42" build in McPherson KS

[slschoming]

I burned a little charcoal yesterday evening... I did this after eating supper and didn't even have anything around to cook, I was mostly trying to squeeze the curing fire in before a rain... Then my wife had to run my boys to soccer practice and left my 2-year-old daughter with me so I got mildly distracted and when I was finally able to check the temp, the top of the dome (inside) was 340 F... that's a little higher than I was planning to go but I thoroughly inspected and found no cracks... The inside of my tarp was very wet, but I left it on because it was supposed to rain last night.. In hindsight, I probably should've at least flipped the tarp to let that moisture out??

[slschoming]

As I continue to cure my oven, should I be letting it come all the way down below 100 between firings? It has not been cooling nearly as quickly as I expected. I am on day 4 of slowly increasing the temperatures, but It is usually still around 150 or higher from the previous day's fire when I start the next... It feels like I am driving out moisture, when I have a tarp over the insulation the inside is still getting wet.

I cooked a pot roast yesterday, low and slow (at around 250 F), then when I pulled that out I threw in some wood and made a small fire to ramp up the temps a little bit. During the fire I was getting readings in the 500s at the top, but the walls were still down in the 300 range. Once the flames were out the readings were closer to the 400 degree range at the top. I am still not quite sure how to accurately say what temperature I am actually cooking at when there is so much variance throughout the dome. I'm sure I will understand the nuances better with more firings.

[mintee]

It has not been cooling nearly as quickly as I expected.

I'd call that success, one of the main points of me building this is to create a 3 day cooking schedule based off one initial firing.

Friday Evening - Pizza
Saturday Morning - Breads
Saturday Evening - Roasted Things
Sunday - Slow Cooked Stews, Sauces, etc. (Oh man, Sunday Gravy and meatballs sounds AMAZING)

I was getting readings in the 500s at the top, but the walls were still down in the 300 range.

Equilibrium requires time, you haven't hit the upper threshold yet, so the tops of the fire is heating the top of the oven, and the craving for equilibrium has been dragging the heat down to the sides, thus leveling out after the fire if extinguished to that base level of 400. Once you start hitting the upper temps the fire will create (800-1200F) you'll start seeing a quicker rounding out of temperatures.

Pot roast looks great! This is so exciting!

[Chach]

Good Job looking good...its a fun item to use and your one of the few that has one of these bad boys....enjoy!

[slschoming]

Got all the way up to temp and cleared the dome, no moisture on the inside of my tarp. Does that mean the oven is cured enough to do an outer layer around my insulation?

Photo 1: cookies are so much better out of a pizza oven
Photo 2: the dome starting to clear
Photo 3: first pizza
Photo 4: more pizza
Photo 5: hairline crack on the arch, going up to flue

[UtahBeehiver]

Nice to see the dome clear. FYI, if you want to brown the top of the pizza more without cooking the bottoms more, do what we call doming, slide the turning peel under the pizza and raise it up towards the top of the dome where it is really hot, it will be like an oven broiler and carmelize all the top in quick fashion.

[slschoming]

I am in the market for an oven door. I do not have a welder, are there any good no-weld door designs out there that are still light weight?

[UtahBeehiver]

Here's a link on doors

https://community.fornobravo.com/for...ur-door-thread

[slschoming]

Here's a link on doors

https://community.fornobravo.com/for...ur-door-thread

Thanks Russell, I will check this out.

[slschoming]

Gulf My next oven work day (whenever that is) I plan to apply a layer of something around my insulation. I have the chicken wire in place and will do a brick veneer around the outside, so this next layer does not need to be pretty. I am going tor waterproof and strong. Is standard stucco the way to go? What was your final layer before the brick veneer?

Also, I have my 3 inches of insulation and it doesn't go all the way down to the hearth, so I will need to fill in the space with something. Should I do standard concrete? See attached photo of what I am talking about, do I just need to pour a ring of concrete around my foamglas and cf board? I have plenty of vermiculite left and was wondering if I ought to do vcrete there instead? If so, what is an appropriate ratio?

[UtahBeehiver]

You should be able to stucco all the to the hearth and over the foamglas assuming your final stucco layer(s) thickness will be 3/4" or so, scratch, brown, finish.

[Gulf]

Imo, you can fill in the undercut with vcrete to get it out flush with the wire. Since it will not be acting as an insulation but, as a filler, mix it as strong as you like. 5 to 1 is my recommendation. It wont hurt if you get it a little stronger than that. Outside of that layer, as Russell said, the stucco layer needs to continue on down to the hearth. Before applying the stucco layer, you may want to apply an acrylic bonding agent to hearth where the stucco meets the hearth.

[slschoming]

Thanks UtahBeehiver and Gulf .

[cobblerdave]

G’day

Disposable Oven Doors.

Yep like the infamous disposable baking tray it’s posible to have a disposable oven door.
1.You need a small 6mm sheet of ply
2.a roll of aluminium cooking foil
3. 2 x bricks
Cut the ply to fit the revel of your oven.
Wrap in 3 layers of aluminium foil. ( no more you’ll need the extra when the first bit gets tacky)
Fit the door to the oven after the fires out. Use the bricks to keep in place.
Try it... you’ll be able to put you hand on the outside of the “door” no worries.
Ugly... you bet.
Works... amazing but it does.

regards Dave

[david s]

Italians used to use some left over bread dough to seal around the door when baking a batch of bread.