30" cast dome design

[sergetania]

Painted the oven, it looks much better now. Heated it to 900F, made Neapolitan pizza, still not perfect (oven temp matters!). The oven is still standing, no new cracks! 3D-prined a foldable peel holder, turned out nicely (pics below). However, it is unavoidable that, with some sadness, I have to admit that I AM (almost) DONE!!! Bored already and the bad weather is just starting.... I wish I had a roof over the oven!

A HUGE "thank you" to david s , SableSprings , UtahBeehiver , handycrowd, Mullster, WoodywWun and everyone else who helped and shared knowledge, too many to mention here, no offense! I really had no idea what I am getting into when I started. Your help made it possible and I had so much fun doing it! THANK YOU, EVERYBODY!!!

[MarkJerling]

That looks super tidy! Well done!

[sergetania]

david s or anyone, with the oven painted with the waterproof flashing sealant, would that be OK to heat and use the oven in a rain shower/drizzle? I have no desire to stay there when it pours but if it is just a little rain? Thanksgiving is on Thursday and they say rain showers The food tastes so much better from the oven compared to the kitchen oven. Is it going to mess up the oven? Thanks!!!

[UtahBeehiver]

I have done it it the snow and rain, unless you will melt there should not be an issue.

[sergetania]

Thanks, Russell! Time to dig out the fishing rain gear!

[david s]

Weather conditions vary around the world, but where we live the oven is fine to handle some light rain without affecting the oven. After a few days of heavy rain or even prolonged humidity without rain, (we live in the tropics), the insulation gets quite moist and the oven’s performance drops off. In this case oven insulation picks up moisture from the air so any coating won’t stop that.
Any product you use to seal the oven will also prevent moisture from escaping as well as entering, so a vent is advisable. If you live in an area that has low humidity this may not be a problem. A couple of long slow fires soon restores the oven to normal again. Any waterproofing product you use will require UV protection so be careful if it is designed only for indoor use. A flexible product also has the ability to bridge cracks and cope with expansion issues.

[sergetania]

Thanks, David! Got a vent and roofing sealer. Not planning to use in heavy rain. Hopefully I will be ok. Thanks again!

Do you have Thanksgiving?

[sergetania]

Hopefully this post will help others decide on the size of an oven to build. I did spend a lot of time trying to figure out if a 30" oven will be big enough for me. I think it is after cooking almost everything for the Thanksgiving dinner in the oven last week. Obviously, it is easy to fit a 12" pizza in the oven. For Thanksgiving, I had to cook dishes in 3 "shifts" cooking veggies(30-40 min) first, then the ducks (30 min) while keeping veggies warm and, finally, salmon and meat skewers on the grill (<10 min). Everything turned out VERY tasty, very happy with the oven. For size reference, 3 biggest cast iron pans are 12".

[Gulf]

Beautiful food pron. Are those spatched chickens?

[sergetania]

Thanks! Ducks. Something different for Thanksgiving (and turkey is too big and not that great). Here is a chicken I did in the oven as training before I did ducks. That skin was delicious!

[Boogie-D]

Aloha sergentania.... I read through your whole build... nice work... I am in the planning, about to begin phase and will be casting in 2 parts as you did... I have a quick question for you... when you did the first cast of the dome and you made the oven door mold above.. what was the size of your reveal from the oven opening to our outer edge of your form? ... is that 2 inches reveal? the size of your cast?

also is that form just free standing or did you attach it?? Thank serge... I enjoyed your build and the perfect paper mache form.. aloha

[sergetania]

Boogie-D,

Are you asking about the reveal(rebate) that the door rests against? Difference between the dome opening and inner walls of the entrance gallery? That is 1". Sorry if I misunderstood the question and you are asking about something else.

When I built the form I kept the template for the dome opening and then used it to create a template for the entrance tunnel by adding one inch and also to cut the door.

It's a 30" diameter dome. I used hot glue gun to attach forms to the bricks (art&crafts - my daughter thought that was fun). I also used silicon and that is a BAD idea, very difficult to remove silicon from bricks.

Plan thoroughly! Cheers!

[david s]

[QUOTE=sergetania;n432247]Painted the oven, it looks much better now. Heated it to 900F, made Neapolitan pizza, still not perfect (oven temp matters!). The oven is still standing, no new cracks! 3D-prined a foldable peel holder, turned out nicely (pics below). However, it is unavoidable that, with some sadness, I have to admit that I AM (almost) DONE!!! Bored already and the bad weather is just starting.... I wish I had a roof over the oven!

A HUGE "thank you" to david s , SableSprings , UtahBeehiver , handycrowd, Mullster, WoodywWun and everyone else who helped and shared knowledge, too many to mention here, no offense! I really had no idea what I am getting into when I started. Your help made it possible and I had so much fun doing it! THANK YOU, EVERYBODY!!!

I've just re-read your thread as I was a bit fuzzy during and after my hospital stay. You have a wonderful oven that should last you the rest of your days and provide many more for those who succeed you. I hope you're really proud of this satisfying build. Now you can concentrate on cooking and eating!

[sergetania]

David

Thank you for replying! Hopefully that means that you are feeling much much better! That was a really close call! I also can't say enough thank you ti actually thank you! A huge help!

As for the oven - LOVE IT! There are a couple of things I would do differently but that's normal with any completed project, it's called learning. Let's say that the oven has its own character. Love the oven, love cooking in. The pizza turns out great, all seafood that went in came out great! Steak, veggies, you name it - delicious! The build itself was so much fun I miss it. I think it may be time for a pergola, a little shelter for the oven

Thank you and great building and cooking!

[sergetania]

david s just to back up my words