The Dragonfly Den in Retrospect, June 2009-May 2012

[Ope-dog]

Mike, as a fellow NW resider (Hillsboro, OR) I do hope you and your family are safe! I used to own property on River Rd out in Glide. (Just past the Peel store..) I hear it's been devastated in that area. And UtahBeehiver, if your daughter still resides in Wilsonville I pray that she and her family is also safe and well. It's times like these when suddenly an oven-build isn't the most stressful thing on our minds, unfortunately.

[SableSprings]

Thanks for your concern Ope-dog. It's just me now, but the fire is upriver about 20 miles and currently headed away from the house. Other than the smoke issues, the Dragonfly Den & I are both safe. I have suspended baking for several weeks because of the smoke and stress it puts on neighbors smelling the wood burning as I fire up the oven. I'm assuming you're dealing with similar smoke issues as well. Hopefully this little cool front (with some showers) coming through Oregon the next couple of days will help the fire fighters and clear some of our air.

All three of my starters are chomping at the bit to get going again (Chef Bill-the AP original, Adelle-whole wheat, & Ryelee-rye flour)...

[UtahBeehiver]

Thanks for the concern, my daughter moved from Wilsonville to Portland proper a while back so out of fire danger but she says the air quality is awful.

[Ope-dog]

Glad to hear everyone is ok! Air quality was indeed horrible all around the PDX area... unreal. But better now for sure! Speaking of smoke, maybe either of you could help me with this question: My initial thought on the chimney for my pompeii was to use some old clay flu liner I have, insulated, and covered with brick. But I'm not sure that the size of the liner is going to play nice with the size of my vent area. So my back-up is just to make a chimney out of firebrick. But I have poured through this site for days (literally) and have not seemed to stumble across a build that has used firebrick exclusively for the chimney.

Per your design, Mike, I can totally understand going with a metal chimney liner and the complete set up as you're building through a roof and it's necessary. On your build, Russell, where it's out in the open and free of structure, did you choose your chimney style for aesthetics, structural load, or is there something I'm missing about making a chimney solely from fire brick and calling it a day?

Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated!

- Scott

[UtahBeehiver]

The base of the chimney is fire bricks the upper is a double wall SS Selkirt vent which is covered with a copper decorative sleeve. The oven was has been in operation since 2012. There are a couple joints on the oven I need to tuck and point some loose mortar but otherwise it has held up to our harsh winters. The glass embed polished concrete hearth on the other hand has suffered from the winters here an is going to need some work. There was a recent post of a bricklayer who deals with cracked clay fireplace liners that are in brick that you may want to read.

[SableSprings]

Scott, I stacked and nested clay flue liners for my chimney...no metal chimney pipe. The smoke collection chamber (above the landing) is built of firebrick but I used all common brick for the outer chimney facade. After it exits the roof, I just put a screened chimney cap on the outer flue liner. If I would've seen the flue "explosion" video when I was building, I would have opted for an interior metal pipe and used a brick facade up to the cap...but, I've been using the oven pretty regularly since the fall of 2009 and no problems so far. If I do have a flue failure in the future, I will replace the liner with stainless steel pipe and "finish" with brick strips (weight reduction) up to the cap.

One place I screwed up was the inner liner dimensions. I bought 10" flue liners for the inner section and assumed that was inner dimension. ..wrong! I intended a larger area than what I got, but for my 39" oven the reduced flue size has not been a major issue.

[Ope-dog]

Thank you for the feedback, gents...

Mike, I understand what you're saying and nice to get some insight to the clay flue route. My apologies, for some reason I thought you used metal.. I guess I got confused.
I have a few pieces that were given to me, however I'm not so sure that the size of the liners is going to work out for my build at this stage. So I'm trying to figure out options and advantages / disadvantages for the different chimney types. I'm glad I asked.. good to hear your perspective for sure!

... and yes, that flue exploding video gives me lots of pause as well!! :-)

[mongota]

Mike, I just read through these pages.
First, congrats on the build. Not just the oven, but the Den as well. A space like that can really expand the use of the oven.
We do need to expand our use of the oven in baking bread. We probably still bake 80% of our loaves in the kitchen oven.

[SableSprings]

Thanks Mongo! At the time we set the perimeter of the concrete pad for the den, I thought it was huge. By the time the oven was enclosed and we brought in a table for six (and a propane grill...and a bread cooling rack), I wished we could have made it larger. As soon as I got into the swing of baking in the WFO...the kitchen oven just wasn't as attractive to me anymore. My wife was really excited about baking in the WFO during our summer since we didn't have AC at the time. In the winter, I've started tacking up a couple cheap tarps over the screens and without wind, the den and baking is much more comfortable. Be aware that once you do start using the WFO for bigger batches of bread, the push will be on to bake more loaves while the oven's hot and more friends, relatives, and neighbors will start dropping hints about what are you baking for them next week......and then you'll be kicked out of the house kitchen for making too much of a mess and have to build you own prep room...I'm not sure if it ever ends...but I love it!

p.s. Cookies & biscotti in the WFO are fabulous...something in the total, moist heat provided in the oven chamber that does make a difference...you just have to be watching very carefully so things don't over-caramelize

[mongota]

p.s. Cookies & biscotti in the WFO are fabulous...something in the total, moist heat provided in the oven chamber that does make a difference...you just have to be watching very carefully so things don't over-caramelize

I'm firing the WFO up today for a late afternoon cook. Hmm....I do make a mean biscotti. Just might have to try a batch after the oven cools down from the first cooking session!

[SableSprings]

Be aware that you can cook the biscotti at a higher temp than the "inside oven" recipe calls for. You need to simply be aware of the slight browning for the first bake as the indicator of its being done rather than watching the clock. After the cool-down, slicing, & turn, same thing for the second bake...you're learning to bake by your experience, not by the written word.. The last bake is the same...color and feel.

I think you'll be pleased with the results by using the oven. The other thing is that I can't fit a full sheet pan in my kitchen oven, but it's not a problem in the WFO...and if you're doing biscotti, you might as well do a double or triple batch...