Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

[aceves]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

I've started my curing fires. The fire in the dome looks awesome, and the chimney draws beautifully.

Only one crack in my entry arch, but I'm not too worried about it. I'll patch that up later. In the meantime, more fire!!!!

aceves

[aceves]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

So we're COOKING in the WFO!

I'm still in the curing stages, but I figured I'd use the heat for something, like food. I was able to get my oven up to 650F last night, and then I let it cool off a bit to try to cook in it.

I tried the beer can chicken (BCC) recipe last night. All I can say is: WOW!!!! That chicken was GOOD!!!!

Oven temp was at 550F-575F and I left the chicken in for 1 hour 15 mins, rotating every 15 mins. I did have a small fire going on the side of the oven.

I used half a beer can of pale ale, and I rubbed a dry rub on the outside of the chicken. That's it.

Nice and crispy on the outside, and SUPER moist on the inside. Full of flavor and very juicy. I am definitely going to keep making more BCC as my cooking develops! You just can't go wrong. I also roasted some veggies to go with the chicken for dinner.

I will change up the beers as I cook more BCCs. I read in the forum that some members prefer Guinness. I'll experiment with different brews.

I also made some sourdough - no knead recipe. My 1st sourdough ever! I let the yeast age for 48 hours, prepared the dough, and put 2 loaves in once the chicken was out. Temp was 500F and the loaves were done in 25 mins.

I placed the loaves in pans as I ran out of parchment paper. I'm a newbie when it comes to sourdough, so I'll get better the more bread I bake. I made rosemary bread as well, but that one didn't come out too great (you'll notice the rosemary bread in the 2nd pic). The temp had gone down and I left the bread in a little too long. No worries, I'll only get better.

I'm excited to be cooking with fire. This is fun!!!

aceves

[Lburou]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

Looking good! Those first cooking ventures in the new oven are really fun. Glad to see you enjoying the curing process!

[Mike D]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

I don't think you want to cook your bread on parchment paper either. It would go straight on the brick like a pizza. The parchment might catch fire (if you have a log going).

Mike

[aceves]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

Hi Mike D,

Thanks for the advice. I'll skip the parchment paper and go for the loaf straight on the firebrick. I'm definitely learning as I go!

aceves

[david s]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

I find it better to have the bread on a tray. often the floor is too hot and the bottom burns if directly on the bricks. placing it on a tray takes the sting out of it and also has the advantage of letting it rise without disturbing it, risking collapse.

[SableSprings]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

I finished my oven in the late fall of 2009 and recently baked loaf # 1,000. My neighbor and I bake about 25 loaves per week. We started using parchment paper early in our baking (under the "normal temp" loaves) and are extremely happy with the system. We did have one bread bake where I left an oak log burning and it left a strong disagreeable smell and taste in the bread...won't do that again. I now am convinced that leaving a fire (or even coals) in the oven is a BAD idea when baking breads (IMO).

I start the oven fire late at night before the next day's bake and put a good sized log in to bank the fire. Normally, my morning temps are about 200-250F the next morning and I can easily restart the fire from the remaining coals. I start feeding the fire on the hour from about 7 am to 11 am. I have learned that I need about four hours of temps > 600F to fully charge my oven for our planned bakes. I clean out the remaining coals & ash about noon, wire brush the hearth and then use my copper blow tube to clean ash from the cooking area. I close the oven for an hour to equalize and then we're ready to bake baguette type breads (from 550 to 590F). These are the only loaves I currently bake directly on the hearth. My 11-12 oz baguettes take about 15-20 minutes to finish.

When the hearth drops to 525F or so, I start putting in the sourdoughs and we continue to work down to the enriched breads like Challah and Finnish Pulla as the hearth gets closer to 400F. All the breads after the high-temp baguettes get a piece of parchment under them. I keep the used (and very brown) parchment for starting the next fire in the oven. I'd strongly recommend keeping hourly temp readings on your oven to determine how best to fire it for breads and other baked goods. I've included one of my temp charts if you're interested.

[aceves]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

It's been a while since I last posted. Here's an update:

My electrical is 90% done and my roof is on. We were only able to cover half the roof in cement board before darkness fell. We were also able to cover the rest of the clay flue in FB blanket.

I also kept a little blanket for my oven door - my nephew is cutting and welding me a custom SS door - and the leftover FB blanket is going in the door (2 inches thick).

I'll keep working on the enclosure as time permits. Good thing is that I am curing (and cooking in) my oven, so it is a functional WFO at this point! Bad thing is that with vacation and winter, I have little time to keep working on it!

I want to complete this thing already!

aceves

[Amac]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

Hi aceves
Just started planning a 39" dome. Yours is one of those I want to aim for although you've maybe set the bar slightly high.
I like your oven entry arch and would like to attempt something similar. Without knowing your brick sizes (maybe I missed it somewhere). I find it hard to estimate the size. What is the radius of your entry arch. I also like the idea you had to cut the half bricks 5" on one side and 4". How did that work out? And is it maybe possible to add the side bevel also in a single cut, by having slightly less than 5" on the bottom and say slightly more on the top if you know what I mean? I'm finding it hard to visualise.

My bricks are 9"x4.5"X3" or the decimal equivalent.
Thanks
Aidan

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

Aiden,
A 3"-brick will require a different configuration than a 2"-thick brick, especially if you wish to maintain a small, uniform joint size. Once you have the inner arch dimensions (including the shape if it's not a true hemisphere), you should be able to create amock up quite easily in SketchUp or something similar. I wish my bricks were 3"!

[Amac]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

Thanks aceves
I downloaded sketchup last week and struggled for a while with it but it needs more patience than I seem to posess. I tried to make a hemisphere - got as far as a sphere with difficulty but maybe I can construct with individual bricks. I'll have another crack at it. I think I will need to work on my patience with this dome anyhow.
Do you need the pro version?
Aidan

[aceves]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

Hi Aidan,

The previous poster was Gianni. He's a super-skilled builder and a great resource! Thanks for your post, Gianni!

Aidan, thank you for the compliments. But really, everything I did on my oven in terms of design and building, I learned from this forum. This is a great resource, full of information! So I compliment all the builders on here who were - and still are - always willing to answer my questions and concerns. So you should definitely ask away and they will help you with your build!

I did not use SketchUp. I did all my designs and calculations on paper, cardboard, napkins, etc... It can be done!

As for your questions: My brick size was 9x4.5x2.5 inches. It worked out for me to cut the bricks 5" on one side and 4" on the other, so with one cut I got 2 equally sized half-bricks. This worked great for the first few rows. I then started to custom cut my bricks according to the radius of the row, so I was making 3 cuts per brick to get slightly smaller half-bricks, something like 3.5" on one side and 4" on the other. The final 3 rows I was cutting my whole bricks into thirds, so I was making 4 cuts per brick.

I never cut a bevel to my bricks, and it worked out great. I only cut the angles. That was just my preference. For your questions about making a slight bevel with one cut, it can be done, but you will have to adjust according to your row, as each row will have a different bevel. I decided not to bevel, to keep my cuts to a minimum and to keep a consistent ring of bricks and mortar.

As for your question about the radius of my entry arch: the radius is 11.5" with the bottom length of the half-circle being 23". Note that this is the entry arch so it is slightly larger than the oven arch so I could keep a lip to rest my oven door on.

The height of my entry arch is 14". This means that the entire arch is 2.5" taller than normal. It is a perfect half-circle with 2.5" added to the base. If you look at the pictures it will make sense. The bricks at the bottom of the form added the 2.5" I needed to raise the arch.

I hope this helps. And please, ask away and you shall receive an answer from someone on this forum.

aceves

[Amac]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

Sorry - of course I missed that - thanks to Gianni also - and thanks aceves for that comprehensive answer. At the moment with the atrocious weather all I can do is plan and paper napkins and such like are admittedly a feature, Yes I have been reading back through many of the tales and there are many paths it seems to the goal.
I will think on it again tomorrow and some more quetions may arise.
all the best
Aidan

[Amac]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

Hi again aceves and Gianni (or John) I am just looking through your dome build again John - let's just say I'm impressed. I knew I had got that 39" idea from somewhere - only I decided to move out from 36". Also that Soapstone floor is just something else. I took the trouble to look up sources for soapstone here and apart from some artist suppliers - nothing. Google informs me it was mined (quarried?) in Co Donegal in 1896 - so I guess it is a firebrick floor for me. BTW wikipedia tells me that the native americans used to use soapstone for their pipes since it was a bad heat conductor. That sounds like the property of an insulator. Are there different kinds?
Sorry aceves for using this thread - but looking at you and Johns arches has made my mind a bit easier, Only problem I have is I am doing all my cutting with an angle grinder with a 9" diamond blade. It cuts pretty good but I doubt I'll be able to get fine cuts. So far I cut just enough for one row - maybe a little more - in half. But I will wait until I'm building before doing any further cuts. I have an idea now what I will do with the arch. It will be just over 21" at the bottom and about 12.5" at the keystone - but I will set up the arch dry with spacers in advance and mark for cutting with the IT so that I can hopefully achieve something like you guys did. Or should I wait and cut as I am building?

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Aceves's Corner 42" Pompeii Build

BTW wikipedia tells me that the native americans used to use soapstone for their pipes since it was a bad heat conductor

I looked this up, and find it very interesting. I imagine that soapstone's heat up/radiation characteristics have a different curve with a smaller, intermittent flame although it may be entirely possible that what the indians were smoking could have made them think it wasn't hot!

You can still do a first-rate job with an angle grinder, IMHO. You may not be able to control all the beveled cuts and tight joints, but many builders have made perfectly-fine ovens with bricks cut in half only.