I'm getting closer to my Dome!

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

From this point I stacked cement block around the flue and extended the flue another three sections total. I used 8" square flue which from some of the other threads about smoke swirling in a circle going up a flue a round flue may have been better. Although the square flue allowed me to make that funnel very nicely and I have absolutly no problems with drafts and soot coming out of the front of the oven. Here are a couple of pics of the cement block and the above roof flue. The remainder of the flue will be covered with brick. I am also working on the french arch above the wood storage area.

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

From this point I stacked cement block around the flue and extended the flue another three sections total. I used 8" square flue which from some of the other threads about smoke swirling in a circle going up a flue a round flue may have been better. Although the square flue allowed me to make that funnel very nicely and I have absolutly no problems with drafts and soot coming out of the front of the oven. Here are a couple of pics of the cement block and the above roof flue. The remainder of the flue will be covered with brick. I am also working on the french arch above the wood storage area.

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

I also used foamglas as a thermal break for the chimney block, there is good and bad to doing this... Good - Once oven is up to temp and coals are raked out for bread making, the thermal wicking effect of the chimney blocks is taken away.
Bad - while heating/burning wood fire to bring temps up, draft could suffer and there is also the possibility the foamglas could fail under the load of the chimney. I took that chance and so far it has been worth it! My heat loss has been minimized and the chimney drafts without a problem at all. In fact I have had many fires on all kinds of windy days, calm days and no soot on the front of the outer arch! Thanks to prior builds of Dino, Bandos, Pizza Bob and others that did a fantastic job on the venting area.
The one pic is my testing the compression load stregth of foamglas, I used brick paver stacked over six feet high and left them there for several weeks with levels on them and measuring the height gave me the confidence it will hold the chimney. Of course I could have just referred to the specs on the product, but I am a bit of a doubting Thomas myself. I Highly reccomend the funnel flue at the base with the wide opening, it has been fantastic!

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Now to catch up on the build that was interrupted by a dome cracking and pizza making! An update on the crack, it hasn't been an issue at all so far. The repair is holding up quite well and the insulation is doing its job. I do sleep better at night know I did not use any combustible materials on the build except for the fascia boards on the roof. All steel, cement board, brick, and mortar.... So even if the crack does "leak" nothing will burn.
Back to finishing the build-
With getting the crack I also got to think about supporting the vent and arches which have a considerable amount of weight on them with the chimney I built. So I used some unistrut and angle iron, combined with using foamglas for a thermal break this is what I came up with to buttress the vent/landing area...

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

It has been awhile for construction photos and updates from me. I FULLY understand how a builders time gets consumed once the oven is usable. At the current rate, I'll be done with the oven right before 2020! I will have also gained 100 lbs. and consumed more pizza, bread, ribs and calzones than I have my 59 years prior to the oven! There is no building until the weather warms in the spring of 2012, but I will catch up with almost all of the construction until now. I will leave out one item that my wife gave me for Xmas of 2010 for the oven. ok now to find those other pics under the rubble of pizza stuff! lol

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Merry christmas to all!

[SCChris]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

From about 630 on down to 250 or so the heat loss looks pretty constant. Without more granularity it looks like you're loosing 400F in 3 days of cooking. About 5.5 degrees per hour.. Well done!

Chris

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Here is a chart of my oven dome temps over a couple of weeks. All I can say is my oven is not perfect (huge crack upon curing) but it cooks fantastically! Pizza's are Great and we have been doing many meals and bread and pies and OMG I have gained 10 pounds! I hope more people post receipes and pics in the other area's. I do not have a lot of culinary imagination, but my mind can be a xerox machine and copy anything.

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

The coals would tend to flatten the curve, and I do see a bit of an increase in the slope at about 2:30 or so, but you still have 5 degrees per hour. It looks like you'll be about 100 degrees loss in about 18 hours, just off 5 degrees/hr average. The 550 mark starts to open your window to hearth breads. I'm guessing this temp will arive about 6:30pm.

Chris

Hi Chris,
I usually open it up and get the ash out and mop the floor a bit and I am usually ready for bread around 4:00 - 5pm

My hearth is usually around 520 and the dome 540 or so when I bake.

We'll see what happens.
Have to get back to flashing the chimney and ridge.

John

[SCChris]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

The coals would tend to flatten the curve, and I do see a bit of an increase in the slope at about 2:30 or so, but you still have 5 degrees per hour. It looks like you'll be about 100 degrees loss in about 18 hours, just off 5 degrees/hr average. The 550 mark starts to open your window to hearth breads. I'm guessing this temp will arive about 6:30pm.

Chris

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

5 degrees / hour after 9pm.. Great work..

Chris

I am wondering if the coals were still smoldering and giving heat. Here is the latest data which I would have thought the slope would be decling not increasing. btw I haven't opened the door yet. Present temp is 628 degrees F at 11:16 am

[SCChris]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

5 degrees / hour after 9pm.. Great work..

Chris

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Ok I have been off this site and internet for awhile due to hurricanes and snow storms! No power! But we did enjoy some great food during that time with our wfo! It was the only thing that kept my wife sane durin that time! The food list was long so I won't bore you with that, but the best was home made apple pie!
Now as to oven performance, without power I finally finished hard wiring the thermocouples to the control box. This allowed me to use my handy dandy wireless remote transmitter to my laptop. Of course I had to hook up a battery back up to the unit during out week long power outage. Here is a chart from yesterday's firing. I started recording after it was up to pizza temp and we were done cooking pizzas. At 9:30 pm I raked the coals over the floor and closed the door for the night. Outside air temp was also recorded to show the differential. I am VERY pleased with this oven's performance! Thanks to Pizza Bob. Dino, and all the other excellant builds on this site for the information and help with my build. I'll keep the recording going until temps get down to 200F. Today will be some bread and dinner. 8:00 am temp is 650 degrees F

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

First mini-pizza party! Had 10 people over for pizza and other than running out of toppings, things went great! The dough was almost perfect for our taste, light, crisp crust and a little chewy inside. My wife made a fantastic sauce and the oven performed beautifully even with the repaired crack! We are going to try some steaks next, anyone have some pointers with doing steaks in the oven on a tuscan grill? How far into the oven to have the grill, how close to have the coals to the bottom of the grill. How hot to get the oven? etc.
Thanks to all that helped make my first pizza party a success. Let me start with hmmmm oh yeah it is everyone on this forum!
THANKS
John
ps I would have posted more pics but the wife had a bit of wine and the rest of the pics came out like the last one posted here...LOL

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Back to construction - I finally got the roof sheathing on and some paper on that to make it close to water proof. Or at least I feel comfortable enough not to have to struggle with the trap on and off during our unusual fall monsoon weather. Now to get facia boards and soffits on then the slate can go on! Today however, since rain is in the forecast I will be polishing the granite and travertine counters. I can almost see some light at the end of the tunnel! Cooking pizzas now is making the job go a lot smoother!