Amazingly, I was able to meet the overly ambitious self-imposed deadline. Today is my wife's fiftieth birthday and we were able to have pizza for a small gathering of family and friends. The oven is far from complete, as the enclosure is only a minimal frame and barely supported roof to keep the rain off, but it is cooking!

I cured it in about 6 days, first using charcoal which is quite easy to control temps with, then adding wood to get it to higher temps. I only have one layer of insulation on so far but it was able to maintain temps very well. Cooked about 10 pies and although my dough handling skills require development, the crowd really liked the pizza and are anxious to do it again.
It really was fun and made the effort of construction well worth it.
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