28" homebrew cast oven in walled enclosure Belgium

[Kris S]

Short update:

• started work on adding a prep table, I'd love to add a 1" granite table top but it would cost me as much or even more than the whole project combined up to now. So I'll probably just cast a top and tile it or something.
• finally repleced the makeshift uninsulated aluminum oven door with an insulated one. Thanks to Kvanbael for kindly giving me his leftover Calsil, and providing insight on how to make it !
• applied a cement render over the concrete blocks of bottom half of the oven, still needs paint, but need to finish the table first.

next weekend we'll have another pizza party!

[JRPizza]

It all came out very nice! Are you going to add any pavers (or similar) to make an area to stand on while firing and cooking? I can see that nice grass getting trampled/muddy in the wet season.

[Kris S]

Yep, that's the plan, but will be a project for next year, too much other stuff to do around the house this year

[Warhorn6]

Looks good from here (California). How's the oven holding up?

[AndreasP]

Short update:

• started work on adding a prep table, I'd love to add a 1" granite table top but it would cost me as much or even more than the whole project combined up to now. So I'll probably just cast a top and tile it or something.

I always wanted to try and cast a concrete countertop, have you considered that?
My current BBQ island countertop is tiled and keeping the grout clean is a real pain.

[Kris S]

Looks good from here (California). How's the oven holding up?

Hi, it's holding up fine.

Had some time over the holidays and cooked some more sourdough breads, osso bucco and Irish beef stew, all from one firing.

The cracks inside the dome are there to stay, but don't seem to grow anymore...

[Kris S]

I always wanted to try and cast a concrete countertop, have you considered that?
My current BBQ island countertop is tiled and keeping the grout clean is a real pain.

Hi, I went with the poured concrete countertop. Here it is now in rainy weather, so yeah, there already moss growing on top of it, impossible to keep superclean.
I don't really mind and I just put some tablecloth over it when in use. might still tile it in the future when I stumble onto something nice but i can imagine the difficulty in keeping the grout clean!

I also finally got around to painting the whole thing (apart from the tabletop) and replaced the wooden board trims below the roof edges at the side with some leftover slate ones.

[AndreasP]

Looks great. It should be easy to clean with a pressure washer once the weather gets better

[bnew17]

Awesome build. I really enjoyed reading through your progression. I hope to make an oven at some point and hope it turns out half as good as yours!

[Kris S]

Awesome build. I really enjoyed reading through your progression. I hope to make an oven at some point and hope it turns out half as good as yours!

Thanks! I'm glad you found it useful.
I decided to document my build too, because without other people's build stories I would undoubtedly have made some errors along the way!

[david s]

That's a beautiful build.

[Kris S]

Quick question: I want to make some sort of heat deflector to put next to the fire to keep the food facing the fire from burning.

Can I use aluminum for this? Can it withstand the temperatures next to a hot fire? Is it a sane choice food-safety wise?

[Giovanni Rossi]

I am planning to use stainless steel. I believe it will hold up better. I would also have concerns about subjecting aluminum to the prolonged high temps as far as food safety. We used to cook stuff wrapped in Al foil in the campfire all the time. From my reading over the years it probably isn't the best idea. Maybe others here have a better grasp of the science and can recommend a certain type of Al if you want to go that way.

[david s]

I’ve been using one for years. I first made one from 0.5mm stainless. It did warp badly from the heat, but still worked ok. I’ve now redesigned it in 0.9mm and with some holes through the vertical side to allow air and some heat to pass through, but it allows the cook to clear the floor right up against it which maximises floor area.

[Kris S]

Thanks Giovanni and David; stainless steel it will be then, I've got some lying around anyway!