40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

[Tonyp]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

Thanks for the comments John! I am looking forward to roasting, baking, slow cooking etc!

The metal I ordered for the insulated door should be here by the end of the week so I can start fabricating. I also found a really neat product that will allow me to basically solder the stainless steel, but has a melting temperature of 1150 degrees f. So it will take the oven heat without coming 'undone'.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

I am officially in love with my oven

I know what you mean. Over time I think you will get even a deeper respect for its cooking properties. I know I'm convinced that generations hundreds of years ago probably ate better food than we do today. Not nearly as convenient as gas, but the properties of brick oven cooking are fast becoming very popular here in higher-end Southern California restaurants.

BTW- did you know they sell tandoori mitts to cook naan with?

Great job with your oven, Tony.

John

[Tonyp]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

oooooh I am officially in love with my oven. Fired it up today with more lump charcoal and a few twigs of wood after letting it cool down to around 150. The wife said lets make Indian for dinner and use up some of that jarred sauce someone gave us (usually I make it from scratch). So how could I say no? Ran out and got more charcoal..

Mixed up a batch of Naan dough and after some fresh ginger and garlic as well as some other spices, the jar sauce was pretty acceptable.

Oven was around 550. Hotter than my gas oven but not as hot as I would like to go for Naan. Solid first attempt though. Would love to toss it onto the wall of the oven right over the coals! Holy smokes though is it hot in there and that oven wall is looking like a mighty far reach! Pretty sure my knuckles have some mild first degree burns now..Think I need one of them tools they use for the Tandoor to attempt sticking it on the side, so for now it's toss onto the hearth and flip em.

[Tonyp]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

Ok, gotcha, I just saw flames and shims and thought they were brick shims and thought you had read something somewhere about something important I may have missed. My IT I built has a simpson hanger L Bracket and its just under 1/8" so I used that as a very small expansion joint around the floor. If I were to ever do another one of these, I think I would build the dome on the floor to speed things up. I have a 14" demo saw that would cut around the dome in a couple minutes...... live and learn on my end.

I can certainly see where people are finding romance in building these ovens, had I built it 25 years ago I would probably be enjoying the project immensely, I'm really jealous of the stage you're at, that part seems like it's fun!

Ahh I built mine with the dome outside the floor also. Talk about crazy number of cuts and odd shaped pieces to fit a herring bone pattern of rectangular bricks into a round hole!

I put in a strip of cardboard between the floor bricks and the dome to leave a small gap. The theory is the cardboard will eventually just burn up and the gap will then fill with ash.

Very exciting for sure! I was just having some leftovers for dinner last night and I looked at the toaster oven, then at the WFO and thought to myself.. well why not! Tossed them into a small pan and onto the floor of the WFO which was around 450 degrees. They were sizzling in no time.

[Tonyp]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

Opened up the oven and have the small heater blowing into the oven on fan only. Think I will give it 5-6 hours and maybe refire along the same lines as last time with the charcoal and occasional small bits of twig. On a side note, I have noticed the flue drafts better when there is at least some flame going. Otherwise the pipe actually cools down from the air flow and draft is a little sluggish with just the coals burning.

[huskerduck]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

Thanks Dave! Will do on the patience.. gosh it's hard. Will put some Al foil on the makeshift door.





Oh the little bits of cardboard. I put those in to keep the floor bricks nice and tight for now. I have a 1/16-1/8" gap between the oven floor bricks and the entry bricks which I figured I would just let fill with ash. My floor is thicker than the landing so the rigid insulation below the landing bricks is pressing up against the floor bricks but I was just being my usual overly cautious self and making sure the floor bricks didn't shift while that gap is still open.

Ok, gotcha, I just saw flames and shims and thought they were brick shims and thought you had read something somewhere about something important I may have missed. My IT I built has a simpson hanger L Bracket and its just under 1/8" so I used that as a very small expansion joint around the floor. If I were to ever do another one of these, I think I would build the dome on the floor to speed things up. I have a 14" demo saw that would cut around the dome in a couple minutes...... live and learn on my end.

I can certainly see where people are finding romance in building these ovens, had I built it 25 years ago I would probably be enjoying the project immensely, I'm really jealous of the stage you're at, that part seems like it's fun!

[Tonyp]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

Thanks Dave! Will do on the patience.. gosh it's hard. Will put some Al foil on the makeshift door.

I'm pretty excited for you!!! Looks great too, can't wait to hear how it works!

One quick question, are you leaving those shims between the dome and floor or what's going on there?

Oh the little bits of cardboard. I put those in to keep the floor bricks nice and tight for now. I have a 1/16-1/8" gap between the oven floor bricks and the entry bricks which I figured I would just let fill with ash. My floor is thicker than the landing so the rigid insulation below the landing bricks is pressing up against the floor bricks but I was just being my usual overly cautious self and making sure the floor bricks didn't shift while that gap is still open.

[huskerduck]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

I'm pretty excited for you!!! Looks great too, can't wait to hear how it works!

One quick question, are you leaving those shims between the dome and floor or what's going on there?

[cobblerdave]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

G'day Tony
I hear the excitement in your voice... Don't pull that trigger yet . There is still moisture deep in that oven. Let it cool between firings and that deep water will have the time to migrate to the dryer surface.
If you wrap that temporary door up with aluminum foil it will give you a crude but effective protection against the heat.
Nice work by the way
Regards dave

[Tonyp]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

7 hours later the outside of the 1" ceramic blanket is low 90 degrees. Outside surface of the bricks are around 210-220 towards the top of the dome, and inside the oven it is around 210-250 depending where you point the IR thermometer gun. The makeshift door using the arch form has a few gaps and it's only 3" thick plywood without insulation. Not feeling any further moisture in the ceramic blanket so maybe most of the water has been driven off since the outer brick surface appears to be over 212?

[Tonyp]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

Decided to close up the oven with the old arch form now that most of the embers have burned down. Curious to see what temperature the oven stabilizes at. The inside bricks around the dome were reading low 300's. I lifted the blanket in one spot where it was moist earlier and the outside surface of the brick was reading 220 and I couldn't feel any condensation between the blanket and the brick.

[Tonyp]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

Update time! Started curing the oven so.. yay!

Photo showing the spot on the dome where the two remote bulb dial thermometers are connected.

Photo of the first curing fire using some lump charcoal. Didn't have an IR thermometer so not sure how hot it got but I don't think it was terribly warm.. I could touch the vent pipe and the outside of the brick got warm but not uncomfortably so. Did not have any insulation on the dome for this first fire which I kept going for about 5 hours.

Photo of the 2nd firing. Used about 15lbs of lump charcoal and was tossing in a few very small twigs of wood here and there. There is one layer of ceramic blanket over the dome. I let the fire burn for about an hour and would move the coals around to a new location. Later on I split it in half and had the coals going on both sides. The IR thermometer was reading around 500 on the brick dome about halfway up with the top of the dome around 450. 6 hours later I let the coals burn down. The outside of the oven, below the blanket, is reading a little over 200. I can feel moisture on the outside of the blanket so clearly driving out some water! Think I will pick up another bag of charcoal and do a similar burn next time as well.

Last photo just to show the corner of the kitchen where this whole project is taking place..Finishing the whole exterior is going to be a project and a half yet!

Also ordered some more tools. Small metal long handled peel and an ember/ash rake thingy.

Also ordered some stainless sheet metal to build an insulated door. I also came to the conclusion when I am firing the oven I NEED a SCREEN to prevent embers from shooting out of the oven and setting the kitchen wood floor on fire! Soooo I ordered some stainless mesh to build one of those that will fit inside the outer arch...

[Tonyp]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

Yet another update! Got the vent pipe hooked up although it's just temporary until the elbow I ordered that is the same brand as the other pieces arrives. Tied the entry to the dome with 2 stainless braces. Put some thin strips of the ceramic wool blanket in the crevice between the dome and entry and cut some of the insulation board leftovers to fit. These were caulked in with the Firestop 3000deg caulking.

I should be all good to go with starting to cure the oven. I have run the 1500watt space heater for a number of days and the outside of the dome felt warm. I put some plastic wrap over it and didn't see any moisture condensation. I will most likely get some of the ceramic blanket on the dome before I start firing things up. I have a big bag of lump charcoal to start with.

[Tonyp]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

Slowly but surely...

Made some studs to hold the metal stove pipe plate down. Used 1/4" stainless screws. Ground off the screw head and notched around one end so the mortar would hold them in well. Drilled 1/2" holes about 1" deep and mortared them in.

Finished building the front arch. It is 25" across and 14" high. Have the stove adapter installed. Drilled 5/8" holes through the steel so there is a little room for it to expand and contract without stressing the studs. Took a small piece of the ceramic blanket and peeled off about 1/2" thick section and compressed that down to about 3/8" to use under the plate. I was torn between just using high temp caulking or a rigid insulation but decided the blanket would give a better seal over time. Can always change it later if that isn't the case. Some photos of the entry and flue from different angles. Still have to connect the stove pipe, put on the couple braces between the stove and entry way and insulate and caulk between the dome and entry backside. I did start up the electric heater though to slowly warm the bricks and help drive out some moisture, particularly in the outer arch and entry now that all the mortar has set.

The photo looking directly up at the flue, the front of the oven is at the top of the photo.

There will be a vertical piece of marble that will fit over the outer arch, hiding the rest of the bricks and oven..

[Tonyp]

Re: 40" Indoor Pompeii in NNY

Still putzing along here..

Ordered some vent pipe pieces so figured I would work on the plate for the pipe connection. Got the 3/8" steel cut and ground smooth on the edges. Have to locate the hole center and drill the hole. Then weld on the ring. Figure I will put a few studs into the brick and make some oversized holes in the plate to give it a little flexibility to expand/contract. With some 1/2" ceramic insulation under the plate and the weight of the metal, I should only have to lightly snug the nuts down to make a decent seal all around.

Picked up a damper today to install into the vent pipe.. Also ordered a couple pieces of SS. I am going to tie each side of the entry to the dome with 1/8 x 1/2" SS bar to make sure it is good and stable. I also plan on running a strap from one side of the entry across to the other side to add some support against the two sides spreading apart. The tubes of sealant came in so can get the space between the backside of the entry and dome insulated and sealed. So much to yet, besides the outside arch!