Jamie's build

[aceves]

Re: Jamie's build

Hi Jamie,

Congrats on your completion! I like the stucco & brick design. And I love the corner build & "L" layout!

We also have a freezer full of grassfed beef, so lots of roasting in our future once the WFO is done. I liked your story of how you "saved" your beef by cooking it in the oven. Good to know in case that happens to us.

Good cookin' and keep the food & pizza pics coming.

aceves

P.S. I explained my key placement in my thread. Have a look when you get a chance.

aceves

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

Since it's been a while since I've posted, here's an update on the current state of the oven:

It has been working great. I'm finally in the swing of using it, and have really gotten the hang of pizza. It's the other aspects of wood-fired cooking that have really got me going, though. We've been roasting and baking at least as much as we've been doing pizza, and it's been more useful than I would have imagined.

We've been doing our thanksgiving (and other holiday) meals with it, and it's been great. 15 pound turkey plus 20-plus pound ham plus several other dishes and casseroles all at once, without batting an eye... and without overcrowding the indoor kitchen.

It really proved it's worth, though, when we had a freezer mishap and ended up with about 70 pounds of thawed beef. My wife went in on a deal with some of her co-workers and bought a quarter of a locally raised and butchered grass-fed steer. A great deal for some excellent meat... half of which was almost lost. I went out to the garage to pull out a roast for dinner, and found that the plug has fallen out and everything that was out there completely thawed, still cool to the touch but no longer even a little frozen. All the steaks were in the freezer in the kitchen, but there were about 25 pounds of hamburger, 7 or 8 roasts of several varieties, short ribs, and a few various other cuts all in the garage. We knew we had to act fast to save it... it was too thawed to refreeze, but we could cook it and freeze the prepared meals. So, I fired up the oven and we got to cooking. My wife cooked up the ground beef into taco meat and spaghetti sauce while I prepped the roasts. After a full day of cooking, we put the last two chuck roasts in the oven for an overnight slow cook. It all came out great, and now we have a ready stock of meals to defrost and reheat.

The garden and outdoor kitchen have really come together, and thanks to this forum we have a beautiful and functional centerpiece.

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

I wouldn't go with white. You are going to have a fair amount of carbon building up around the vent exit. Your build is looking great.

Les...

That's a very good point. I'll have to think about that... there's already a bit of soot, so you're definitely right.

[Les]

Re: Jamie's build

I wouldn't go with white. You are going to have a fair amount of carbon building up around the vent exit. Your build is looking great.

Les...

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

update-

I haven't been too active on the board lately... raising a 2-year-old will do that. The oven is coming along, though. Now that spring is in full swing, I've finally gotten my chimney cap sorted out. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of it during construction; you'll have to use your imagination. I received the directive that it should be copper; it set mt back about $75 for the copper sheet (ouch) and took a couple of weeks working intermittently, but it's on and functional. Now all that need to be done is the surface coat of stucco and final weatherproofing. Since it absorbed a bit of water over the winter, I intend to wait until this summer to put on any sealing coats. I intend to give it a smooth plaster finish, probably painted in a pale earth tone (white would be too stark, I think).

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

Yeah, I'm trying not to worry too much. I've read all the horror stories about cracks, and the advice that they are usually not too much of a problem. I don't foresee this being too bad. I will post pics of both the bird and the crack when I get them uploaded.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: Jamie's build

Jamie,
I seriously wouldnt worry as things dry and cure and settle together it may still close up.. if its that bad yu can always repont it... give it some time... glad to hear your turkey came out so welll.... post it in the http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/18/t...html#post73265thread with pics of course

cheers and congratulations
Mark

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

After my curing fires, I decided to go for the gusto and do the thanksgiving turkey. The meal was a phenomenal success... I'll probably post about it in one of the cooking threads soon.

In fact, it was such a rousing success, the friends and extended family we saw a few days later requested an encore. Yes, I cooked two turkeys in 3 days; I even had a third round with the rest of the extended family we visited on Sunday. I am officially turkey'd out.

Unfortunately, I found that after the second bird we cooked, there was a nice-sized crack running down from about 3/4 of the way up down to the floor. Most of the way it zig-zagged along the mortar joints; but right where I had staggered the seams most effectively to prevent that sort of running seam crack, there was a split straight through the middle of the brick.

I had used a combination of two different colors of firebrick based on what was available and discounted at the time of purchase. They were both from the same manufacturer, both nominally medium duty, but different colors and textures, with a somewhat different density. I have a suspicion that the slightly larger, slightly rougher, slightly less dense yellow brick had a different expansion/contraction rate than the harder red bricks, and cracked during the cooling cycle. It was a chilly (although not terribly cold), windy day, and the temperature may have fallen somewhat quickly after the bird was removed (as I neglected to close the door back up afterward). I don't know for sure that this was the problem, but it is one possibility. The other possibility is just that there wasn't enough medium-heat curing time before my big fires, but I think that between the propane burner setup and the two days of high-heat curing fires I was probably pretty good. After all, it wasn't just the mortar that cracked, and it was after both high heat curing and cooking a previous bird.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: Jamie's build

Also, if the round cut floor is intimidating, you can just lay out your floor any which way and build your dome right on top, as I did.

I did this as well, I also used 3/8 plywood as a form... After my cure I just burned the form out and it kept my floor clean during the build


Cheers
Mark

[dmun]

Re: Jamie's build

I have to imagine the cutting is a *****.

If you've cut other forms of masonry on a wet saw, like natural stone or porcelain tile, you'll find cutting firebrick is like cutting balsa wood. The wet saw diamond blade blasts right through without choking or binding. If you need weird shapes, you just whittle it to a line. Since the blade isn't serrated, you can get close and personal without endangering your digits.

Also, if the round cut floor is intimidating, you can just lay out your floor any which way and build your dome right on top, as I did.

[mstang1988]

Re: Jamie's build

Looks great! I saw your reply to my roof question, it does seem like a good idea. Do you have any more pics of yours? How many hours of work would you estimate into your project? Also, a question that I'm sure has been answered a million times, how do people get the nice round shape for the dome floor? I have to imagine the cutting is a *****.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: Jamie's build

great fire jamie... congrats.... "COOK THE TURKEY IN IT"



Good Luck
Mark

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

I was worried about the draw on the chimney, with it's shallow depth; but it seems as if my full-width vent transition helps alot. Even though the wood I was burning was still a little on the green side and was smoking a fair amount, when the breeze picked up, there was almost no smoke out the front.

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

First big fire today. I am so stoked words fail.

It was awesome to watch the dome go white out to the arch.

All is going according to plan. I hope to fire again tomorrow morning and make the (perhaps foolhardy) leap of faith into cooking the thanksgiving turkey in the newly cured oven.

Make that probably, not perhaps. Nonetheless, I'm committed at this point. Either that, or I should be committed.

Wish me luck!

[Mitchamus]

Re: Jamie's build

great work Jamie - love the design.