BeanAnimal's 42" build - Pittsburgh PA

[BeanAnimal]

Limestone landing (5x12x77) lifted into place with angle iron supports (5/16 tapcons shown) . Landing stone is fully grouted under and not going anywhere! 400 Pound lift was actually not too bad. It only took two of us and a third to standby for safety. Absolutely ZERO lippage between landing and oven floor - I couldn't be happier. A single jack board was used to support the barely balanced stone until the angle brackets were set.

[BeanAnimal]

Entry arch set this afternoon. Scratch coat on front tomorrow and hopefully stone this weekend!

getting closer every day.

[Chach]

Looks good guy! Nice lime sil and slate roof. You are well on your way.

Ricky

[BeanAnimal]

Thanks Ricky!

Going to ask here instead of equipment ---

Spiral Mixers?

Looking at this Famag IM-5


I found $350 - $600 spirals of similar size - but am a bit leery of china knock off garbage. I don't want to spend $1300 but t the same time, don't want to waste money or hate my purchase and the kitchen aid can barely do a pound of dough.

[mongota]

Love the slate!

We looked at a spiral mixer years ago, but when we really looked at usage, we opted to just use our kitchenaid with the dough hook.

Our standard pizza dough batch in the kitchenaid is about 1200g, from that we'll make four 300g pies. It's an approximate 10 minute kneading process in the kitchenaid, so if we need more than 4 pies, the second batch of dough will mix while I'm prepping the first batch for its first rise. The timing works out pretty well.

But definitely analyze your own usage. Personal convenience is worth something, and if you do a lot of large batches, or are a frequent baker? The upgrade can certainly be worth it.

[BeanAnimal]

Gi metal order showed up.

8” stainless turning peel
14” aluminum placing peel (they steered me away from the stainless model, said this was better)
brush
ash tool
divider... don’t think I needed it, but why not spend more money

sorry for the upside down.. iPhone exif data tries to “correct” orientation even if you rotate prior to posting. So stupid.

[BeanAnimal]

Lower arch area covered with stone and upper area scratch coat complete.

[BeanAnimal]

I had some grotesque (gargoyle style) corbels picked out, but have decided to skip them. I liked the idea and have several in the garden, but not sure they really matched the overall theme. Polling friends and family revealed “meh... I do t think you need them” and the landing support brackets are barely visible from any low seating angle around the fire pit area.

[BeanAnimal]

almost done! Chimney still needs a cap and counter flashing.

last bit of. Or tar around arch bricks needs to be finished.


couldn’t help but pour a drink or two to celebrate.


Landscape work and a standing area need to be done before the snow falls, but hope to be to pizza temps by this weekend.

[BeanAnimal]

Placed an order for pickup (Penn mac, Pittsburgh)
3 bag Caputo: Flour Pizzaria 5 Lb
6 28z can La Primavera: DOP Tomatoes
1 5Lb Ricci's Hot Italian Sausage
1 5Lb Ricci's Sweet Italian Sausage
1 LB G-ANTONIO Pepperoni 38mm: Ezzo
1 LB SUPREME Pepperoni 38mm: Ezzo
2 bag Bufala Mozzarella DOC 8.8oz Pkg

have San Marsano in garden, but want to try canned first to eliminate variables. Plenty of meat for freezer and tomatoes for pasta as well as some 00 breads in the oven.

Also need to cleanup mortar haze on soffits and drill holes for recessed lights.. though still considering skipping those for aesthetics.

[MarkJerling]

Very nice build! Looks fantastic. Great work!

[BeanAnimal]

Okay - Pizza temps today

900+ upper wall and ~650 ~750 floor depending on location.

Satisfied but a lot of learning to do.

FB dough per PDF and same FB recipe using the modified tscar method. Both used weight method.

The dough was made last evening and refrigerated until about 3pm today. I made two pizzas, 1 from each dough, knowing that I will prefer longer aging, but eager to give the oven a try.

I used a food mill and canned san marsano - I don't like chunks. Sauce was a bit thinner than I had hoped. I need to work on this.
I used fresh moz on one and dry on the other.

The watery sauce and fresh mozarella made for a soggy mess. Edible - but not even close to the desired result. No photos...

The second pizza turned out very well. However, in my eagerness to ensure I was not burning the bottom, I stretched a hole in it with the turning peel. Lesson learned, once placed, let it cook long enough to be turnable.

My only complaint (aside from the tear) was that I pulled it out too soon. I like my pizza a bit more done but was unsure on how much it would continue to brown as I pulled it out. She was really sizzlin!

That brings me to my next question. How do you manage the gooey burnt mess that mistakes make on the oven floor, placing peel and turning peels?

[MarkJerling]

That looks like a great first attempt! Wel done! I find, if I have some spilled cheese or some such that it burns off easily enough by respreading some coals, then sweeping the floor again. Unless if it's really hot, then it burns off pretty quick anyway.

[BeanAnimal]

2nd Firing and a few notes (may need to move to the dough forum)

Walls 950+
Floor 750+

Had to dome to finish before burning bottom.

Dough
FB recipe per PDF using 00 flour
FB recipe using 00 flour no knead method
3 day cold ferment (Friday afternoon - Monday cook)
2+ hours out of fridge

No Knead was easier to keep shape, not softer per say, but more uniform opening
FB recipe was harder to form unto a uniform shell

taste and texture - hard to tell the difference between the two.

In both cases - The crust was edible but not quite as chewy as I would like and even after three days had nothing more than a "flour" profile for taste. Nothing remarkable at all about the crust. Looks like I need (no pun) some serious help.

Also - I think even for the 00, the floor temp was just a bit high for my liking. I don't want to have to dome pizzas regularly. I suppose with a 42" floor, I have plenty of room to move it away to a somewhat cooler spot.

Lastly - I know straight san marsano is the "way" - but a bit bland for me. I am going to try with some Basil and a tad of oregano/salt/oil

[MarkJerling]

That seems like a really thick crust. Do you find it cooks quickly enough?