I'm getting closer to my Dome!

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Read the book American Pie, it's a great book and has many different pizza recipes.

Mike

I actually just happened to purchase it two nights ago and am awaiting arrival!
Good to get this recommendation!
Thanks
John

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Happy Dance is in Order! First big fire and no more cracks! Yahoo! Many thanks to all of those who not only took the time to read my posts, but also guide me in the correct direction. Without this site I know this would not have gotten completed successfully! THANKS! After my last curing fires I placed a load of logs into the oven while it was still around 200 F They dried out nicely and provided a relativly smoke free HOT fire Quickly! The oven got to Pizza temp in 90 minutes. Floor was 900 F dome was 610 F The oven wasn't totally heat soaked yet but with the coals and Pizza cooking it wound up totally soaked within 3 hours. Now onto Pizza!
ps I did put in some unistrut around the arch and chimney area for arch buttressing. There is foamglas between the unistrut and angle Iron helping to support the chimney. I wanted to take some of the load off the arches/vent bricks.

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Here is the first Pizza attempt! Made the dough the night before and I am hoping for the best! I have the national food critiques present (our neighbors) so the pressure was on!
Here are the neighbors doing their own Pizza's! And a new up coming Pizzaiolo is placing the pie in the hot oven!
Volia! First Pizza! Traditional Magrertia cheese,tomato sauce, basil. I was totally surprised with the results! It isn't the best pizza ever made but it was my best pie!
Dough was a little tough to strecth, but other than that the night was a huge success! Thanks to all that made this possible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pizza_bob]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Congratulations John! The oven and pizza look great! How did that first pizza taste?!?!?

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Congratulations John! The oven and pizza look great! How did that first pizza taste?!?!?

It tasted great! But price per slice is very high! Cost of oven divided by 6 pizzas which gave 36 slices! Hmmmmmmmmmmm! lol
The oven insulation so far has been fantastic! The next day temps were 585 F and this morning I am still at 370 F We did bread and chicken yesterday, pics to follow. Today some pork chops and pears! Neighbor is coming over to put in some cookies for our dessert! I can understand why people take a long time to finish the outside of the oven.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

The oven insulation so far has been fantastic! The next day temps were 585 F and this morning I am still at 370 F

John, these numbers are pure testamony of the value of proper insulation. Congrats on a great job! You'll be enjoying this oven (and so will Annie and Nikki) for some time to come!
John

[PizzaIdiot]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

John,
If you figure in the thousands to pizzas over the next ten years, you'll have saved thousands of dollars.
So you can laugh at all the money you are saving by eating the best pizzas with family and friends.
Jeff

[Evets]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Good work John! I'm glad your crack repair worked for you.

[Lburou]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

....snip....The oven insulation so far has been fantastic! The next day temps were 585 F and this morning I am still at 370 F .....snip......

WoW! That, I believe, is akin to getting 50 miles per gallon with a Mack Truck!

Are you measuring the temp on the floor or the dome?

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

WoW! That, I believe, is akin to getting 50 miles per gallon with a Mack Truck!

Are you measuring the temp on the floor or the dome?

I have several thermocouples that read very close to each other after the oven is closed and temps settle throughout. Dome and hearth temps are usually within 10-15 degrees of each other. I have a load of blanket insulation and added an inch to an inch and a have of extra mass in the dome and vent transition. I used a homebrew skim coat then added firebrick slices from all the dome cuts, embedding them in the skim coat. On top of this cladding another coat of home brew for the extra mass.
I felt that pizzas would do well with the heat reflecting off the dome, while the heat still soaked in the extra mass. The hearth I left at one firebrick thick for two reasons, 1) quick heat up for pizza and reheat for next pies being cooked. 2) for bread baking I didn't want burnt bottoms-heat would be diminished quicker on the bottom with less mass than the rest of the oven. I also thought that the dome would capture more of the heat from the wood as it is always being hit with flames!

I am obviously very pleased with the results so far!

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

After the pizza party I dug into the refrigerator the next day and got out the containers of bread dough I made the Wed. before the Friday pizza. Shaped them, let them rise and put them into the oven which was around 540 F by that time. Here are some pics, I was tickled pink with the results, I did not add steam to this bake as I wanted a bench mark to compare steam results. I have made these breads many time in the home oven. These browned and bake totally evenly and the oven spring was the best I have ever had. They tasted great! Can you tell I love this oven already! I was prepared for a much steeper learning curve (more burnt/ruined dough) but this hopefully isn't beginners luck!
Again Thanks to all that have helped me with all your indepth posts and pics!
John
Olive rosemary bread and Italian bread pics

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

I used a homebrew skim coat then added firebrick slices from all the dome cuts, embedding them in the skim coat

John - Great idea! I knew I was saving all those firebrick chips for a reason! What was the average size of the pieces/slices of firebrick you used? The residual heat curve you have achieved is highly enviable.

Great-looking pizza bread, too. I had no idea you could get a crust like that.
John

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

John - Great idea! I knew I was saving all those firebrick chips for a reason! What was the average size of the pieces/slices of firebrick you used? The residual heat curve you have achieved is highly enviable.

Great-looking pizza bread, too. I had no idea you could get a crust like that.
John

Firebrick slices were 1/4" to 5/8" or so , just rough estimates. Many were wedges that I used fat side down and the thinner side towards the top of the dome. It kinda of flattened out the dome silhouette to more cylindrical shape. The out side temps here were 60-65 F for highs and lows in the lower 40's - 43 F last night. The oven dome is still at 195 as of a half hour ago. I will do some graphs on the heat dissipation as soon as I get some time to do so.
The bread crust and crumb were excellent!
Thanks
John

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Ok I need a little help again! lol I have been working on the chimney and had several good fires and a pizza bake. Now I am having creosote/carbon fall from my flue onto my entry way hearth bricks. What's up wit dat? Did I build it wrong? How does anyone keep the carbon off or how do you clean it up without using copious amounts of water?
Thanks in Advance

[ggoose]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Creosote is produced from condensing gases in the smoke of a cool fire, or a hot fire but the smoke cools before exiting the chimney. It then sticks to everything. One way of reducing it might be to have an outer arch door that allows a draft to feed the fire as well as holds the smoke at higher temps, allowing the gases to remain hot as they go up the chimney. Even then, you will still get build up, and will need to occasionally brush the smoke stack. Just cover the hearth bricks before you sweep the chimney.

gene