30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

[UtahBeehiver]

Nice work.

[david s]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

I think that sounds like a great idea. I think it will end up looking very nice with the little over hang. I also think you will be very happy with the bigger size
oven. I cant wait to see your progress.

Randy

Bigger is always better when you require it, but you'd never bother to fire up a big oven just to cook two pizzas. Smaller ovens can do that and therefore get used more frequently. Fuel consumption is also relative to oven volume which climbs far more as the oven increases in size. A 20% increase in diam is greater than 70% increase in volume. While the cost of wood may be a minor consideration (I've never paid for wood and on principle don't intend to) but the labour in collecting cutting and splitting is something to consider.

[gastagg]

Thanks guys! Dave, ended up with 33" diam. Am happy with it and looking forward to cooking next week.

[RandyJ]

Hey that looks great. Good luck on the curing fires. I am sure all will go good.

Randy

[gastagg]

Thanks Randy!

[Gulf]

What Randy said, and make sure to include pics of the first foods from your oven .

[gastagg]

We're having people over for paella on the fire pit on Friday evening and i'd like to cook some bread...curing fire will be at 400, so I think I can do that, right? What would you guys recommend for a good first bread to go with a Spanish paella?

[Gulf]

I can't recommend a bread. But, if you don't have a door to retain the steam, you can use a cloche, even if there are some live coals to the side. I've used my dutch oven and Graniteware with some darn good results .

[cobblerdave]

G'day
Why don't you do a flatbread? Pizza dough is just as good as any for a plain flatbread. What works at lower temps and gives you a sweet soft flatbread is an Indian nan bread. There's various recepies out there and they can contain yoghurt and butter. Can't beat flatbread for scooping up something yummy and saucy
Regards dave

[gastagg]

Thanks for the recommendations guys! I'll let you know what I end up doing. I have a friend fabricating a stainless steel door for me. I think it's going to be a couple weeks until I get that.

[UtahBeehiver]

Until then you can use a temp door, ie stacked fire bricks, scrap wood with left over CaSi covered with foil, disposable aluminum turkey roast pan with left over insulation reshaped to fit oven, etc. to keep the heat in after the fire is done if you want to use residual heat for cooking.

[gastagg]

Started curing fires today. Used a chimney and charcoal briquettes started outside of the oven. Temp on the floor was around 160 F and the dome was around 260 F. Let it go down on its own and came back four hours later. Temp around floor was still at 100 F and the dome was around 140 F.

[gastagg]

Five days in on curing fires...600ish degrees yesterday after several long days of 350-500ish degrees. Here is a summary:

• Insulation: Am getting virtually no heat transfer through the dome. I have 3" of ceramic blanket for insulation. Stucco is hotter from the direct sun than from the firing. However, the center-bottom of the hearth slab has been getting warm directly under the fire. I can touch it and keep my hand there with no problem. It's not "hot." Just warm. 2" of CalSil. Would probably do 3" next time.
• Dome vent: Glad this was mentioned to me by forum guys, and glad I added it. Steam has been exiting the dome from this vent from day 2 on.
• Cracking. Have one hairline crack along 5 courses to inner arch. See pic. If this is the only crack I get, I'll be pleased. It's hardly noticeable and not concerned of any gases leaving through that crack.
• Cooking: Cooked some bread on day 3 (400ish degrees). Needed to have let the bread rise a bit more after pulling dough from freezer/fridge. 4 of the 6 loaves were great.
• Door: Built a temporary blast shield door with vents for intake and exhaust. Has helped control flame and keep heat in. Am waiting for the stainless insulated door to get finished, but will probably get a door made with permanent vents that will last.
• Curing fires: Used a charcoal chimney for first two days. Let day 2 get away from me for a bit and the jet flame coming out of the chimney was super hot right on the dome ceiling. Pulled it out immediately to let the coals burn down more. The crack appeared then. I probably would not use the chimney again. Couldn't seem to get enough heat from charcoal to sustain the heat. The wood fires seem to work better. I read through the whole curing fire thread under "Oven Management," and that was helpful. The initial post should be updated to reflect the more effective curing fire schedule.
• Stucco Finish: This morning I noticed short hairline cracks showing up in the finish layer of the stucco. Didn't upset me too much. I decided last week to coat the dome and the nasty caulk with this elastomeric stucco finish from Behr. It will provide several things: 1) a greater degree of water proofing and breathability, 2) color that I have been wanting to match the house trim, and 3) hide/fill in the small cracks. If I ever do this again, I will cure the dome after the insulation, but before the stucco application.

[gastagg]

First pizzas today...only at 500-600ish degrees. Goal today was 700 degrees. The thermometer went past the 600degrees and if the indicator marks would keep going, it would have been 700ish. I'm measuring about 5" off the floor. I do know that the dome started to go white. It was a good fire.

[gastagg]

More pizzas today...

I have been using premade frozen caputo dough balls from The Dough Shop, a supplier of pizza and bread dough to Twin Cities restaurants. We have made some home made dough, but we enjoy the frozen dough balls a lot more, and it is much easier . Anyone else have any luck with premade frozen dough?