Sarah's Progress Photos

[sarah h]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Hi Acoma,

Glad to hear it worked out well. Bet that mixture you put in the cavity enhanced the flavour quite nicely!

[Acoma]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Sarah, thanksgiving in U.S. went great. Your brine recipe was perfect. I fill the cavaty with pieces of tangerine, apple and pear, seasoning, broth, brown sugar and syrup. I then smoked the turkey until 165 degrees. It was perfect.
Acoma.

[sarah h]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

First, just want to say I hope all of you in the US are enjoying a Happy Thanksgiving, maybe even with dinner from your wood oven!

Just a regular work day for us here in Canada and in my part of it, winter hit with a vengeance - only thing cooking in my oven is a heater. I'm pretty sure the moisture is gone but until I can give it one more blast tomorrow or Saturday, I want to make sure it doesn't freeze.

Pics below of my poor oven - she'll get a nice winter coat this weekend. I have rescued the canopy twice from snow load - amazing it's still standing! I've used it for three years from spring to fall - it could fall down tomorrow and would still be the best $20 I ever spent!

Yard cleanup may have to wait till spring.

[sarah h]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Frances, I'm not sure what the final finish will be yet - we'd love to retain the round effect of the dome but feel it could be extra work and perhaps a bit less structurally sound and weatherproof than building a 'house' around it.
For winter though, I plan to get a blanket on it and we'll build what is at least a temporary structure out of metal studs and some sort of roofing material that can handle snow-load, then tarp around the sides when not in use.
That winter protection can't come too soon though - woke up this morning to 8 centimetres (around 3 ") of snow!

[Frances]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

This may be a bit previous, but I don't think you've mentioned yet how you plan to finish your oven?

Can't help on the cracks I'm afraid, since the materials I used are so different. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you though...

[Gentcpa]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

The white dome shot is a very cool picture. You can almost imagine a cooking demon jumping out...

[sarah h]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

PS - can't resist throwing in a white dome shot!

[sarah h]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

For Rick - some pics of the cracks on the front of my dome - the first one, of a cold oven, shows the width - see the quarter stuck in it (BTW, the dome has not turned green, it's just a reflection). The second one was taken when the oven was hot - hard to tell but its a bit more than two-quarters wide and I can see firelight through it - definitely in need of patching, but the oven is still standing ... and cooking. I really don't know if I should be worried (the crack carries up about three or four rows but is only open at the point where I stuck the quarter) - guess it's a wait & see thing.

Another thing - tonight when the oven got hot, the chimney pipe cracked at the back, right from top to bottom ! It was pretty scary to see and hear - it made a loud noise - and we kept expecting it to fall apart but it held together. I was going to take a pic but was busy cooking. Them, when I went out an hour or so later, it had closed right up again. I don't know if this means it needs to be replaced or if I should just leave it alone unless it falls down?!

I couldn't let that heat go to waste tonight so we threw together a hasty meal and cooked it in the oven. The last pic is of the pans as it cooked but to see what it was, you'll have to go to the "What I Cooked Last Night" thread (even though it was today) .

[christo]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Sarah - just wonderful. Very happy for you.

Rye, corned beef and sourkraut pizza for me please!!!!

[Kemo]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

I have had a Pear-Gorgonzola cheese salad before...and I must say it was quite tasty. I think it even had Walnuts in there. I think the two compliment one another nicely. Sounds like a plan. I would think that you would want to leave out the tomato sauce and sub in some EVOO (ala Rachel Ray) instead.

[Frances]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

I think pear with blue cheese pizza sounds great, too. And the more fires I light, the less I think a pompeii oven needs any additional mass.

Here's another song for your oven Sarah: "And another dome beats the frost. And another dome beats and another dome beats, and another dome beats the frost..."

[gjbingham]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

George,

I went so far as to purchase the instructional video from the US Pizza team website on how to toss dough. Its a little rubbery piece that resembles a 14" dough disk. its actually quite fun and addictive. I sling it around the office at work. People think im an idiot though

Ha! Great idea. I figured there'd be something out there like the rubber pizza. Ill see if I can find it. People already think I'm an idiot so they won't be surprised by this. Now, where did my rubber chicken go?????

Sara, your pear pizza with blue cheese sounds pretty yummy to me. Those pears will carmelize nicely. I've seen a lot stranger combinations than yours over the years (as the Navy dragged my butt around the world). I say, anything goes. The dog will always eat it if its not fit for consumption.

[oventhusiast]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Hope you can understand the last post. I can't seem to do that 'quote thingy'.
Rick

[oventhusiast]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

My husband thinks we should coat the entire dome in castable refractory - any comments?
Yeah, It's a waste of time. Don't do it!
Rick

[Les]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

[QUOTE=sarah

pizza with blue cheese and pears on a rye crust (how much of the audience did I lose there?)

Sarah[/QUOTE]

Blue cheese and pears? That just doesn't sound right

Les...