36" pompeii in WI in the winter

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

Wow, end of one chapter, beginning of another. Fine job, great move, so if you can cook as good as everything you have done so far you are going to have a lot of friends.

[AaronTheGeek]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

Thanks Laurentius, Karangi Dude and Russell!

so if you can cook as good as everything you have done so far you are going to have a lot of friends.

I already have a lot of friends, but I'll have to learn to cook well with a wfo before I invite any over so I don't lose any

I actually found an advantage to curing in subzero weather! You can see moisture in air that is not really hot enough to be steam coming from different parts of the oven, and the steam you can see much better. The temp has been around 400f for the last 12 hrs or so, and I can no longer see any moisture coming out. So, pretty soon I'm going to start shoveling in charcoal and cranking up the temp to around 1000. Hopefully we'll have some pizzas this evening!

~Aaron

[Les]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

Aaron,

Is it just the picture or are those tree limbs that close to the flue? I'd be a little concerned about an external fire.

[AaronTheGeek]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

Aaron,

Is it just the picture or are those tree limbs that close to the flue? I'd be a little concerned about an external fire.

It looks closer in the pic than it is. I might take out the closest one.

We're at 825f right now and there's pizza dough proofing.

~Aaron

[Les]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

We're at 825f right now and there's pizza dough proofing.

Awesome - enjoy!

[AaronTheGeek]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

We had pizza last night! It actually tasted like WF pizza too.

I want to thank everyone who has helped me with this build. I'll have to say this is the best forum I've ever seen. Everyone is friendly and helpful, and it's rare to see anyone get upset.

~Aaron

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

Congrats, now another type of fun starts.

[AaronTheGeek]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

Congrats, now another type of fun starts.

Indeed! A roast yesterday and sourdough bread today. So much fun.

I am pleased to report that the oven is performing beautifully. The flue draws well, and the porthole door works like a charm.(thanks Chip)

~Aaron

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

Aaron,

I found a lid just like Chips so I am following suit. Are you using the port hole door for the lower baking and roasting temps, ie 400 degrees? Just curious on how high a temps the pyrex lids are good for.

[AaronTheGeek]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

Aaron,

I found a lid just like Chips so I am following suit. Are you using the port hole door for the lower baking and roasting temps, ie 400 degrees? Just curious on how high a temps the pyrex lids are good for.

I used it just after pizza the other day with temps around 750f and it was fine. I will try it at higher temps when I get a chance.

~Aaron

[AaronTheGeek]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

I just thought I'd share something that I did to keep my oven intact while moving it. Since the dome isn't fastened to anything to keep it from sliding, I began to worry about it when moving time came around. It probably wouldn't slide anywhere as it weighs around 1600#, but I just wanted something to give me some peace of mind. So I drilled a 1/2" hole up through the support slab and CalSil near the center of the oven floor, and removed the brick above it. I then slid a 1/2" threaded rod through the hole and clamped down a couple of 2x6 lumber pieces on top of the oven floor. This served to hold the oven floor and dome in place while it was being moved. It might have been totally unnecessary, but like I said, it just gave me some peace of mind. So take it for what it's worth.

I'm also including a pic of some ciabatta I baked last night. Not bad for my second try at WFO baking, right?

~Aaron

[AaronTheGeek]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

Hello all,

It's been a while since I've posted here. I've been enjoying my oven a lot. Everyone loves my pizza and ciabatta. After baking bread for a while I've come across and issue I would like some advice on.

When baking bread in my oven I have consistently had to battle an overly hot floor. It is always too hot relative to the dome temp requiring me to do a lot of mopping to cool it. I've tried different amounts of heat loading to no avail. I think one of the reasons for this problem is that I have 3" of CalSil insulation underneath which is more than the usual 2". (It's great for pizza) I have been thinking of somehow adding a 1/2" of mass to the top of the floor to better balance the floor to dome mass ratio for baking. What is the recommended way of doing that? Is there some sort of tiles I could cut to fit?

Thanks,
~Aaron

[Laurentius]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

Hi Aaron,

I think your solution is exactly what you do not want to do. Additional mass means that the floor with sustain heat even longer. The best solution is to wait until the floor cools. If you're cooling by opening the door, leave it open for an additional 15 to 30 minutes, to see what happens. Try to be methodical in finding solution to problems.

[mrchipster]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

Hello all,

It's been a while since I've posted here. I've been enjoying my oven a lot. Everyone loves my pizza and ciabatta. After baking bread for a while I've come across and issue I would like some advice on.

When baking bread in my oven I have consistently had to battle an overly hot floor. It is always too hot relative to the dome temp requiring me to do a lot of mopping to cool it. I've tried different amounts of heat loading to no avail. I think one of the reasons for this problem is that I have 3" of CalSil insulation underneath which is more than the usual 2". (It's great for pizza) I have been thinking of somehow adding a 1/2" of mass to the top of the floor to better balance the floor to dome mass ratio for baking. What is the recommended way of doing that? Is there some sort of tiles I could cut to fit?

Thanks,
~Aaron

When you fire your oven how much time goes by between raking out the fire and bread baking?

And do you have a good insulated door?

I typicaly rake out my oven and do not bake bread until the next or second day after a full saturation of my oven.

Chip

[david s]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

Aaron,
Don't do anything drastic to your oven. Perhaps the floor is better insulated than the dome as you suggest, but there are other solutions. Maybe your dome still contains some moisture and is bringing its temperature down faster than the floor, in which case the remedy is to do nothing but keep using it. When cooking bread I'm a bit lazy and rarely saturate my oven with heat, then wait until it cools to bread baking temperature. I simply give the oven one hour of flame, pull out most of the coals, throw in the bread and seal up the door. Because my oven is small I usually only cook two or three loaves at a time. Yes, my floor is usually hotter so I place the loaves on trays and this is enough to prevent burnt bases. Using this regime I can put on a batch of dough at the same time as lighting the fire and be ready to bake in one hour.