WFO in Utrecht, the Netherlands

[Mr. Slowhand]

Marko, it's been a while since I dropped in on your thread. The oven looks great, but I want to hear about the food!
What exactly are the ingredients of North Macedonian baked beans? Also the pizza above with the ball of what I think is cheese is interesting. How do you serve it - cut up the ball with each slice or smear it around after presenting it?

Hey there JR,

The North Macedonian recipe is called tavče gravče ( beans in a pan).
the way I do i is that the broth (mirepoux veggies - onion, celery, and carrot) is cooked in a pan for an hour or two. Parralel to that, I cook the beans in another pan. Than you add generous pancetta pieces, and some sausage, together with the beans, move all to a oven pan and cook for some 1.5 hours in the oven. Time the water content to be not soupy by the time it is done.

here is great video of someone making it in a sač (which is an cast iron or clay pot)

https://youtu.be/e_9pM-G6GyA

The ball on top of the pizza is a burata. That is a tipical south italian product. The outer shell is mozarella-like, but the inside is flowing cheese/straciatella content.
and, yes, you cut it pro-rata with the slices. That one is my wife’s favorite.

[JRPizza]

Marko, it's been a while since I dropped in on your thread. The oven looks great, but I want to hear about the food!
What exactly are the ingredients of North Macedonian baked beans? Also the pizza above with the ball of what I think is cheese is interesting. How do you serve it - cut up the ball with each slice or smear it around after presenting it?

[Mr. Slowhand]

So, after a couple of months, it looks almost ready.


I finalized the enclosure, built some roof, which was lined on top with some sort of EPDM cover, installed total of 1.5meters of chimney, and put some outdoor weather resistant tiles around the entrance of the oven

We are using it almost every weekend. This weekend was the first time we used it, that it was not dark.....







The pies are turning out great. I think I need more instructions on how to make the dough, and some more ideas for the toppings.
The next step is to finalize the temperature isolated door, so I can use the oven the next day also.

Thanks for all the assistance guys....

[Sixto]

Looks great, congratulations!

[Mr. Slowhand]

So, finally, the brickwork is done...



Elements that I still need to make:

1. Next step is the roof, which will be a temporary one, as I will make a long roof over the pizza oven and some planned parts of the outdoor kitchen next to it.
I will make a wooden frame, on top of which I will put metal roof shingles.

2. Oven door - was looking at the door thread, excellent examples there. If the weight is not an issue, I would love to weld a door and put the remainders of the CalSil board in it. I would not like this to be too heavy for my wife to open it and use it. Additionally, when not in use, would like to make some hangers for the oven door, just below (close to that cement bag in the picture).

3. Tiles on the exposed firebricks, CalSil board and the below concrete slab, now looking for something colorful

[Mr. Slowhand]

Are you going to fill the void between the outer brick and inner insulation? I filled all of the open space with Perlite as additional insulation and I believe it made a BIG difference in heat retention.

Yes, you are correct. The space between the oven and the enclosure will be filled with loose vermeculite, that should add on the isolation properties of the oven

[w650gb500]

Are you going to fill the void between the outer brick and inner insulation? I filled all of the open space with Perlite as additional insulation and I believe it made a BIG difference in heat retention.

[Mr. Slowhand]

My oven's location between the garage and the house seems to makes the chimney smoke swirl all over my backyard when any light wind comes across, and could be causing draft issues... maybe I need a taller chimney?

I also saw the swirls sometime, so tried to put the extended chimney, and the smoke immediately cleared my garden, and the neighbours garden. The added chimney is one of the easiest ways to improve the WFO

[Mr. Slowhand]

Thanks Sixto, hahaha, big river...... So funny. I was thinking you are sending me to a fishing website, what is this about....

[Sixto]

.
I sometimes see smoke going through the heat gap, and exiting from below the CFB at the joining of flue gallery and the dome.
The heat gap is not fully airtight. I did put the gasket rope, but there was a place where it did not fit. Not a big issue, I will need to find some sort of adhesive/ fireplace repair glue to seal off the heat gap.
If I would use (even a light layer) of homebrew, that would defeat the purpose of the heat gap, right? BTW, any advice on what I can use for this.

Correct, I would not recommend using homebrew or high heat cement to close off the gap, I would look for thinner diameter of gasket rope, I've seen some as small as 1/8 of an inch on that "big river" online website.

Your photos look great! I am now in the process of dialing-in my oven to better understand how heat is distributed inside the dome, building the fires in different spots, trying to get the floor temps a bit higher. I am also trying to get less smoke in my face and nose. That may be the biggest issue with my gallery design. My oven's location between the garage and the house seems to makes the chimney smoke swirl all over my backyard when any light wind comes across, and could be causing draft issues... maybe I need a taller chimney?

[Mr. Slowhand]

I think the curing fires are complete, but still not finished with the enclosure. Approx two thirds of the work is complete.
Luckily, I did some fires where I reached full temperature, to test it. This oven is really a magnificent thing.





The finished product was amazing!!! Followed the recipe of the pizzeria Da Michele, from Naples. We were there earlier this year, and it was magnificent. In all honesty, this thing that we made, was not a million miles away from what we tried in Naples. 24 hours of raising dough, good temperature, simple ingredients, cannot go wrong with that.

One of things that was very well done on this oven is the flue gallery.



I cast the flue gallery, after the advice of David S, and at strongest smoke levels, from the beginning of the curing process, not a bit of smoke would get from the front of the oven. You can see, especially in the beginning how it is quickly scooped up in the flue galerry, and goes out. And, this is just the 50cm chimney that sits on top. There is another 100cm chimney section that will be put once the enclosure is completed, so I can remove the temporary construction roof I made.
I see that smoke from the front tends to be an issue with many ovens here. One interesting thing that does ocurr - I sometimes see smoke going through the heat gap, and exiting from below the CFB at the joining of flue gallery and the dome.
The heat gap is not fully airtight. I did put the gasket rope, but there was a place where it did not fit. Not a big issue, I will need to find some sort of adhesive/ fireplace repair glue to seal off the heat gap.
If I would use (even a light layer) of homebrew, that would defeat the purpose of the heat gap, right? BTW, any advice on what I can use for this.

Anyhow, hope to finish the enclosure this week, than planning some roof. Onwards and upwards!!!

[Sixto]

Hop(e) to finish the enclosure this month. I need to borrow some project planning from Sixto to finish this in time!

The moonlight makes a beautiful backdrop for your oven. Nice job!
For me, there's nothing like a committment made to others to get me motivated...
I can always wait a while longer for myself, but I hate to disappoint others!

[Mr. Slowhand]

I took it quite slow curing fires, and a couple of nights ago, I had a lovely full moon over the curing fire




Started building the enclosure. It is quite difficult, as most of the walls are not accessible. Should have done this when beginning the build, but there it is, still works well


I will complete it, with an arch that will be parallel to the firebrick arch.

Also, completed my first meal, while building the enclosure. It is a great North Macedonian recipe of baked beans. It was enough to have the oven at approx 190 degrees (374 fahrenheit), not eve close to pizza temps.



Oh, and it was good....

Hop to finish the enclosure this month. I need to borrow some project planning from Sixto to finish this in time!

[Sixto]

That's great! You could probably go to a higher temp by day 4, but since youre still building your enclosure, there's no need to rush it. Keep up the good work!

[Mr. Slowhand]

Oh, and it took me 2 firings to understand that it is the best to start the brikets outside of the oven, and put them in when they are fully glowing, than to start them in the oven.
But at least, I can confirm, the chimney has a very good draw. And this is with only 50cm, out of 150cm chimney installed, it will even get better