42” Corner Build in the Shadow of Mount Nittany

[Giovanni Rossi]

Hi RandyJ , thanks. The menu board is from an old piece of Masonite I've had lying around for about 30 yrs. Around the same time I milled a bunch of cherry for diploma and certificate frames and I had just enough left to frame the menu. My daughter sprayed the board with chalkboard paint and then added the text and artwork. I used the extra chain from the pavilion lights to fashion the hangers. The chains are anchored to the bottom of the frame bc it's got a little weight to it.

Daughter had the sign made through an Etsy site. They did a nice job. She played with the font size to get everything on the limited real estate. Some of the text is hard to show in a photo bc of the thickness of the metal.
It reads IL FORNO DELLA FAMIGLIA ROSSI (The Rossi family oven)

I can PM you the site if you're interested

[RandyJ]

Hey Giovanni Rossi that is looking fantastic. I like the menu board and your il Forno sign. I may have to try setting up something like that next year. What did you make the menu board out of? Also did you have that metal sign made or was it prefabricated. Something like that might be cool for a treehouse Pizza sign.

Randy

[Giovanni Rossi]

Thanks Mike,

Cost update: Just dropped below $56 per pizza/loaf

[SableSprings]

Love the simple pegs to hang & display the pizza tools. Can't beat having a classy Il Forno entrance post & menu board. Well done!

[UtahBeehiver]

Like the menu............

[Giovanni Rossi]

Updates for our latest pizza party. Didn't get a separate shot of the pizza making station in the foreground. The base is made from the left over framing members from the pavilion and the top is a nice sized 26" x 36" made of remnants from a prior butcher block counter job.

[Giovanni Rossi]

A few more finishing touches. Made some simple peg hangers for the long-handled peels.

[Giovanni Rossi]

Some final (though probably not) touches:

Applied a log home oil product to the pressure treated parts of the pavilion for a little color to give more contrast from the knotty pine ceiling. Hopefully it will also discourage the carpenter bees that have already put a half dozen holes in various locations.

Also extended the low-voltage line from the stone wall (while rebuilding it) to add some task and accent lighting.

Lastly, made my first attempt at baguettes...need a little more practice!

[Giovanni Rossi]

Another indicator of the benefit of firing the oven during a heat wave... still 120^oF 7 days out!

Should be pretty easy to recharge it for pizza. It usually takes about an hour to get the dome bricks at the thermometer location to that temp from a cold start.

[UtahBeehiver]

Good looking breads. I have tried, without success, doing bread. I want to be like Sable Springs

[RandyJ]

Giovanni Rossi congratulations on getting to under 100$ per pizza. That means you are using the oven a bunch. I have been kind of lax on keeping track of just how much I have been spending. I have been pulling money from my vacation holiday account from work. This way the finance committee doesn't see the true cost and isn't as worried about it. Plus this way it is all paid in cash and is not financed. My rough guess is that I will be around 8-9K maybe 10k with patio for the whole thing. Not to badmy guess is I would be looking at 40K plus to have this built for me. The last oven I stopped keeping track at 6k and just said that is what it cost. I would guess it was actually closer to 7k and that was 9 years ago and I didn't have to build a patio. So this time I am doing pretty good at keeping costs in line.

Randy

[Giovanni Rossi]

A little follow up:
Did the first full firing of 2024 for Father's Day and made 10 pizze. Baked 4 loaves of Italian and 4 NY Deli Rye the next afternoon.

My thermometer reads the dome temp on the opposite side of the oven from where I keep my fire so the temp initially increases early in the timeline as the heat distributes through the dome.

I'm going to collect data for each firing and see how my changes impact the temp curve. Pizza then breads that need 500^oF are easy to manage. I'm interested developing a schedule to have other breads ready to bake as the temp drops without recharging the oven.

This was the first time using the insert after a full firing and I know I pushed the limit regarding combustion, but I wanted to see the impact of the insert on heat retention I'll need to replace the inside face and will probably hold off using it until the temp drops below 450 ^oF the next time. The boards were already charred and shrunk from the low firing I did to wake the oven up from its winter slumber. After 5 hours at over 500 ^oF the wood was quite toasty. It continued to snap crackle and pop for a few hours after it was pulled. You can see the progressive damage in photos 5 & 6.
The reason I'm working with wood is to keep things a little "old world". However, I do have CaSil and FOAMGLAS on the inside .

I am intrigued by rsandler 's use of Nomex for his door covering and may investigate that. Though my steel door has a gasket, the felt would allow me to close the small gap between the wood and arch around the insert that I need for expansion.

For those of you who have followed this build, the cost per pizza/loaf is now down to $92.15

Date	Time	Oven temp oF	Oven temp oC	Outside temp oF / oC	Activity
06-16-24	1700	650 (Floor)	343 (Floor)	80 / 27	Pizza
	2100	485	252	75 / 24	Placed steel door
06-17-24	0900	520	271	68 / 20	Added door insert
	1400	500	260	89 / 32	Removed insert
	1700	480	248	91 / 33	Baked bread
	1900	460	238	89 / 32	Baked bread
06-18-24	0800	380	193	73 / 23	Baked breakfast casserole
	1300	360	182	88 / 31
	2100	320	160	80 / 27
06-19-24	0900	275	135	78 / 26
	1600	250	121	88 / 31
	2200	235	113	80 / 27
06-20-24	0900	205	96	73 / 23
	1600	195	91	91 / 33

[RandyJ]

Nice job. I am very excited to start cooking different things in the oven. And yes it cool down works great for seasoning cast iron pots and pans. On the firing side it also works great for removing all seasoning too. Ask me how I know...

Randy

[Giovanni Rossi]

I wanted to do a limited firing to clear out any residual moisture from the winter and a wet spring,

Took advantage and cooked a pork loin that day. This is the only roasting I've done since the Thanksgiving turkey and it turned out great too.

Used the residual heat the next day for baked potatoes and bacon for BLTs.

Found another use for residual heat - seasoning cast iron and carbon steel pans.

A light coat of olive oil and left in the oven over night. Did a light cleaning and repeated the process.

[Giovanni Rossi]

On a recent trip we were walking the city wall in Obidos, Portugal and my wife spied this structure among the residences. I really want it to be an oven but don't see a flue. There appears to be a grill on the left side so maybe it is an early outdoor kitchen set up!