36" Pompeii low-dome in Livermore, CA

[Larry P]

This is what it's looking like now, 29.5" radius, hemispherical outer dome:

[Larry P]

Indeed I will. I was just reviewing Les' and Russell's builds. Still not sure if I want to from the perlcrete dome with rebar & mesh or use a form. I'm leaning towards the former, but still deciding.

[JRPizza]

Please post lots of pics, especially when you start to cover your insulation.

[Larry P]

It was supposed to rain here today but it came overnight. Now I think we're in the clear for a while. I plan to take down the canopy on Saturday morning, mount the chimney plate, and maybe mount the chimney. Burn and do yard work Saturday and Sunday, and then start insulating and shaping the igloo with perlcrete Monday and Tuesday.

[JRPizza]

I"m envious! Our rain is back so I am working on finishing my shelter, roof and door. Might be nice enough for some fire this weekend.

[Larry P]

So I've been burning every day since last Saturday, starting around 300ºF and creeping up the temp every day. How soon before I can go to pizza temps? Do I just keep creeping up until I'm there? I'm hoping to do pizza this Sunday, unless someone tells me it's a bad idea.

[david s]

Today is my 5th day burning, getting progressively hotter each day, although I've been overshooting temperature by a little just about every day. Last night I got about 6 good hours and got the oven pretty hot, in the 550ºF range on the top of the dome, the soldiers around 350ºF and the floor not getting much over 200ºF except very near the coals. Today it seemed like I just couldn't get the oven hot, then boom all of a sudden the dome is at 700ºF, walls at 500ºF, and the floor pushing 350-400. n.

This is often the point at which cracks begin to appear because the temperature difference (and therefore uneven expansion) between the top of the oven and the bottom is so great. Because the chamber is getting pretty dry the fire then gallops away.The use of brickettes here avoids a sudden increase of damaging flames, providing a safer more gentle heat.

[UtahBeehiver]

If someone says their oven has "no" cracks anywhere then they rank right up there with politicians and used car salemen........LOL it is the nature of the beast!

[Larry P]

It takes a while to get water out of the floor insulation if wet. Each firing get better and better. You should be able to do some cooking with you curing fires now. Be patient and stay the curing course, now is not the time to hurry the process.

Hurrying isn't the issue for me, so much as controlling the fire. I'm either too hot or too cold.This is what happened last night - thought I had the fire going well, but the dome was not getting up to the target temp. I threw another log on and next thing I know... hot! Anyway I'm sure the bricks are fine. I have one barely perceptible hairline crack, which I guess is to be expected.

[UtahBeehiver]

It takes a while to get water out of the floor insulation if wet. Each firing get better and better. You should be able to do some cooking with you curing fires now. Be patient and stay the curing course, now is not the time to hurry the process.

[Larry P]

Today is my 5th day burning, getting progressively hotter each day, although I've been overshooting temperature by a little just about every day. Last night I got about 6 good hours and got the oven pretty hot, in the 550ºF range on the top of the dome, the soldiers around 350ºF and the floor not getting much over 200ºF except very near the coals. Today it seemed like I just couldn't get the oven hot, then boom all of a sudden the dome is at 700ºF, walls at 500ºF, and the floor pushing 350-400. Did I overdo it? I don't know, she seems to be holding, No water is streaming out the bottom. The dome just started to clear. I think I'll stop adding fuel for tonight and seal it up once the fire dies down.

[Larry P]

We got 1.25" of rain over the weekend; it made for a pretty miserable weekend overall. I burned anyway with a canopy over the oven. It's all stained from smoke now. It looks like I'm in the clear for a while, 20% chance of rain on Thursday and this weekend sunny and 80s. Curiously, I disassembled my door yesterday after leaving it on the oven overnight, and found a lot of condensation inside. You can see rust around my entry arch from it leeching out I guess. I might need to add a temporary vent to the door.

I want to take one night off the burning this week to install my chimney plate, caulk the inside of the heat break between the entry arch and the oven, and maybe back the backside of the heat break with perlcrete. This weekend I'm hoping to do pizza. Depending on how that goes, probably start insulating next Sunday or Monday.

[RandyJ]

I would say that you would want to keep going with the fires. And maby not do as much of a jump as you would have in temperature. It will speed up the process and you won't lose ground if it rains or something from the humidity.

Randy

[Larry P]

Yesterday was my 2nd fire, and at times I put on a little too much fuel. Early on I was having trouble getting it over 300ºF, then added too much fuel and Hit over 400 on the hottest part of the dome, but luckily no cracks formed. I tried to roast some root vegetables, but the oven wasn't really hot enough for it. I was able to keep the oven hot for about 10 hours.

Now it's Monday and back to work, so all-day burns are out. Should I continue curing, firing the oven a few hours each night, or wait until next weekend?

[Larry P]

Just a little side trip, I was chatting with the chef at Rosso's in Santa Rosa last weekend, and the first thing he asked about my oven was, could I fit a sheet pan through the door? It turns out that was the 2nd time a chef had asked me this, the first one a friend in Portland who got to me before I started: