Building The Dixie Darling

[WarEagle90]

Thanks Joe. You are 100% correct about the heat. It is very easy to get dehydrated this time of year. Most people don't come close to drinking enough fluids when working in 90+ degree heat. We had an employee that had to be hospitalized this past Friday due to dehydration and heat exhaustion. Fortunately yesterday I had my 16 year old son helping me. He did all the mixing. You know it's a tough job when a high school football player is worn out!!! Still have two slabs to go. They will be somewhat easier because I won't be on my knees and they will be about half the concrete.

[Gulf]

Congratulations on that step Dan. Be careful this time of year. My next door neighbor passed away Sunday due to heat stroke. He was 72 years old but, was used to working outside all his life. Monday, I rigged up a water mister on a fan to blow on me while I'm working on an outdoor fireplace. It helps a bunch.

[WarEagle90]

Foundation slab is poured. Not my greatest work but it will definitely serve its intended purpose. I am glad that is done. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

[WarEagle90]

Joe, my plan right now is to build a masonry chimney. I'm still toying with ideas so I don't have a set design yet. I'm not sure just yet what all I will cook in it but I'm confident if it needs heat to cook, I'll give it a try in the WFO. I am concerned about the reach though, so I will build a mockup before I start mortaring brick to make sure I can deal with the added distance.

Russell, I love that grill. Talking about craftsmanship!! WOW!! I assume the resemblance to a steam engine is intentional. I am a train nut too. No worries about the photos.

If it doesn't rain tonight or in the morning, my son and I will get the foundation slab poured tomorrow.

[UtahBeehiver]

Dan,

I contacted the FB admin people and right now they in not a way to reorder the pics but they are going to have a software update in Sept. and this ability "may" be part of the update. Can't tell ya why they post differently than you selection though.

[UtahBeehiver]

Shish, I didn't even notice the second BGE. Then you will appreciate this. My coworker built this smoker from scratch, We were both in the pipeline industry and all the materials are steel pipe or fittings or plate.He by far is a much better welder than I, I was just an engineering nerd, but handy.

[Gulf]

Dan,

“The Dixie Darling” I really like that name. The Dixie Darlings are a drill team from my Alma matter, the University of Southern Mississippi. Thanks for the kudos of my build’s entry. However, it may not be what works best for your oven. When, I built mine, I knew that my oven would be for mostly breads, roasts etc. I also knew that I would be building an all masonry flue/chimney on top of it. I wanted something to carry the weight of the flue around the entry arch. If you are planning to go with an insulated metal flue, that is unnecessary. You can have a wide reveal with a conventional arch. You can also shorten the entry up considerably to accommodate a 12” flange for an eight inch flue. Just completing the arch, both front and back will yield a very strong entry without going to the extreme that I did.

I’m looking forward to your progress.

[WarEagle90]

Not much progress today. I got a lot done, just no real progress. I had hoped to get the foundation slab poured to day, but the few tasks I had left to do before I could start placing concrete took much longer than I had anticipated. Spent way too much time at Lowes getting concrete. Our store is notorious for allowing customers to use the covered construction material loading area for parking while they shop. This morning I had to wait on a guy who parked in front of the quikcrete while he went in to look around and eventually buy a wheel barrow. I did get all the steel placed and tied. My son and I also managed to get our concrete mixer put together. That was a real challenge. I have never seen instructions so poorly written. But it is together and actually runs. I hope to pour the slab on Tuesday.

Russell & Larry, I do love my two BGEs. There's not much I haven't cooked on them. They are excellent for cooking large hunks of meat for a long time. They will be incorporated into a kitchen that will be to the left of the WFO.

[Larry P]

Larry that is some outdoor living project. Based on courses of block, he is doing almost exactly what I am planning. The only real difference is I am pouring an intermediate slab so I can better utilize the space under the oven. Thanks for sharing.

After reading what you plan to do, and looking again at that build, I think your plan makes a lot of sense. He has to have a lot of unusable space in that stand.

[Larry P]

Count me as another member with BGE and WFO. I smoked some Copper River Sockeye yesterday, and was debating trying to use the oven. If it was in its cooling phase and around 200ºF I might have tried it, but decided to use the trusty BGE instead. I will, however, never use the BGE for pizza again. It's not nearly the pizza oven it's cracked up to be.

[UtahBeehiver]

No rest for the wicked. When you decide to start you go whole hog. Looks like good old "hard pan" soil. I see you have a BGE, unfortunately, the WFOs, for the most part cannot smoke meats like a BGE but do well with roasting. So keep the egg close by. Not sure on the pics why the order gets skeewompus. Will check into it.

[WarEagle90]

Is there a way to order the pictures when uploading them? I selected them in the proper order, but they are displaying differently. I've noticed this in other posts also.

[WarEagle90]

I’ve got a bone to pick!!

Who’s the genius that decided it was a good idea to dig a foundation in Alabama rock posing as clay when its 98 degrees and humid? Somebody ought to give that guy a medal or something. Oh …… I guess I’m that “genius”! Man was it hot today. But we accomplished what we set out to do. We got the foundation excavated, stone placed and forms constructed. Have I mentioned that the soil around my house thinks its rock? You know it’s going to be a long day when you swing a pick as hard as you can and it barely scratches the surface. Thank goodness for John Deere. I hope to place and tie steel in the morning and then pour the concrete.

Larry that is some outdoor living project. Based on courses of block, he is doing almost exactly what I am planning. The only real difference is I am pouring an intermediate slab so I can better utilize the space under the oven. Thanks for sharing.

JR & Russell, I have a 10” wet saw and low duty bricks so cutting the curves shouldn’t be a big deal. But I’ve got plenty of time to make that decision. Still have two and a half slabs to pour and almost 200 block to lay.

I’m going to get some sleep now. I’m tired.

[UtahBeehiver]

JR'S idea may be a good alternative. I was going by my experience since I had super duty bricks any unnecessary cuts were slow and time consuming. If you bricks are medium or low duty then wet saw cuts are substantially quicker.

[JRPizza]

Dan, my oven is an igloo, and I built on top of my floor, but wanted you to know that cutting the outside curves on the floor bricks are about an easy of a cut as you are going to make, other than cutting bricks in half (assuming you have a 10" or so wet saw). I followed the IT design that let me attach a marker to the end of the arm, and used it to sketch the outside diameter of the dome for cutting. If you decide to go with a igloo, a 1/4 inch or more mismatch isn't going to matter as you will be insulating and rendering over it all anyway. I was able to get two floor pieces from a single brick in many cases, so there was minimal waste. If you go this route, you can start your oven and make the igloo vs enclosure decision at a later date.