Oven Build in Spring

[cbailey]

Joe,

You definitely know the weather I'm talking about. My hats off to you (but sweat band on) for cooking in the heat. I'll show more resiliency next summer!

JR,

I do agree in cooking outside to lower the electric bills. Down hear hose can be punishing. I have a bunch of friends in the Seattle area. They don't have A/C either, but rarely need it.

Chach,

Here, here. I'm with you on the toast. The ovens are beautiful construction. A true work of love. A lot for all of us to be proud of.

[Chach]

The oven is probably the coolest thing I have right now...Don't get me wrong I love my pool fireplace and outdoor kitchen but not many have this beast to cook in...I propose a toast to all us builders may our pizzas come outstanding, may our ovens stay hot from use and last a lifetime. Salute.

[Gulf]

Cory,

I agree with both of JR's statements. I live in the deep South with a lot of hot weather and high humidity also. I agree that late summer is not the best time to be cooking pizza and turning steaks in the entry. But, firing the oven does not require nearly as much attention. I get to slip out to the oven for a little cold beverage and fire therapy . I fire my oven year round for the retained heat cooking. Breads, chicken, roasts, hams, ribs, brisket etc. It really does take a load off of the heat pump and the eletcric bill imo.

[JRPizza]

Nice pizza shot! Living in the Pacific Northwest, we don't have air conditioning, so even though it is unpleasant standing in front of a hot oven when the temperatures are 80+, it beats the heck out of cooking in the house and heating the interior further.

[cbailey]

Finally the weather has cooled off in Houston and back to the oven. I had to take the summer off. Cooking in a 900 degree oven when its 95 degrees outside with 90% humidity is not a pleasurable time. I was concern that the oven might have absorbed some moisture over the past few months. We get a fair amount of rain, and it's always humid. Due to an over abundance of caution I started with a low fire for a few hours before cranking it up. I'm happy to announce there are still no cracks (knock on wood).

I have to give kudos to Utah Beehiver for his suggestion that less is more when putting toppings on a pizza. We had 12 over for pizza last night and several loaded their pizzas. Not only does it increase the cooking time but the toppings falling off tend to foul the floor.

I recently returned from a trip to Italy where my in-laws live. We went to their favorite pizza restaurant. I don't know if you are like me or not, but I like to watch the pros to try and improve my pizza making skills. They probably thought I was a nut watching them and asking questions in my broken Italian. Their impression of me would have been further reinforced if they saw me take a side view photo of a slice of pizza to show how thin they were able to stretch the crust.

[cbailey]

Thanks Chach! I'm now focusing on the rest of my incomplete outdoor kitchen. You've completed yours, and it is very impressive. Your oven build is not far behind. Excellent work, BTW.

Cory

[Chach]

Simply amazing. Very nice job and congratulations on your project. Looks fantastic.

[cbailey]

Thank you Russell and Randy. We're pretty excited about the parties to come. My wife reminded me that I still have to finish the rest of the outdoor kitchen.

Cory

[RandyJ]

Great job on getting to this point, and you are correct it is a major milestone to get to the point that you can make pizza. You will have many more in the future to look ahead to. Be proud you have a beautiful oven and will have many years of fond memories of using it.

[UtahBeehiver]

Congrats on the first pizza party. Actually, I find and tell my guests, when they are making their pizzas, "less is best". Sometimes they pile so high it affects the end product uncooked middle when you are cooking 90-120 sec pizzas.

[cbailey]

I was contemplating the milestones a builder of a WFO meets during the build, IMHO. First is actually starting the oven. I think the next is transitioning the arch. Then closing the dome Maybe the first curing fire. Definitely the first dome clearing fire (its very cool to see). Last, and most important, is the first pizza.

I reached the last two yesterday, on Cinco de Mayo (perhaps cinque di Maggio?). It really is spectacular to see the dome clear. It only took about 90 minutes to get to temperature. Too be honest, I wasn't timing it. I didn't try a quick fire, but built it up gradually.

The pizza cooked beautifully in about 90 seconds. My Italian wife loved pizza bianco growing up. That's a simple pizza with olive oil, coarse salt and rosemary. If not that its a simple margherita with fresh basil. My choice, pictured here, should more closely described as "the kitchen sink". The more stuff on it the better!

And, what could be better than a beautiful evening eating the first pizza from the oven you built. The beer helps!

[cbailey]

Russell, Thanks for the compliment. The outdoor kitchen will be great, once I get it done. I don't remember where I saw the recommendation for the big, quick fire. Over the course of building I've seen so many ideas and opinions.

Bentedesco, thank you for your kind words. I started my curing fires about 5 weeks ago after I installed 3 inches of blanket. The dome was basically cured by the time the render went on.

I, like you, was obsessed with keeping everything dry. So I wanted to get the dome cured and then covered. My issue was I wanted to render the dome and the sides of the vent arch at the same time. I didn't want to finish the dome and do the vent arch later. I would end up with a hot spot where the dome and vent arch meet. My guess I would have problems with cracking with the differential in heat. My solution was to finish the decorative arch extending the decorative brick 2.5 inches past the vent arch brick. That gave me a bomb proof channel for an inch of blanket, chicken wire, render and decorative brick later on.

[bentedesco]

Hey your oven is looking awesome!! I just started some low temp curing fires on mine and I noticed that you already have your stucco render up before completing your cure. How's that going for you? Any cracks?

(I was under the impression that I need to cure then coat; not trying to point out potential issues, I just would really like to waterproof my done ASAP so if I can get away with rendering sooner, I want to! I'm getting so tired of the tarp in the back yard )

[UtahBeehiver]

With each firing the oven will perform better. When the black carbon burns off and the dome clears then you are there, There is a unique smell when the carbon burns off, can't explain, kinda like a ozone smell but you will notice it. Never heard about the quick fire to cover the dome not saying right or wrong, just new to me. Nice set up you have with the pool and outdoor kitchen.

[cbailey]

I installed the collar of brick around the base of the chimney mounting plate as others have done (Utahbeehiver to name one). I am concerned about water running down the chimney and getting trapped in the mounting plate. I could seal the gap between the chimney and brick collar, but that would impede the flow of air to the outside layer of the triple wall pipe. I'm not sure if that would be an issue or not. My inadequate solution was to make weep holes in the brick collar. This will help water run off and allow an air intake. I tested the theory by holding a smoking stick of wood near the weep holes during the curing fire. The smoke was easily pulled in.

Perhaps if I installed a storm collar a few inches above the collar brick would prevent water ingress and allow for the chimney pipe to "breathe"?

Tent down, chimney up and another curing fire.

After a week of bad weather, the clouds parted and the sun came out in time for the weekend. I was impressed by how well the water beaded and ran off the MasterSeal covered dome. Almost like plastic. Very impressive.

I took down the protective tent so I could install the chimney. 6 feet, about 2.5 feet above the pergola. After months of stressing about keeping the insulation dry, taking down the tent was a little like letting your kids walk to school on their own for the first time.

It has been about 5 weeks since my last curing fire. At the time I started at 300 degrees and increase the target temp about 50 degrees a day. Later I read a thread posted years ago by John that the oven is cured once you hit 500 degrees and can hold it for 10 hours. I was able to get the dome temp up to about 800 degrees. I have a goal of cooking pizzas on Sunday, so I reckoned I better drive any residual moisture out. Over about 4 hours I maintained a dome temp of 500-600 degrees. All good. I kicked up the temp to the point the apex of the dome started to clear. I let the fire burn down to coals and positioned my new door. Temp settled in last evening at 8pm at 560. This morning it was 380.

I have to read a little more about starting a cooking fire. What I've read suggest to light a fire that quickly covers the dome in flame, rather than to raise the temp more slowly.

My study continues...