Christo's Cucina

[MarkJerling]

That's a very neat setup you have there!

[christo]

The oven is still alive and cooking! We had a wedding here last week for 60 or so people. All went very well.

Tomorrow is a more focused group with just 12 of us. 4 batches of dough in process now.

Overall, the oven is holding up very well. Hello to James and the gang!

Christo

[christo]

Pizza oven update

New job and other projects got in the way of pizza this summer and fall. I'm cleaning and painting this week.

I put a small fire to dry it out if it absorbed any moisture for a few hours. Put some more wood, just shy of the big crazy fire,band ten mins later heard a ping noise I haven't heard in a long while. I guess,. what's one more crack?

I've got a few more cracks than when I last posted, but it's doing great.

Gearing up for 20 friends and family for pizza next Wednesday and most of the same crew for pizza oven turkey on Thursday. I'm going to spatchcock it this year so it should cook faster. That's also a good way to cook the bird if you have low door clearance issues.

Pics of outside and inside to follow! Cheers Christo

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Christo's Cucina

WFO pizza, outdoor movies, karaoke and wii: is that what we all have to eventually look forward to at the 7 year mark?

BTW: "putting on a few pounds" seems to happen after the 1st year of pizza making. It's just not fair.

Seriously, it's nice to see you and your family and friends all enjoying your great outdoor wfo area. That's what life is all about.

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Hi all!!!

We've been enjoying the pizza oven. It's holding up really well and no change on the interior since the first cracks developed. And that's good.

It's really funny - we get requests now for pizza for birthday presents. i'm not sure if we make good pizzas or make good parties - but it's sooo fun.

I'm not sure if I said this earlier - but we put an outdoor movie screen up under the eave of the house and we have pizza and movie night on the patio.

And "oh the horror", we have karaoke nights out there as well - our freinds down the street used to run a karaoke business and have shared their library with us - so we have over 5000 songs to choose from.

It degrades from there to Wii and the dance fun - It's been what - 3 or 4 years now and we love our oven and the fun it brings.

EDIT - omg I just looked at the build log - we started the oven in 2006 and had our first pizza in 2007 - that's 7 years of pizza. no wonder I put on a few pounds.

Christo

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Hi All - been away far too long!

As far as tool stands - I've had a few so far - I bought a blue ceramic bird bath just so I could use the base as a tool stand. Worked great until my wife saw it was actually a bird bath and stole it.

So I used a piece of flue tile for a while - but it was the original one that cracked and eventually freezing rain got in there and cracked it in half.

The tool stand you have not seen - is the concrete one I carved. I've been meaning to post it's development and I'll do it soon.

I like casting concrete and found that it is quite machineable while green.

We had family over for thanksgiving and did the Wednesday pizza party and I went out, removed any appreciable coals and wacked the door in around 11pm.

i woke the next morning and my door had burnt (again). We made a new template (why didn't I keep the old ones!) and built up the fire again and made a guess as too how much heat the oven soaked up before shovellign out the fire - a foil covered cardboard door went in and 10 mins later the first of the bread loaves - they all cooked up quite well - but the floor cooled more quickly than I would have liked. just not enough time with the fire in there....

We shovelled the fire back into the oven and made a moderately scary fire for 45 mins and pulled most of the wood out and put the coals all around the edge. Prepped the 25 lb bird and put it in the oven. It was over 500 degrees in there and we left the door off for 30 mins while it got it's initial browning. Then we tented in foil and cooked it for about 3 hours with the cardboard and foil door - came out just perfect!

Sunday I pulled the cardboard out and measured the temp for giggles - 85 degrees!!!

I'm going to go and catch up on the awesome builds i've been missing.

Cheers,

Chris

[Grtiz]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Christo,

Where did you find the umbrella stand that you have your oven tools in?

Patrick

[GLKEARNS]

Re: Christo's Cucina

WOW, I've just spent the last few hours reading this thread about your build. Beautiful work. An inspiration. Thank you for sharing.

Now to see if local ordinances will allow me to build one in my small suburban backyard...

[dusty]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Happy belated birthday my friend. Always a pleasure hearing from you. Hope all is well with you and yours.
dusty

[bbell]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Happy Birthday Christo! Fantastic work.

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Hi Christo: happy birthday! and congratulations on another year of wfo cooking. Your thread is always fun to re-read.
-Dino

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Hey! Another Birthday - and another year of use of the oven.

Not any improvements - but we use it often and it's holding up very well.

I'm going to have to recoat the stucco or paint it as it's starting to look a bit shabby....

[cobblerdave]

Re: Christo's Cucina

[ I hot-wired it every time we ran it somewhere and charged the battery at the hotel parking lot. Oh and somehow got a second place finish at the show - musta been the sympathy vote!
Gudday
Early English Electrics.....My Mate has a 1954 english Ford Zepher ...He talks about Lucas....Prince of darkness!!!!!

Regards Dave
Yes its a real classic great restore...good you kept the original paint colours

[Jaronimo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

That car looks like a lot of fun!

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Hi All!!!

It's been a while - I've been working on other projects and just enjoying the oven and patio.

The oven has seen a lot of use and we are having zero issues with it. The cracks that formed during the first firings have not gotten worse and I'm happy with that.

I burned some pine and other wood in my oven and the front got a good coating of soot on it. I've gone back to hickory and oak only and that seems to keep the soot at bay.

Had a small pizza party on Saturday about 12 neighbors came over and we had a great time - it's funny how when we have a party or get together at the house - they all expect the oven to be running!

Still making dough the forno way - everyone loves it. I have taken some short cuts to forming the dough and use a rolling pin - I like the texture of hand forming the crust - but the production aspect of rolling makes me enjoy more time with my guests.

Off topic but here's a pic of my car- 1954 Triumph TR2 - two days after waking it up from a 30 year sleep - I spent 4 months and had disassembled most of it - painted, reassembled(most of it) by 11:30pm the night before the car show. The next morning we drove it for the first time out of the neighborhood on a 4 and a half hours to a car show in Dobson, NC the next morning. Since I had run out of time, the car had no working electrics other than a brake light. I hot-wired it every time we ran it somewhere and charged the battery at the hotel parking lot. Oh and somehow got a second place finish at the show - musta been the sympathy vote!

All the best - I'm going to try to spend more time here again - I love the build pics. You folks are really bringing the game up to a new level.