SC Chris's 42" WFO build

[SCChris]

Sorry for the late reply Harry, I swapped the soapstone for granite mostly due to the soapstone's ability to transfer heat, it's great at convection. I created a small heat break between the landing and the oven floor, this was a real plus for my oven. The landing is a natural for something easier other than firebrick to clean and it's highly recommended to at least consider. I love the soapstone, but the granite worked out better for me in the end.

Best to you!!
Chris

[Hazidoc]

Hi Chris,
Nice sourdough loaf. We just finished curing our new Pompeii 42" build and we made pizza this past Sunday using sourdough pizza dough. We were amazed how much better sourdough comes out in a WFO. I am firing the oven up tomorrow for pizza again and am in the process of refreshing my starter so I am going to try baking some free form sourdough loaves in the WFO. I am thinking of using soapstone for my vent landing like you did. How has it held up over the years?
Harry

[SCChris]

Dino, the sourdough loaves were not from the wfo, but I'll be including these in the mix since the cooldown provides the opportunity.
Ricky, the 80th went well, and thank you!.
I have dinners schedualed for the 8th and the 22nd, so I'll include a few pics of the area in use.

Chris

[Chach]

I've been absent from the board for awhile and this is the current view of the backyard.
The oven is now getting more use after sitting idle for sometime.
It appears that this year is likley to include many pizzas, roasts and loaves.


Chris

Very nice! I saw your thread a few years ago an really enjoyed reading it especial when you said your FIL was coming in as a belated 80th birthday gift. How did that go I bet he loved the oven. It looks really amazing...the whole backyard is amazing. Good luck going forward and happy cooking.

Ricky

[Dino_Pizza]

So awesome Chris! Yard looks amazing; bread looks amazing! I’ve been off of here for years too, so it’s a real treat to see FB (ha ha, just realized the 2 ways to read that) friends post. I’ll try too as well since I just retired and have no excuse not share my oven cooking. Was that loaf out of the WFO? Or home oven cooking? Cheers!

[SCChris]

I've been absent from the board for awhile and this is the current view of the backyard.
The oven is now getting more use after sitting idle for sometime.
It appears that this year is likley to include many pizzas, roasts and loaves.


Chris

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

I got out of a meeting early yeseterday and was able to get home about 3:30. I built a fire so I could bake off some hearth bread using a Peter Reinhart recipe. Aside from the time constraints, 2 hours for the dough to wake up and shape up and about an hour to bake. The bread was a great first run. I have to say the idea that so little kneading is required to get great tasting bread and with only flour salt yeast and water and time. Amazing!! As for getting a baseline, not this time.. I did note that there is a large discrepancy between the IR readings on the floor and the dial thermeter in the door, 50 degrees or so. I just need to keep this difference in mind. This difference brings the temp retention with the new entry back to where the low temps seen Monday could more relate to not having saturated the dome and closing the inner door when the temps were really on the low edge of pizza.

Chris

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Hey Chris,,
If you are an artistic person, the soapstone engraves very easily with a dremel rotary tool or engraver... and personally I loke the pig idea... now you got me thinking about mine..
Cheers
Mark

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

On a completly seperate note, I've been thinking that perhaps I need to sandblast somthing onto the SStone, a quote.. No I think some sort of graphic. Maybe a Pig, a Chicken and a Steer?? Or?? this space is just aching for decoration.


C

PS Hansel and Gretel might be a bit much!

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Thanks for the kind words Les. I slept on it and I think there are a few things going on.

1: The oven was on the downslope of the heat curve and I hadn't really run a big fire so I'm sure that the oven wasn't fully heated throughout.

2: I used the door mounted thermometer rather than the IR gun that I had used in my initual baseline readings last year.

3: The SStone is a much more dense material than is the firebrick so I'd bet the R-Value of the brick is higher.

I'm going to have to do a hard, saturating fire in the oven and re-measure the heat loss. I think that a 1" piece of insulating board between the fire brick and the SStone would make a world of difference of heat loss through this area, and I may do this. I may also go by the ceramics shop and get a kiln shelf and use it as a break between the oven floor and the entry. I won't really know what to do, if anything, before I run another baseline.

Chris

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Hey Chris,
My soapstone is just touching my firebrick, I havent noticed any heat loss yet,, But wasnt looking for it either. Will have to pay attention now,, I did notice however that during my startup fire the soapstone got over 375 degrees.. which I ws thinking was just from the reflective heat from the fire.. after the heat up it cooled down and was still hot but workable.. you can see in the pic I dont really have much of a contact area

Would you be able to put in an "insulation gap" of some sort between the firebrick and the soapstone ?? some vermicrete,, piece of insulating board etc ??

Cheers
Mark

[Les]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Chris,

It's hard to believe that it is acting as a heat sink. Your approach is brilliant and solves the staining problem we all have. I wished I had thought of doing this. I was looking at my entry and I think I can remove the front brick (angle grinder required) and replace it with a "cleanable surface". I've been on this forum for some time and it constantly amazes me to see the evolution of the builds.

Les...

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Ok here is a preliminary report on the Soapstone entry:

I not completely sure at this point but I think the heat retention after the soapstone install isn't as good as with the firebrick. In short, I think the SStone under the door is wicking the heat out faster than was the traditional brick floor.. Here is what I'm seeing. Last night I made 4 pizzas, my best to date, and corked the door. The fire was at the end, but my expectation would be that I should have had 450F or so when I got home. No such luck, I was at 350F. I know that my oven was on the down slope of heat and I may over guessing things. I'll do another check this week. I have some hearth bread to get cooked before Friday. If the SStone is acting as a conduit for the heat under the door, then the question is what do I do about it? I do like the clean surface of the entry. I may cut it back 2.5 inches and run the brick forward, it wouldn't be hard to do.. I'll keep you all posted, it may be next week before I'm sure.

Chris

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Eric Congrats on the cooking, I'll be doing the same menu.

As for the SStone in the entry, you got it. I took the bricks out and cut them flush to the outer side of the dome entry. At this point all I had was the 2" insulating board from this point out. I cut a spare piece of 8" wide SStone to a 1/4 inch shy of the outer door jamb where the door slides into and stops , where the sidewalls die. This 8" wide cutoff is the support for the slab and it also provides an air stop to keep the cold air from running under the floor where the door sits. at the front of the slab, more spare SStone support runners sit. Since the double thickness of SStone is 2.5 inches, a 1/4 inch higher than the firebrick, I beveled the SStone to transition to the brick.

It's funny how blue the soapstone stone dust is, I wouldn't have guessed looking at the slab that there is so much blue in there.

Chris

[eprante]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Chris,
Did you take the bricks out of the landing area and replace them with the soapstone? If so, then I get it with the transition.

I put a layer of FB blanket over my oven this AM. That is some serious stuff. I got home from surfing, the temp of the blanket was 140, the outside of the dome 503. Nice stuff James.

Yes, send me the info on your soapstone source.

I am cooking bread, chicken, and roasted vegetables in the oven tonight.

Eric