Idaho 36" Build

[AJH]

Back at it after the graduation and some other weekend trips. I got the 5th ring finished, mortared in the 6th ring, and almost made it over the arch. I probably could have made it over the arch, but felt the arch bricks would have been pretty small at the top. Had to get creative with filling in the gaps after messing up a few of the angled cuts on the arch...

[AJH]

7th ring finished and made it over the arch. Working on mortaring the 8th today. Steep angle only let me mortar in a few bricks then had to let them set for most of the day and come back later to get another 10 or so mortared in. No pics on 8th yet since it got dark on me while getting the mortar to set enough to put another brick in place.

Looking a little sloppy inside compared to some of the builds I see here, but I think it will perform just fine for me =)

[AJH]

Another ring done... I think I have 3 more left before the plug.

[AJH]

Next couple rings done

[AJH]

Plug and Done! Next up is figuring out the vent and chimney.

[AJH]

Almost forgot the pic of the oven eating me... hehe

[AJH]

Anyone have strong opinions on a thermometer, peels, and proofing boxes? Might order them now so that I will have them when I finish installing the chimney and start the drying fires... I went to the local restaurant supply store and their selection was not the best. Proofing boxes were ok, but twice the cost of the ones on amazon. I ordered my chimney anchor plate from Lowes and picked up all the rest of the chimney stuff earlier this week so that by the time I build up the vent, it should be ready to pick up. I do need to go find a metal roof boot that will fit the chimney, but I think that I remember seeing a local shop with them in stock.

Should I continue to use the homebrew mortar on the vent bricks or is something else more suitable for the lower temps?

[Giovanni Rossi]

AJH I ordered the supplemental thermometer and Thermowell from Flamesmith to add to my kit build. I really wanted to know the brick temp for extended bread baking as the oven temp dropped. If you're primarily interested in pizza and roasting, any quality IR gun does the trick to read the floor temp.

I made a 2 section handle for my old peel that I could shorten when I decided to do just a few pizze on the grill. After that, I was maxed out on DIY and just ordered some GI Metal peels online. They are pricey, but I've been happy with them. I used Webstaurant because I could open an account with 30 days free access before being billed the annual membership fee. That also got me free shipping. I used that period to get stuff for the oven and a few things for the house before cancelling.

Try a search, a lot of guys here are really good and creative with making oven tools.

I settled on Doughmate boxes. I think they are high quality and can be found at a reasonable price. I like that they stack in any configuration. And, they just fit in my small fridge when I do the cold fermentation on the dough balls. I've also found they make great proofing containers for my breads when used upside down. That was a great find because I've been trying to limit use of of the plastic wrap I was using before.

[AJH]

Been working on the vent area off and on due to the heat wave.. had to special order the anchor plate and that just came in, so now I'm building up the brickwork to get to the point that I can put the chimney up through the roof. Just have the chimney buildup and the front arch to do and I'll be done with brickwork! I have lots of ceramic fiber blanket still to wrap around the oven and trying to figure out a way to lock in the front bricks so that when I tile up the front, they dont pop off the tiles when the get bumped hard...
Have an idea for a door. Going to use some expanded metal type of stuff for the structure, wrap that with the ceramic fiber blanket and use some wire to sew it together. Then wrap the CF blanket with a carbon felt welding blanket, and stuff the inside with more CF blanket or left over CalSil board. Sounds like a good idea in theory, we'll see how it works once I get it built =)

Curing fires will probably start next week since I'll be off camping later this week.

How many bbq briquettes does it take to get the dome to the first stage of the drying temps?

[david s]

If you are penetrating a roof, you are meant to have a double flue as it can be too close to roof timbers, even though it's not attached to the house. Check your building code if you plan on a single flue.

[AJH]

I have a double walled, insulated chimney to go up through the roof with a high temperature roof jack to seal the hole from rain and snow.

[JRPizza]

Hey AJH , when you make your door just make sure that nothing can sluff off onto your cooking space that you aren't comfortable with ingesting. I could not tell from your description if you will have all the CF encapsulated enough to keep fibers from falling off. The bricks are really "grabby" and will pretty much cheese grater anything soft or fiberous that rubs against them.

[AJH]

The ceramic blanket will be wrapped by the carbon felt welding blanket so no fiberglass will escape. That's a good point though about the bricks shredding the fabric. I was thinking it would give a better seal being soft, but the bottom would probably not last long rubbing on the bricks. I might need to put some stainless on the bottom to keep from replacing too often.

[JRPizza]

It will be interesting to see how your design works and evolves. If you get a chance take some pictures and post in the "Show me your door thread". It would be good to see some alternative designs to the standard metal shell filled with insulation.

[Giovanni Rossi]

I have a double walled, insulated chimney to go up through the roof with a high temperature roof jack to seal the hole from rain and snow.

The insulated double-wall pipe I used was okay with a 2" clearance from combustible materials.

Then wrap the CF blanket with a carbon felt welding blanket, and stuff the inside with more CF blanket or left over CalSil board. Sounds like a good idea in theory, we'll see how it works once I get it built =)

I had investigated Nomex for a door wrap and decided to walk away based on possible shedding of the material. I'm unfamiliar with carbon felt so I reviewed the MSDS. While the material is listed as non toxic, it is capable of producing airborne particulates that may irritate the eyes, lungs and skin. There isn't any declaration regarding ingestion because it's considered unlikely under normal circumstances...using it in this application is probably not normal circumstances.