OctoForno

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: OctoForno

Nate,
My sincerest apologies, but there are plausible reasons for the endless delays... really! Excuse #1: If I didn't have one kid in college (UCSD) and a second committed to USC in the fall, I'd have enough money to have my stainless entryway floor and flue fabricated and paid for the normal way. Excuse #2: I'm still waiting on my brother to fabricate these for me, for free. Excuse #3: I've been on a diet (lost 13lbs) since Jan 1 and got so hungry the other night I woke up and ate my fingers so I can't mortar anything until they grow back...
With any luck I'll get my steel in the next couple of weeks and can go cut on some bricks. Nate, you're right - I've had so much time to think about outer arch design that I think I could do it blindfolded.

Keeping my fingers crossed for pizza at Easter...
John

[Laurentius]

Re: OctoForno

What, fingers?? John!

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: OctoForno

Oh, you are going to be so glad you dropped weight prior to finishing your oven

I've been on a diet (lost 13lbs) since Jan 1....Keeping my fingers crossed for pizza at Easter...
John

Pizza weight-gain should be an official hazard warning on a sticky thread somewhere between flying brick chips and cement burns on the hands

Seriously John, congratulations on the diet, and can't wait to see pizza picts in that beautiful oven.

-Dino

[Pompeii Nate]

Re: OctoForno

Hey John,

I agree with Dino...nice work on the diet. I can't say that I have lost much weight since Christmas but I just bought a new treadmill 2 days ago so maybe I will be able to give a different report in a few months.

So Easter huh? That is not too far off but I think you should be able to do it. I will keep a close eye on this thread to see how you finish off this beautiful oven. (And yes I know having two kids in college, especially one at USC, is VERY expensive. Good luck with that!)

Nate

[deejayoh]

Re: OctoForno

John -
I have been thinking about laying down 3cm of soapstone like you have done here. Did you set this up so that the soapstone is removeable? I have been calling around looking for a vendor that has some scrap, and figured if I had them cut quarter circles + the landing as a 5th piece, I could remove the soapstone if say, I wanted to bake bread and thought it retained too much heat.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: OctoForno

Dennis,
I too read about soapstone being too efficient as a heat-radiator and not suitable for baking bread. Then Jay (Texassourdough) here said don't worry about it: build your fires to heat-load your oven accordingly, the dome and floor are independent. Don't worry, be happy. I now think this is practical thinking, that 500F is 500F like Jay said. If not, I'm prepared to go with aluminum bread trays.

If you look at Post #35 on this thread, you'll see that I cut the soapstone to be 'easily' removed in the event it cracks, although if it does it will still be functional. Warning, though. This stuff is insanely heavy. I tried to pry up the front of the slab next to the arch so I could widen the arch about 1/8" (to save it from crcking if the soapstone expands) and I ended up lifting the entire dome off the firebrick 'subfloor'. I was just lucky I had beveled the front edge of the soapstone or it will never come out. My ingenious plan to remove it (if I ever have to) is to pry the middle piece up and slide a piece of ice the shape of a freezer bag and about 1/2" thick underneath and slide it out. Same with the remaining two pieces.

At the rate I'm going, if you do install soapstone in your oven, you'll be finished before me and can tell me how it works! The reports from the 81" commercial oven thread on this site report that the soapstone floor works mahvelously...

John

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: OctoForno

Oh, you are going to be so glad you dropped weight prior to finishing your oven

Dino,

You are so right about this! All through the oven build I have been thinking about all the weight that's gonna mysteriously appear (pizza, bread, cookies, souffles) But a cook has to maintain a minimum of quality control, right?

[Pompeii Nate]

Re: OctoForno

Well, John...as my grandmother and great aunt always said...NEVER trust a skinny cook!

[SCChris]

Re: OctoForno

Ping!

John, Do you have any new photos to share?

Thanks

Chris

[Dagored154]

Re: OctoForno

I have 3 1/2" soapstone bricks and was told not to use them for the floor because they are not an insulator. I love what you did with yours, any problem with baking? does the oven cool down too much?

[mrchipster]

Re: OctoForno

I have 3 1/2" soapstone bricks and was told not to use them for the floor because they are not an insulator. I love what you did with yours, any problem with baking? does the oven cool down too much?

John used the soapstone as his baking layer and has insulation under the soapstone slabs. You could do it this way and it will work nicely.

Chip

[Dagored154]

Re: OctoForno

thanks. that is a good idea.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: OctoForno

I have 3 1/2" soapstone bricks and was told not to use them for the floor because they are not an insulator

Chip's right: I positioned my soapstone as the baking surface since it reportedly recharges more quickly than firebrick. I believe this is why commercial ovens employ soapstone. I actually have a layer of 2.5"-thick firebrick sandwiched between the soapstone and 5.5" of insulation. That gives me a total 3.75" of floor mass.

I'd love to report on the performance of my oven but I just acquired my flue and am now forming up my entryway arches and vent.

I think 3.5"-thick soapstone bricks are the bomb. They should charge quickly and with sufficient insulation underneath, retain their heat. Like concrete, with bricks, you engineer potential cracks out of the equation.

John

[SCChris]

Re: OctoForno

John, how's the oven coming?

Chris

[oasiscdm]

Re: OctoForno

Hi John

Would love to see the rest of your pics leading to the finished product.....
Am assuming you have finsihed your build.