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Planning my 32" cast oven

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  • AndreasP
    replied
    I was also looking for an Andiron, anybody have a good idea how to make one easily? I was thinking rebar, but not sure if that will work and if it is thick enough to not start glowing red.
    I think it would really help with getting air under the log on the side of the oven when making pizza.

    Then i will need to find a grilling grate or something to put pans on while roasting.

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  • AndreasP
    replied
    As far as cracks, i think I may have a hairline crack around the bottom of the dome, but not sure, so I'm not really worried about it. In some places I thought I had small cracks but I think it's just the uneven walls from casting the homebrew.
    So far so good, I'll have to keep my fingers crossed it stays that way.
    ​​​​

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  • AndreasP
    replied
    BTW, the pizza you see in the photo is tiny, probably 5-6 inches.

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  • AndreasP
    replied
    Thanks,
    it took only 30 minutes for the dome to start clearing. I think it's because the oven was still at 200F from the firing the day before.
    It was clear except for a small ring at the bottom after about an hour.
    i started it 2 hrs before our friends arrived, so it was nice and evenly heated.
    At the moment i only have a piece of steel as the door, no insulation. The next morning the oven was still at 350 -400F, around noon it was at 280-300F, and after 24 he's it was a bit above 200F.
    Next is to build an insulated door and finish the stucco.
    But I get falling due every morning. Need to wait for some time where it's a bit dryer.

    ​​​​​​

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  • Kris S
    replied
    Really nice Andreas!
    Your oven looks huuuuge compared to mine ... and no cracks!

    Any idea how long it took to heat it up?


    Click image for larger version

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  • MarkJerling
    replied
    Well done Andreas! First pizzas is always a huge thrill!

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  • AndreasP
    replied
    Completed the curing fires and made pizza for the frist time yesterday 14 pizzas. Worked out great. The Pizza was some of the best we have ever had, and that was even with dough bought at Trade Joe's!

    At the beginning the floor was very hot, 900F+ and the dome was in the 850 - 950F range. The first pizza, a small one, took barely 45 seconds, but tasted delicious. Nice puffed up crust.
    As I made more pizzas the floor cooled significantly, even though there was a fire on the side.
    I ended up pushing coals onto the floor where I was cooking the pizzas to recharge it, which worked well.
    Cooking went way faster than assembling the actual pizzas.

    I also started placing the pies in different spots in the oven. The back of the oven was of course much hotter than the front and middle.

    Thanks again to everybody on this forum for all your help! I am sure it would not have turned out as well as it did without all of you!

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  • AndreasP
    replied
    Kris,
    Yes, I remember your build thread and your post on the cracks. BTW, your thread was really helpful, thanks!

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  • Kris S
    replied
    Yes be patient, and I would also add this: even after the curing fires and maybe the few first below pizza temp cooking fires, don't go full throttle too soon or you'll end up with these nasty dome-wide cracks like I did, which you can see in my build in post #126

    Though they look terrible, they seem to have stabilized now, cooked some pizzas, bread, vegetable dishes and a slow cooked meat last weekend without problems.

    Of course it could be my homebrew was a little drier or different than yours, you may not experience these cracks (hopefully) but better safe than sorry...

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  • AndreasP
    replied
    Thanks, I'll try to be patient. Will do small fires for now.

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  • UtahBeehiver
    replied
    Because the v/pcrete has a ton of water in it which probably moved into the ceramic blanket. Wet insulation will readily transmit heat. When water sublimates to vapor the volume increase by 1500 times and the possible pressure could crack uncured portland cement. Don't get impatient, this is where we see a lot of builders want to fire up, going too fast, too hot. You could possibly to some charcoal briquettes fires that will yield about 200 F so not enough to sublimate water.
    Last edited by UtahBeehiver; 11-16-2021, 07:51 PM.

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  • AndreasP
    replied
    Was able to complete the Vermicrete last night. Looks OK, nothing is falling off once it is dried. This time it was a lot easier to work with. I changed the mix to:
    7 parts Perlite
    3 parts Vermiculite (I was running out of Vermiculite)
    1 part Portland cement
    1 handful of Clay
    I used more water than the day before.
    The mix was a lot easier to work with, not sure if it was the finer Perlite, the addition of Clay, using more water or simply the fact that the dome starts leaning back the higher you get.

    Also made a mold for the corner, some of the bottom fell off when I removed the mold after 24 hrs. Will have to patch it later.

    David, I am wondering why I should let it dry for 7 days before firing. Is it for the mix to cure slowly (it does contain Portland Cement)? Then again, it is not structural at all.
    With the 2" of ceramic blanket it shouldn't get too hot in the first few days of firing. What's the risk for the Vermicrete of starting fire early?

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  • david s
    replied
    It looks ok in the photo. The finer stuff is easier to apply but the downside is that it requires more water which means more to eliminate later. I find a mix of perlite and vermiculite works better than either of them alone. Also a handful of powdered clay for every litre of cement helps give the brew more stickiness. More cement drastically reduces insulation value. Once it’s set for 24 hrs it is pretty easy to either carve or ad to.

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  • AndreasP
    replied
    Started on the Vermicrete today.
    It was a lot more difficult than I had expected. When I opened the bag of Vermiculite it looked like the pieces were VERY big. When I purchased it they said it was medium size.
    It says A-3 on the bag, I guess that should have been a hint.

    I did the first batch with a 10:1.5 mix (10:1 simply didn't hold together), then went to Home Depot and got some Perlite. The Perlite is much finer as can be seen in the photo.

    For the rest I mixed 50% perlite and 50% vermiculite, but as I got higher up on the dome the layers at the bottom started to collapse in some places.
    I added a bit more water and tried again, still very fragile.

    I stopped half way through and figured I would let it dry overnight. Hopefully it won't all fall off tomorrow when I touch it.
    If it looks reasonably solid I will patch a few thin areas with Perlite (the smaller stuff), maybe 5:1 to make it stick better, then continue with the rest of the dome.

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  • AndreasP
    replied
    Thanks David, will do the vermicrete today. Getting closer to our first pizza

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