BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

[mfiore]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Hey, Bill. I just reviewed your thread again. On post 170, page 17, the second photo is a profile of the oven. What is that behind the clay chimney flue? Looks like a pipe of some sort.

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/atta...r-2008-019.jpg

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Hey Mike!

Wow, it's been a long time since I was on here. Many new projects have come and gone. Plus Florida has been under a 100% no burn ban for months so no pizzas here for a while.

Ahhhhh, the pipe. It's a super high tech gizmo I added during the build..... I placed my 8'X10' patio table umbrella on the dome so I wouldn't get a sunburn! What you see is just the pole sitting on the dome.

Wish it was something really cool like a smoke compression intake (I have no idea of what that is, just made it up).

I still haven't completed my counter top but I've added some cool things. I'll update my pictures soon.

Take care and send us some rain if you can.

Bill

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Hi Bill,
nice to hear from you again. So you got some rain, smoked some ribs and did cosmetic work on your oven. Sounds great. Hey, I'm so jealous of anyone cooking anything on their ovens but when it's stuff besides pizza, I'm always impressed. Glad you're no longer in a "no-burn" situation and up to cooking again. I'm always going thru your builds posts cuz you've done such a great job. Post a current pic if you can.
Take care, Dino

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

6 months later and still no countertop. But, I have made a few improvements. I added stone veneer to the base with an overgrouted application along with a neat brick detail for the door surround. I also made a cool brick face to my hearth that will one day support my countertop. The top will sit on the bricks and be level with the floor of the oven. I'm making a wooden door for the wood storage area to match the door to the oven. I thought this would tie in nice with the old world look I'm going for.


Here is a close up of the hearth face. I chose this design from a few pictures I had from Italy. They used so many details in thier designs; I wanted to have that same look/feel.

I cant remember who asked me to post the picture of how I tied the screen enclosure in to the build but here it is. I still have to trim the screen in a few places but the measurements and screen placement was exactly where I planned it to be. I know, I'm amazed as well. As you can see there is plenty of work left on the oven exterior. I have the bricks for the brick dome I'm planning to place on top of the stucco shell but that may wait until it gets cooler...

This is the view from the sitting area.

I still have not decided on a countertop yet. I once thought to just use granite. It's easy to keep up but not very 'old world'. We have toyed aroud the idea of concrete tops and had a few ideas. I can color the concrete to have a light rust-brick base color and then use darker stain to make it have some cool movement. Another thought was to use crushed up old chicago bricks to tie in the colors. Once cured I'd grind the top down to expose the brick aggregate. Last idea was to use soapstone. I can fabricate it myself and leave it with a natural finish. It would have the look but I'd be worried about it holding too much heat and burning someone who touches it...

Any ideas will be appreciated!

Thanks everyone,

[mfiore]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Oh man, does that look good! I wish I hadn't seen that. Kind of makes me rethink my entire build. Really nice work. I love the detail.

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Thank you Mike!

I've struggled on these details waaaaaaaay too long and wanted to actually apply some. Any thoughts on the countertop?

By the way, I really like the arch on your oven. It looks great! You can never have too many arches. I've always said that

[Les]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Very nice indeed. Bill, on the third picture down - what is that white line between the front and rear brick? Is it the camera or is there something there?

Les...

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Thanks Les.

The line is the 'clear' silicone sealent I used to hold the screen in place. I guess clear can mean 'partly cloudy' as well.

Thanks again for the kind words, hopefully I can get to the countertop soon.

[Calabrese]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Hey Bill that looks awesome. I love the way you seperated the front and back with a screen. Your chimmney looks great. And from what I can see you have no smoke issues, BONUS ! I installed a granite countertop to mine and my only regret is that it gets very hot in the sun, so hot that you have to be carefull. That might be an issue in a hot climate.

Regards Joe

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Thanks Joe,

The chimney works incredible and rarely do I have any smoke coming out of the front. I used the tapered clay flue pipe technique like Les and Mike have used. It draws very fast, even at start up.

I hear ya on the granite in the sun. Here in July you could probably bake pizzas on dark stone in the sun without a pizza oven . My real concern is the radiant heat that builds up in the flared entry. It heats up anything within a foot of so from my arch. I may be worrying about something that I cannot control; I just want to keep the old world look I have going on. I mean come on, Hephaestus needs to look down and see something cool right?

Thanks again for the kind words Joe,

[exceloven]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Bill,
Everything looks awesome! I especially like the double arch above the oven and the protruding arch above the niche. The face of the counter is also very creative. Your oven is one of my favorites. As far as granite goes, I think if you get the right color it will look great. I'm looking for some slab remnants for my tops.

Mark

[egalecki]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

I'm not sure that any counter surface will not be hot- given the radiant heat from the oven and the sun. All I can think of is to go lighter in color to lessen the sun's effect. I have a sort of reddish-green (sounds horrid but it's pretty, really) porcelain tile on mine in the front. It does get hot, but it's held up well. If I can ever get caught up on the rest of my projects, I'll finish my countertops with the same tile. Our very last child graduates from high school on FRIDAY!, so maybe when that's all done I'll have some more time....

I really like the facing on your stand, and the brickwork to support the counter is really cool.

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Thank you Elizabeth

My worry about the counter tops staying hot was mainly for the soapstone. It has a tendency to hold heat for a very very long time which is probably why they make fireplaces, pots, pans, and even pizza stones out of it. I'm trying to use something that will tie in with the old world theme I have going on. I even thought of using bricks cut to the proper thickness and then just grinding them down as even as possible. Still not sure.... Maybe in another 6 months I'll decide.

Thank you again,

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Hey Mark, I thought I replied to your post; sorry. Thanks for the kind words!

Ahhhhhh, the counter top. I'm really thinking about making it out of concrete. I think I could make it super cool, add fragments of left over brick and maybe even some small stones I was able to bring back from a few quarries in Italy... If it doesn't look cool I can always have a granite top made.

Thanks again,

Bill

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Ok, I know these ovens are known for their ability to cook awesome pizzas but I have to say that I'm using it to smoke 100% of my smoking of foods instead of the old smoker. Saturday I smoked about 10lbs of fish that I caught and it is awesome! I get the oven up to about 350f, small fire for about 20-30 mins. then throw on a few larger logs. once it lights and gets glowing I simply move the coals/logs to the left side, place a water/drip pan in the middle oven. I use 4 fire bricks that act as my stand (until I get legs welded) for two heavy duty ss steel racks and place them over the pan. fish go on the racks, stainless steel door goes in place and 2 hours later I had the most moist smoked fish I've ever had. Once the fish was removed I moved the coals to the center where the pan was and I had a self cleaning oven.

I think my old smoker is going bye bye...