Building The Dixie Darling

[Gulf]

No, I think now that it was a waste of time. It came in handy for the lower temp drying with the charcoal brickettes. I was able to regulate the temp a little during that stage. but, that is not enough reason to install one. It was originally intended for regulating the oven and entry as a smoker. I have since given up on that. I now believe that restricting smoke from exiting is the wrong way to go for smoking meat. Actually, I think that the oven does too many other things very well to tie it up as a smoker.

[WarEagle90]

That makes a lot of sense, Joe. Thanks for the feedback.

[WarEagle90]

Only managed to work on the oven for a few hours on Sunday but I did complete the inner vent arch. Built it with a 1/2" thermal break between it and the dome arch. I will stuff some ceramic rope in the gap around the dome and backfill with high temp caulk. Not sure what I am going to put in the break at the floor level. Several of you have used stainless tubing and that is certainly an option. I've also thought of just stuffing some scraps of the dome insulation and cover it with the ceramic rope and then seal it with high temp caulk but leave 1/4" to 3/8" at the top and just let it fill with ash. Any other suggestions welcomed. Removed the arch form this afternoon and re-positioned it for the outer arch. Should be able to get some work on it in the afternoons this week. Thanks for following along.

[Gulf]

It's looking great! Dan.

I kept it pretty simple on the floor heat break. I used the flat insulation tape. I then let the small gap fill up with ash.

[ubcpsyc]

I read through this whole build waiting to get to the chimney install and it looks like you are where I am! (except yours looks better )

[WarEagle90]

Thanks, ubc. Work on the oven has slowed to a snails pace the last few weeks. Between graduation, college orientation, work and rain, I've been lucky to get an hour or two here and there to make a little progress. Finished the vent arches over the weekend and started the vent stack itself. Even laying the brick is slow. Cut and lay six brick, clean mortar board and tools and wait 30 minutes. Rinse and repeat. I am at a point now that I must decide how I am going to transition from the arches to a vertical chimney and how big the vent opening will be. I've got 11 inches of depth so I'm thinking of making it simple and end up with a 11 x 11 opening or do I need to stay closer to the 50 square inches that is recommended? I've removed the outer vent arch form since the photos below were taken. Thanks for following along.

[UtahBeehiver]

Coming along nicely. Patience is a virtue at this point, seen some builders get to impatient at this stage of the build only to regret it later.

Your boy going to be an Auburn Tiger?

[WarEagle90]

Thanks Russell. I hear you on the patience. I got in a hurry when I was closing the dome and did some sloppy work on the last couple of courses. I’ll try not to make that mistake again.

Yep, he is officially an Auburn Tiger. Very proud of him. He’’s not following in my engineering footsteps, though. He plans to go to vet school.

[UtahBeehiver]

I guess that means at least 4 more years of tailgating at Auburn. I had an opportunity to witness this a few years ago and you folks do love your football.......

[WarEagle90]

We do love Saturdays in the fall, Russell. Great photo. I've been tailgaiting at Aubrun since I was old enough to walk and I guess I'll continue till I die. G started when he was 3 and fell in love with the campus and has never wavered on his desire to attend Auburn, so I guess now his dreams are coming true.

[WarEagle90]

Here are some photos with the outer arch form removed. If it hasn't been obvious before, you should certainly see the resemblance to Gulf's build now. I liked his vent the first time I looked at it and have more or less replicated it with a few minor deviations. I hope you don't mind Gulf . Unfortunately, my brick work won't be as artistic as his from this point on up.

[UtahBeehiver]

I am pretty sure that Joe will take it as a compliment that you copied his arch style. Looking very nice. I am sure with you humidity right now that your work hours are reduced.

[Gulf]

It's looking real good Dan. I am glad that someone is willing to give it a try. I'm guessing that you are going to stay with an all masonry chimney. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished smoke chamber. If you mean that you are going with an !!" id flue to keep things simple, I think that is a little large. I ended up with closer to 64" for the ID of my square chimney liner. It has served me very well. I know that it has been said that you can't over flue an oven but, I think differently. 121" square inches is definately over flued imo. It would take a lot of height to make it draw effectively and would also take a considerable amount of preheating. . If it were me I would stay with an 8" id. flue even for your larger oven. I definately would not go over over 9". That wouild be 81 square inches.

To keep things simple you can use the same angle that you are using on the sides to step in from the 11" to the finished ID for the depth. That will make all the bevel cuts the same. Leave the back vertical and step in from the front until you get to where you want to be. It wont take but two or three courses. From there, you will be straight up front and back and stepping in only on the sides.





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[WarEagle90]

Thanks, Joe. As I have stated previously, your oven has been my inspiration. I have read most every build thread posted here and have learned something on each and every one (some what to do's and some what not to do's), so everyone has contributed to my build in some manner and I could not have gotten this far without all the great knowledge here. But I keep coming back to yours and its the twin vent arches and masonry chimney that makes the entire oven look so graceful.

I am building an all masonry chimney. Thanks for pointing out that 11 x 11 is too big. I think what I will do is step in to the 11 x 11 then go vertical for 2 or 3 courses and then step in to the 8 x 8. Do you see any issues with that thought process? Is there a good rule of thumb on high I need to go above the 8 x 8?

[Gulf]

I should have went back for a refresher on my own build before commenting. The depth of my opening is 11" as yours is. I'm not sure what you ended up with, but my opening width at that point is 26" I started stepping in for the width immediately from that point. I did not start stepping in for the depth until just before the damper. I then stepped in the rest of the way to 8" after clearing the damper. So, if you don't include that unnecessary thing, you could end up with a much better shaped smoke chamber than I did. I'm withdrawing my suggestion about stepping in for the depth near the bottom. Do that at the top of the smoke chamber where the width is narrower and subsequently much stronger. If you wait until the witdth is the same as the depth, you can step them both in and arrive at the finished id at the same time.

I only have about 32" of 8"X8" above where I finished stepping in from the damper. Had it not been for the damper, I would have a course or two over 36" of 8"X8" at the finsihed height that I am above my roof line. i don't have a rool of thumb for the height. From reading a lot of smoke problems folks were having with the ovens, I was worried that I did not have enough height. I'm sure that you saw the 8" ss nipple that I installed at the top. It was for a length of ss single wall that I had on standby, if needed. Five years later and it is still gathering dust in my shop.

EDIT: The only rule of thumb (that I can think of that I don't think came out in my build thread) is on the slope for stepping in. That is, don't exceed 22 1/2 degrees.