvD_BwE
& https://www.cityplumbing.co.uk/Kings...?gmcpid=994214
there few models in https://www.flowfitonline.com/search...&name=MA01.pdf

If not available you can get the smaller one for a motor Harley's !!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motorcycl...sAAOSwD5teLqnV


You can buy any trailer's fuel or oi tank valve.

For all the aforementioned, you are advised to contact the seller to ensure that the valve is

1- Metalic
2- the valve is a one-way valve allowing air out (BUT NOT IN).

You can search for any odd truck's fuel vent valve
I got a bus's fuel tank valve for my oven!

good luck
Mustafa

[sergetania]

Does that breather valve need to be itself protected from the elements? Will rain, oxidation, dust mess up its ability to release moisture? Thanks!

[UtahBeehiver]

In the UK it is called a Breather Valve, all types, bottom line you want something that lets the moisture out but not let the rain or water in.

[Gulf]

......The copper tube was then bent over slightly to stop rain getting in.....Is this still a viable method as it seems the most simple?.....

It is in my opinion. That was the first design that I saw. I believe that cobblerdave did this. I like any threaded design that allows the vent to be removed and plugged once the oven is dry. It's not necessary to remove it, but some don't like the look of it there all the time.

[Hattori-Hanzo]

I'm starting to think about this stage myself and read a post where copper tube was inset into the render that pasted through to the ceramic blanket layer. The copper tube was then bent over slightly to stop rain getting in.

Is this still a viable method as it seems the most simple?

It was suggested that one copper tube near the top of the dome would suffice but could I also add some near the bottom as David suggests to help moisture release further?