BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

[Bandrasco]

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

Thanks Bonita,

Pizzas tomorrow!!!!!!!

I like the new years pizza party idea. I can see fireworks coming out of the chimney already!

Thanks again and Happy Holidays,

[RTflorida]

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

Bill, GO FOR IT!!! Tomorrow will be good practice for New Years.
We have a similar thing planned. I will take care of pizzas for whoever comes out, my neighbor is handling the beer, fireworks, and law enforcement (he as well as a new neighbor are FDAT officers - Florida Dpt of Alcohol & Tobacco).

RT

[Bandrasco]

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

Thanks RT,

The more I think about it the more I like the idea. By the way, thanks for the firewood guy tip. I bought a huge pile of wood from him and so far it's been very good. He said he remembers you ("the guy north of here with the pizza oven") but not sure if that was you. I used the round logs no larger than 4" and had a mix of oak, hickory, and citrus. One thing I noticed is that when I get a huge pile of glowing embers and throw another log into it some of them gave off a black sooty smoke that almost smelled plastic. Does this make sense to anyone? I spoke to a few tree/wood guys and they believe it's the cherry oak (never heard of one of those) and it burns good but smells like hell. I was surprised to see oak giving off black carbon string like soot in the flames but it was definitely oak... It reminded me of what fatwood does when you light it. None the less he gave me way more than I asked for and so far so good.

Regarding the fireworks, we have so many people around us that go all out with fireworks. It seems like every holiday we can sit outside and watch a display. You don't live in Fishhawk do you?

Thanks again RT, Happy Holidays to you and yours,

Heading out today with a chain saw, trailer, and taking advantage of a few downed oaks the city knocked over to widen the road near my house.

[RTflorida]

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

Hey Bill,
I had never heard of cherry oak until you mentioned it. What I found on the internet is call cherry-bark oak (the bark resembles that of a cherry tree). It is a relative of the southern red oak. Also goes by the name "swamp oak" (which I have heard of) and is quite prevalent throughout the south. I have no idea of its burning qualities. From your description, it seems just like the hemlock I brought back from Georgia (and won't do again)....very sooty and stinky (the smell actually stays in my nose for days), lights and burns really well, but even though it is free, isn't worth bringing it home.
You can't go wrong with live oak, laural oak, and of course white and red oak.
Let me know what you think of the citrus...it burns extremely hot, but mine actually has a little unpleasant odor as well - but no smoke or soot. The best for getting the oven up to temp fast, then I throw on the oak or hickory.
Hickory - God's gift to fire and smoking, great stuff.
I'm currently looking into a connection for apple from GA, it is also great wood - light pleasant smell and burns pretty hot. Really good if you like a little smokey flavor but not as strong as hickory or mesquite. If I can get it free or at minimal cost, I will be there the next day. The orchards have plenty, some sell it at "market level pricing" and some give it away or just send it to the dump. A friend says he knows an orchard owner and will ask for me...I will keep you posted if the lead pans out.

RT

[Bandrasco]

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

Hey RT,

If you can get in on the deal I can assist with huge trailers. I have access to a tandem axle high side 10' long dump trailer along with a F250 diesel, chainsaw, etc. I'm absolutely ready to drive for free wood! At the rate I'm burning through this stuff I'm going to need at least 2-3 cords drying for summer time pizza partys.

By the way, I'm on vacation until the 5th of Jan. If by chance you need help I'm available everyday with the exception of Christmas eve and day.

Thank you RT!

[drogers]

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

Bill,
If you check the Ocala, FL Craiglist , under "materials for sale" there is a posting from Nov 22 from a fellow giving away a large quantity of firewood. It may be worth checking out, good luck.
Don

[Gryso]

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

Build Day Four,

First course is set, leveled, and ready for rebar.
[ATTACH]9431[/ATTACH] Checking out the position of the dome

[ATTACH]9432[/ATTACH]Trying to drill through that freakin highway cement! Check out the Florida steel toe shoes, I believe Reef makes them

[ATTACH]9433[/ATTACH]Blocks going up quickly.

[ATTACH]9434[/ATTACH] Almost finished.

Sicuramente un bel lavoro, ma strano il metodo di fare i muri "a secco", nemmeno un p? di malta tra un blocco e l'altro?

Ciao

[Bandrasco]

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

Thanks Gryso,

I used Google to translate,

Ho deciso di pila a secco mio blocchi e usare una malta speciale progettato per una migliore incollaggio Gove forza vs tipico blocco e mortaio. Si tratta di una fibra di vetro rinforzata incollaggio cemento. Ho anche riempito ogni core con cemento durante il lungo pour con 1 / 2 "rebar. Grazie ancora,

[Bandrasco]

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

Thanks Don,

I didn't even think of Craig's list. I went on and found a few Tampa folks giving away downed trees. Hopefully they still have them. I just can't believe how expensive oak is. This is a racket!

[Bandrasco]

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

Finally! First pizzas!!!

Looks good

Going in the inferno

Wow! 2 minutes, smells great!

Second one.

Perfecto!

Everyone enjoyed them, in fact no words were spoken, just ummmmmmmmmmmmm.

At this rate I'll be 400 lbs in no time. Bread going in tomorrow after the Christmas turkey!

[RTflorida]

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

Nice looking pies.
Bill, I picked up a load of wood from the guy in Tampa yesterday, He told me to tell you that he will make good on any wood you are not happy with. He really is serious about his wood and doesn't want to be thought of as just another tree service selling yesterdays cuttings. He and his dad have been at it for 25 yrs and repeat customers and referrals mean everything to them.

RT

[Frances]

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

What a lovely series of pics - you look really happy there. Congratulations!! The pizzas look delicious!

[amber]

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

Wow, your first one looks SOOO much neater than mine! Good work!

[Bandrasco]

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

Thanks RT,

I've been running all over trying to find another source but cannot find good wood. I'm not quite sure what to tell him... The wood smelled toxic and burned black and sooty... I was able to convince someone to give me some well seasoned oak, just enough for our pizzas and a few other treats. I'll give him a call and stop by. He seems like a very nice and honest guy. Thanks for mentioning it.

Any luck on the pecan wood from GA?

[Bandrasco]

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

Well I decided to give the old wood fired oven a shot at a turkey. It was very hard to get it in my head that this will work.

I had a fully thawed 21lb bird. Stuffed it, seasoned it, injected it with my favorite marinade I use to fry them, got the oven to a nice roar for about an hour then placed the bird in. Within 10 minutes the bird started to brown nicely and parts were looking like it was going to burst. I covered it with foil, and placed my sorry excuse for a door in place (a cut sheet of SS steel without insulation)and went in. I had already fried a turkey for Christmas dinner and we were all full so the outcome wasn't critical. After a few hours I checked the temp of the oven and bird. Oven was at 350 (lower wall temp) bird was at 145f. I really wanted a smoked bird so I placed a nice chunk of hickory on the small bed of coals that were still burning and boy did it start to smoke. The smoke was billowing out of the small spaces in my door and it smelled sooooo good. A few hours later I looked at the bird and it was caramelized and smelled fantastic but the temp was only at 155. I was getting worried since the oven temp was now at 280. Without an insulated door and 10:00pm approaching (plus all that triptopan was kicking in) I decided to bring the bird in to finish in the oven. After another hour and a half the bird was done and the entire house smelled like Sonnys BBQ. lol I let the bird sit for about 30 minutes before carving it.

Let me just say this..... I will be cooking A LOT of turkeys in this oven! Holy cow! This was the most moist,juicy meat I have ever had! Now I will never stop frying one each year as that's just heaven but I loved smoked meat and this oven keeps in all the moisture and adds sooooo much flavor. The meat just fell apart, off the bones with ease. I froze most of it as we just had so much turkey but it's just as good thawed and heated. I read that these ovens are very forgiving; thats an understatement! I bet if I had an insulated door it would have done better.

Next on the menu.... A large roast on the rotisserie.