42” Pompeii in San Felipe, MX

[modified9v]

That was suppose to be 10 pizzas for 10 people is 2 too many. The edit feature wasn’t working. Quirky forum sometimes. Sorry for the confusion.

[modified9v]

Some of my posts are gone... most were in regard to smoke coming out the front. Oh well... as suggested I’m now building the small fire under the vent and then pushing it into the oven once it’s drafting well. It’s better, but not great. Still getting some smoke out the front but not as bad... the wind come from directly behind the oven and I’d swear it is creating a Venturi effect and pulling the smoke out. No matter... this thing is still a beast

I had a party of 10 yesterday and made 10 pizzas. The plan was to eat at 6pm so I lit the initial fire at 3pm. By 5pm I pushed the fire to the back of the oven and mopped the floor. Dome was 1100f and the floor was 680f. I had to mop the floor again to cool it off a bit. I made 2 pizzas at a time and I will say these were the best I’ve ever made or eaten. Everyone agreed. 90 second cook times. 14 hours later with no door at all and the dome is 400f and the floor is 300f

Yesterday, when I was feeding the fire, I was not wearing gloves when I put the wood in... took all the hair off my hand and forearm. Mucho respect of this thing.

10 pizzas for 100 people is 2 too many... we gave the other 2 to the guys in the guard shacks.

STOKED!!! Mikie V.

[UtahBeehiver]

I always build a small starter fire (alternating box shape with tinder) directly under the chimney vent to get a good draft going then push the fire back into the dome once it is drafting well.

[modified9v]

Progress up to now in the photos below. I had my Mexican friend do the stucco on the base and dome. It’s better than I could have done. I did paint it. Feel really good about having it all sealed up. It will get an enclosure this fall when my snowbird buddy gets down here from British Columbia.


Random Thoughts:
I started this project with 300 fire bricks and I have 27 left. I always wondered how close Forno Bravo was was in the plans... pretty close I believe. I probably only wrecked about 5 or so and I was pretty frugal with utilizing them.

I love that my oven floor is 48” off the ground. I’m 6’ 1” and it’s perfect that I don’t have to bend over to work it.

I’ve lost 24 pounds since I started working on this project. Hopefully I can keep it off and still enjoy the pizza.

Dome height is 21”. Floor is 42”. Width of opening is 21”. Height of opening is 13”. Landing is 13” deep. This oven doesn’t draft worth a crap on initial fire up. Once it really hot it drafts pretty good as long as the wind isn’t blowing... unfortunately, it’s always blowing here. I guess it’s not a huge deal, just have to clean the soot off of the bricks after a party.

I saved the arch templates and will take them to the States next time I go up to the Sacramento area and have a door fabricated. I’d love to do it but I don’t have the tools anymore.

Would I ever build another one? Never say never... I know I won’t build another one here in Baja CA. If I were back in Nor Cal I’d do it and I could make quick work of it. Not having materials makes it difficult here. It’s also so hot and humid that it really kicks your butt.

Yesterday we had our first confirmed case of the contagion in our little town.

I will update pictures when I do the tile work. Thanks for watching...
Mikie V.

[modified9v]

Couple other things. The picture with the crack. The reason this cracked was because earlier in the build I had a tarp on the oven when we went back to the States, just in case. Well, just in case happened and my tarp tore and that corner of the insulation board got wet... the weight of the outer arch compressed the board and this is the result. It has gotten worse with oven firings. I will keep a close eye on it and if it gets much worse I will have to come up with a way to support that side of the arch.

In the other picture you can see my temporary door. I’ve got a sourdough loaf proofing now. Last night the temp of the dome just before I blocked the entrance was 675f. That was 14 hours ago... I just checked and it’s still at 580f. I’m impressed. OH, and those bricks blocking the entrance are smokin’ hot. LOL

[modified9v]

Thanks Ricky... sure felt good to finally reach the finish line.

Yes, Yokosuka Dweller... the dome cleared. The 70% hydration is hard to work with. My wife made the cuatro pizza and she struggled with the handling of it. Next time I will go back to the 60% that has always been my go too. Much more forgiving and I don’t think I’ll be able to taste a difference.

What was cool about yesterday was that we had our neighbors over to join us. I’m a very young 60 years old and my neighbor is 25 years my senior. They are snow birds and would normally be back in Oregon by now (we live here full time). Every day when he is out watering his citrus trees next to my build site he would say “Young man, have you been keepin’ track of your hours?” I told him no... that it was a labor of love. “Well”, he says... “I’d love some of that pizza!” I promised him that he’d be the first to try it. And, he was.

I attached a picture of my load of mesquite. This is what $60 USD will get you, delivered, in San Felipe. The picture doesn’t do it justice. Nice hard wood and enough for several parties.

Well... that’s it for now. I’ll probably post pics of my bread and after we get out of quarantine we are having a blow out party. I’ll find a local to do the stucco of the dome and stand... then in the fall when my Canadian buddy gets back we will build the enclosure.

Thanks everyone for the the help and for following along.
Mikie V.

[Yokosuka dweller]

Your pizzas look great, really I have to experiment also with higher hydration. Normally I am around 57-60% and the dough is already very quick/easy to get to shape, so I'm wondering if 70% wouldn't make a dough that's very hard to work with? Anyways, and nice charring, I'm getting hungry here...your temps are getting up there, is the dome clearing?

[Chach]

Sounds like you hit the milestone "the first pizza" Such a great milestone and accomplishment.

Ricky

[modified9v]

Two more... a cuatro (4 cheese) and my buried pepperoni. Man, this is good. Dough at 70% hydration. Dome was 850f, floor was 625f.

I stacked bricks in front of the inner arch and will proof a couple sourdough loaves for tomorrow night.

[modified9v]

Well, been on this forum since 2010... ten years later here are the results. You can’t feel it or smell it... some of you have already. This was our first pie... I promised my self it would be a Margarita... We did it Facebook live. It was very validating. OK... we’ll knock it down tomorrow and start over. :-)

[modified9v]

Here is the thread for curing. https://community.fornobravo.com/for...33-oven-curing

[GJC]

This is great! Thanks for the information and great accomplishment with your oven! Is there a page or resource your using that has good instructions on the curing process?

thanks!

[modified9v]

The fire had been out for several hours. All I had for a door was a left over piece of plywood from the arch form. Looking forward to getting a door to hold that heat in.

[Mongo]

So this free range chicken sat on a can of Tecate for an hour at 375f... ohhhhh man. I will never forget the first food from our labor. Was better than I thought it could be. Pizza soon... My sourdough is not cooperating. I’ve neglected it. It will take a few days to get it back up to speed. This is really gonna be fun.

Chicken in after fire is out?
Door or no door?

Dome is looking good.

[modified9v]

So this free range chicken sat on a can of Tecate for an hour at 375f... ohhhhh man. I will never forget the first food from our labor. Was better than I thought it could be. Pizza soon... My sourdough is not cooperating. I’ve neglected it. It will take a few days to get it back up to speed. This is really gonna be fun.