40" WFO in the New Orleans

[banhxeo76]

After one year of stalking this forum and amazed by what people built in their very own backyard, it is time to build my very own Wood Fire Oven (WFO). I just want to thank all of people who had so many great ideas and suggestions that were posted on this forum. Ever since I had a prefect slice of pizza (photo below) from Di Fara Brooklyn, NY, I have been dreaming of a eating that pizza again. Hopefully within a few months, I will be sharing some WFO's pizza with some friends and family.

Here goes nothing.

[banhxeo76]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

I have a very small backyard and I decided to increase the size of the existing concrete patio to accommodate the necessary space for the WFO. My house has an old concrete patio which has three pilings underneath it to prevent the slab from cracking and sinking over time. You have to understand that the most of the homes built here in New Orleans used to be swamp land; therefore the land is very soft. To increase the existing concrete patio, I had to add additional pilings before I could pour any concrete. The pilings are pounded into the ground until they contact the sand bed. Knowing that the WFO is going to be super heavy, I had to make sure that concrete slab can handle the load of the WFO. I don't want my WFO to lean like the Leaning Tower of Pisa a few years from now. Right of the bat, it costs a lot just to get the slab done but it give me a peace of mind. 10 sq. yard of concrete and 7 pilings.

[Neil2]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Yes, a good foundation is the first important thing. Looking forward to your build. Post photos.

[buckeyebreadman]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

that's nearly $1000 just for the base!?........ouch!
I used to live in NO and don't remember prices so high, but that was several decades ago.\

[banhxeo76]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Buckeyebreadman: Well, it is not only for the base of the WFO, I am also increasing the size of my concrete patio as well. The base of the WFO is going to be on the corner of the concrete patio.

I wish I had a house to start this project 5 years ago. Material and Supplies seemed to increase a lot in the last couple of years. All of the suppliers around New Orleans is selling firebrick for at least 2 bucks a pop. However, I am only in my mid thirty and I pray that I will get to use the WFO for a long time. Hopefully.

[Lburou]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Great start!

Did you find water during your digging? I know the water table is just below the surface in New Orleans. The extra care for the foundation is warranted, good planning on your part.

[banhxeo76]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Initially, I was going for A. Scott & D. Wings' design for WFO which is vault barrel design. I read The Bread Builder cover to cover at least 3 times and had a solid plan in my head. However, I ran into this forum and the rest is history. However, the book from D. Wing is a very good reference for WFO and bread making. I am still going to incorporate a lot of ideas from Wing/Scott into the Pompeii design. I truly convinced that a good WFO need to have more mass on the bottom to bake multi load of artisan breads (I love bread more than pizza) and the ability to retain heat for a long period of time is a big plus for me. However, I love the look of a Pompeii design and this design allow to have more space if I need to cook pizza or roast anything for that matter. I do agree that the insulation should on the top of the slab rather than the bottom because heat should be retain and stop at the firebrick.

3 1/2" concrete hearth slab
2" ceramic insulation board
5" firebrick for cooking surface/hearth (by double stack on 2.5" firebrick)
4 1/2" firebrick for wall and dome
3-4" of insulation blanket on the wall and dome.


I know that 5" thickness of firebrick is a lot for pizza but I want to cook a lot of breads from a one fire. Like I mention early, I am combining ideas from this forum and from Alan Scott.

[Lburou]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Everyone seems to sift through all the same issues as we build an oven. I built my base for a barrel oven too

I worried about the mass of the floor and the mass of the dome a lot and ended up building as close to the plans as possible (well, I did a couple extra things with floor insulation and thermal breaks). I can bake a lot of bread and so will you, whether you increase the mass of the floor or not.

A spec pompeii oven can easily bake two 10 pound loads of bread on one heat charge. Do you eat that much bread? A spec oven can cook for three of four days with one firing, just plan to cook with high heat initially, and low heat on the fourth day.

[banhxeo76]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Great start!

Did you find water during your digging? I know the water table is just below the surface in New Orleans. The extra care for the foundation is warranted, good planning on your part.

I didn't dig that deep to see the water because the beam part of my slab is only 16" deep and the rest of the slab is 5" deep. Yes, the water table, which varies from 3 to 4 feet is indeed near below the surface of the land in New Orleans. That is why most of New Orleanians have flat boats in their yard.

The guy who put the pilings for me had to drill about 5' into the ground first then he pounded 25' piling into the hole. As you can see the attached photo, the drilled hole was full of wet mud.

[banhxeo76]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

More concrete pouring for the WFO's counter top.

[banhxeo76]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

I brought myself a Harbor Freight 10? wet saw over Christmas. As you can see, HF changed the color on the wet saw from orange to blue. However, everything else seemed to be pretty much the same.

I built a table stand for the wet saw using pressure treated wood. HF?s table stand for the wet saw was available but I didn?t like HF?s design because I have to move the wet saw with the table over a slope grass which would be hard with HF?s table stand. So, I decided to design my own table stand for the wet saw. I incorporated a HF?s hand truck into the table which allows me to move the table stand with the wet saw around easily. The wet saw is bolted and secure on the table. I use a scrapped 2.5" L angle iron to lock the hand truck to the table stand. If you need to use the hand truck for something else, you can just remove the angle iron. I am so glad that I did this because of my minor back problem and the idea of carry the wet saw every time I need to use it for this project is not good. This is my contribution to make life easier for whoever is planning to build a WFO with HF?s 10? wet saw.

[Gulf]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Good Idea to get the saw back and forth to the site. I was fortunate enough to be able to set mine up under a nearby shed/one day to be a shop (no covenants in the sticks where I live) The 30$ blade that I got from HF has cut a cr_p load of brick. Keep that tray cleaned out and save all the contents. You may want to use that source of fire clay.
I am following your build closely since you are near my area and in my favorite city. There is no place like "New Awlins".
I am glad that I did not have the foundation issues that you have faced. Also, I will was planning to hold off to the very end for the "reveal" to name my oven. (There is a thread on this site which covers this subject, http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f30/...-if-17069.html which was started by Brickie). Since you are the real deal, I will wait atleast until you have keystoned your dome. By that time you will definately have an idea.

Also on a personal note: I feel your pain. From one member of the who dat nation to another IT SUCKS

[banhxeo76]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

There are only three type of fire brick from three manufacters that is being sold here in New Orleans Area. First, there is low duty firebrick from Elgin Butler (Texas) which is about $1.65 per brick. DON'T USE THE FIREBRICK FROM ELGIN BUTLER BECAUSE IT IS VERY SOFT AND THE CLAY IN TEXAS IS NOT IDEAL FOR FIREBRICK FOR WFO. Then there is another low duty firebrick from Whitaker Geer (Ohio) being price at $2.35 per brick. This particular firebrick has alumina content around 27% which prefect for bread baking. Finally, there is a meduim duty brick produce by Alsey Refractory (Missouri) and it has alumina at 37.5% which is prefect for pizza or flatbread. Firebrick with higher aluminum tends be more conductive, therefore, transfers heat to bread or pizza at a faster rate. However, bread usually has more mass and it takes a lot longer to cook than pizza. Higher alumina firebrick usually cause the bottom of the bread to burn before the bread is completely done. Firebrick with alumina between the range of 25% and 30% would be perfect for bread and it is also would work for pizza as well but meduim duty should give pizza a better result. You may use medium duty brick to bake bread as well but the result won't be as good as a low duty firebrick.

Therefore, I will be using low duty firebrick from Whitaker Geer for my cooking surface and medium duty for my dome/vent area. I like bread just a little bit more than pizza. As for the dome, arches, and vent area, I am going with medium duty because it is stronger and supposed to handle better as well.

[banhxeo76]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Gulf,

Giants' victory over the Packers just put more salt into the wound since we "could of, should of, would of" host the NFC Championship game in the Dome. Now that the Saints is out of the playoff, I have more time for this WFO. Anyway, don't forget about 2009 season!! However, it would be nice to get another.

Who Dat?

[Gulf]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

If you have a pu truck and can drive a few miles, call Columbia Block and Brick in Hattiesburg and/or Columbia, MS. They have a wire cut (medium duty) brick that I was able to get for $1.45 each. They were talked down from $1.65 each since I new that I would need at least 300. Some of them are a little curved but was able to sort out plenty that were straight for where it counts. They are good enough for the dome since most dome bricks are halves and less. My floor bricks were $1.87 each from Boral Brick.

This may be a little to far for you to drive to make up the difference for the gas costs, but at least price some outlying areas such as maybe Slidell. Bricks are cheaper in the Hattiesburg, MS area where I am from. I believe that there may be a better deal out there for you in some of the outlying areas from New Orleans.
Geauxe Saints!