40" WFO in the New Orleans

[Gulf]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Tu,
I have been saving my left over "lump" charcoal too. I have even made a couple of batches on purpose. Those were made from cut offs of hardwood lumber. You may remember my source . Cooking with the leftover lump on the grill is great. There are also some other uses for it that you might want to try.

Put it in a charcoal chimney and use a small propane torch to start an almost smokeless fire for your oven.

Using that same technique, you can also add just a few more degrees for cooking in an oven that is on the decline.

You can place it in a snake fashion around the perimeter of your "cold" oven and cook a great meal. I think Kbartman used this method with charcoal briquettes. But, it works the same way.

I starve my oven for oxygen (with the door) the same way as you described. But, the next morning, I still have a lot of live coals. Lately, I have been removing the coals from the oven and putting them in an old smoker,

that is fairly well air tight (with the vents closed). Later, when the coals are cool, I give it a few shakes and the smaller ash falls to the bottom. What is left, I reuse.

[banhxeo76]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

G'day
Have you tried a Tuscan grill?
Promise you its worth the experiment
Regards dave

The main reason why I create the grill is because of the excess amount of WFO charcoal that I throw away in the last two years. Every time I heat up the oven for a big bake, I usually don?t let the wood to be completely burn to ash. When the oven is heated enough, I just stop the oxygen flow with the door to stop the fire. Then I removed the black charcoal from WFO into can to throw away later. It just hit me one day that why can?t I used this charcoal to grill some meat while waiting for my WFO temp to drop down for bread. As of late, I have great interest in Japanese style grilling such as yakitori which required a lot of constant basting over the grill. Japanese traditional used binchotan charcoal for their grill but binchotan is very expensive. This allows me to burn all the stuff down to ash which will be use later as fertilizer.

[banhxeo76]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

I love it! Nice work as per usual. I reckon some alfoil just laid around the sides over the wood while cooking will prevent any burns and also make it easier to clean up afterwards.

I didn't think of using the alfoil around the sides. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Gulf]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Or how about this
File:Flag of Edward England.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Well David,
The "Jolly Roger" would certainly fit. New Orleans has a rich history of pirates, I mean privateers .

[david s]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Great Sketch-Up plans.

When I look at the shape of your finished oven, and the stone that you you chose, I am reminded of a "medievial castle". I was just thinking that a couple of banners flown form each of those out side piers wouls set it off perfectly.
I think that this banner would work .

Or how about this
File:Flag of Edward England.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Hey Tu,

Glad to see you back, missed your expertise and cooking skills. Welcome back to the fold.

[cobblerdave]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

I finally built a door for the wood storage section of WFO. Instead of just building a door, I also built a rack with wheels to attach to the door. On a rack, I placed a Japanese grill which is also made out of firebrick with no mortar/adhesive. Both side of the grill, I attached some vents onto firebrick to gauge the air flow in order to control the heat. The idea of using a Tuscan grill inside WFO sound pretty cool but it is hard to monitor and cook the food that is being cooked on the opposite end. I placed some insulated firebricks between the wood and regular firebrick to protect the wood. I know that it may still catch fire from the top but I like to live on the edge.

G'day
Have you tried a Tuscan grill? They are a great piece of "kit". Mines just a basic BBQ grill with 4 bolts for legs. Burn a fire , not a pizza grade one either for an hour. It's not about clearing the oven its about building a good coal bed. Arrange your coals at just inside the door 20 mins and the grills hot. Steaks cooks fast and tender because of the heat cast back from you dome. As for tools and reaching in, yes I have a long set of tongs and a BBQ spatular but you lose more arm hairs cooking pizza. Best thing its like using a hooded BBQ without having to lift the hood to see how things are cooking. Family favorites are boned whole chicken and boned leg of lamb, and my only stuff up to date was to fit the grill in the oven with the bars running parallel with the entrance , everything stuck and the resulting chicken didn't look that whole . But you could certainly eat it that's a good result.
Promise you its worth the experiment
Regards dave

[jab49]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

I love it! Nice work as per usual. I reckon some alfoil just laid around the sides over the wood while cooking will prevent any burns and also make it easier to clean up afterwards.

[Gulf]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Very cool addition to the oven . And, that is some great looking "tucker" (Ya'll, I am slowly becoming multi-lingual, thanks to this site)

Tu, It is really good, to see you back on the forum. I am looking forward to some more of your recipes, in the oven, and on the grill.

Geaux Saints

[banhxeo76]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

I finally built a door for the wood storage section of WFO. Instead of just building a door, I also built a rack with wheels to attach to the door. On a rack, I placed a Japanese grill which is also made out of firebrick with no mortar/adhesive. Both side of the grill, I attached some vents onto firebrick to gauge the air flow in order to control the heat. The idea of using a Tuscan grill inside WFO sound pretty cool but it is hard to monitor and cook the food that is being cooked on the opposite end. I placed some insulated firebricks between the wood and regular firebrick to protect the wood. I know that it may still catch fire from the top but I like to live on the edge.

[irelande5]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

nice build!

[BobbyD]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Just wanted to drop in and say hell to my fellow New Orleans folks! Happy cooking!

[Gulf]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Great Sketch-Up plans.

When I look at the shape of your finished oven, and the stone that you you chose, I am reminded of a "medievial castle". I was just thinking that a couple of banners flown form each of those out side piers wouls set it off perfectly.
I think that this banner would work .

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Tu,

You guys are too good with Sketch-up or what ever graphics program you used. My computer is a steno pad and a pencil. Looks like a fine pergola..............

[banhxeo76]

Re: 40" WFO in the New Orleans

Thats really nice, will you use the massive beams like Cheesesteak?

I would love to use a "massive beam" similar to cheesesteak but I can't afford that! Cheesesteak budget is on another level compare to mine.