36" Pompeii low-dome in Livermore, CA

[Larry P]

...and before someone asks about a vent, it's on the back:

[Larry P]

...and a pizza. This is our riff on the Bianco Rosa. Bianco's has red onions, rosemary, Parmigiano-Reggiano, evoo, and pistachios. We add mozzarella, and this time, beet greens, just because my wife was washing them at the time I topped the pizza. I wouldn't do the beet greens again. They turned bitter in the heat.

[UtahBeehiver]

All the hard work pays off, now the good eatins start. Like the pistachios, we use pine nuts so this is a different spin.

[JRPizza]

Larry, I just noticed you are using a pizza pan, do you cook all your pies that way?
PS, nice job on the stucco.

[Larry P]

Larry, I just noticed you are using a pizza pan, do you cook all your pies that way?
PS, nice job on the stucco.

No - never use a pizza pan, unless I'm doing a Sicilian/Detroit style pizza. You're probably seeing the plate on which I set the pie, after pulling it out of the oven.

[Larry P]

All the hard work pays off, now the good eatins start. Like the pistachios, we use pine nuts so this is a different spin.

I like pine nuts too, but I'm leery of them after a friend came down with "pine mouth" which lasted for months. So now I avoid them unless they're from a source I really trust (which is pretty much nobody).

The idea for pistachios comes from Chris Bianco, one of his signature pies http://www.pizzeriabianco.com/

I should add we put on the pistachios near the end of cooking; otherwise they'd be little balls of charcoal.

[JRPizza]

No - never use a pizza pan, unless I'm doing a Sicilian/Detroit style pizza. You're probably seeing the plate on which I set the pie, after pulling it out of the oven.

I think it was an optical illusion
Pine mouth is a new one to me - I had to google it. Makes me feel lucky all the pine nuts I have eaten in the past and never had a problem.

[Larry P]

Makes me feel lucky all the pine nuts I have eaten in the past and never had a problem.

You and me both. For a while I had heard it was coming from Chinese pine nuts which are sold at Trader Joe's, and as long as you stick with Italian pine nuts you're ok, but now I think there's no evidence of that.

[JRPizza]

We were getting the big packs at Costco, but I'm not sure where they were coming from. My wife started using pistachio's too - they are great fired with some garlic and hot peppers.

[Larry P]

We've switched to cashews for pesto which are great. Walnuts are common too.

[Larry P]

It's raining today so I'm off to Import Tile in Berkeley to start looking at tile. The only thing on my mind is, do I do another coat on the dome before starting to tile it? The shape could be smoother, but I'm not sure it matters once it's under tile.

[Saluki]

Larry,

What did you use to attach the chimney anchor plate to the brick?

I have that same plate and am curious if the firebrick itself will support it or if I should place some anchors into the brick along with a mortar bead to join the brick with the plate.

Thanks.

[Larry P]

Larry,

What did you use to attach the chimney anchor plate to the brick?

I have that same plate and am curious if the firebrick itself will support it or if I should place some anchors into the brick along with a mortar bead to join the brick with the plate.

Thanks.

I used 4 sleeve anchors specific for bricks, like these: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Red-Head-...0113/100190001 (be careful with the torque - it doesn't take much).

...and set it in this mortar: http://www.homedepot.com/p/DAP-10-1-...8854/205030320

Even so, the plate was still able to flex a little. If I was doing it over again, I might try to wedge it between some bricks like others have done. When I rendered the dome using Surface Bonding Cement (fiberglass reinforced) I continued to build the cement over the plate which you can see in my latest pics. It's very solid now. We had 50mph winds last week and the 3' stack wasn't moving at all.

[JRPizza]

If you want to overkill it you can thru bolt like I did . I cut slots in the threaded end of the bolts so I could hold them while I torqued the nuts if they tried to spin, or to remove the plate at some future time if needed. I'm sure inserts are adequate and have been used by several builders, but I didn't want to risk splitting a brick with an expanding fastener, and I tend to overbuild sometimes. In hindsight removing the adapter isn't going to happen as it is locked in by the cap bricks, but I'm not worried about the fasteners working loose.

[ivancito]

...and a pizza. This is our riff on the Bianco Rosa. Bianco's has red onions, rosemary, Parmigiano-Reggiano, evoo, and pistachios. We add mozzarella, and this time, beet greens, just because my wife was washing them at the time I topped the pizza. I wouldn't do the beet greens again. They turned bitter in the heat.

Larry that pizza looks amazing! Cant wait to be able to cook in mine, still lots to do but your sharing on this forum encourages all of us.
thanks
Ivan.