John's 42inch Aussie WFO

[John K]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

1 side of the dome enclosure is complete, 1 to go

[Tscarborough]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

Very nice!

[BackyardPermaculture]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

John,

Don't be too worried about having covered it with blanket - steam will drive out through the blanket. But it will get correspondingly hot while that happens - but make sure there's no roof over the top until it's all dry.

I poured loose vermiculite into mine, to fill the gap between the blanket and the enclosure at the sides. The vermiculite is cheap (I think $35 for 100L bag) so probably worth doing. I ordered it from a hydroponics supplier in NSW via eBay. They "guarantee your privacy" by shipping it in black plastic wrapping and without any identifying labels - and I thought all the hydroponics customers were growing tomatoes

Cheers,
Mick

[MikeyMann]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

Heya John,

not to worry... just make sure you completely dry it out... i think you've got the oven at 200 degrees until the steam stops. and gradually increase until more steam, and hold it there, etc etc. i'm sure you know how.

i would put some vermiculite in... just helps keep the heat in. here's a photo of the inside of my enclosure... you can see the top of the fibre blanket poking through, but the entire void is full of 2 bags of vermiculite.

cheers

M

[John K]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

John,

Don't be too worried about having covered it with blanket - steam will drive out through the blanket. But it will get correspondingly hot while that happens - but make sure there's no roof over the top until it's all dry.

I poured loose vermiculite into mine, to fill the gap between the blanket and the enclosure at the sides. The vermiculite is cheap (I think $35 for 100L bag) so probably worth doing. I ordered it from a hydroponics supplier in NSW via eBay. They "guarantee your privacy" by shipping it in black plastic wrapping and without any identifying labels - and I thought all the hydroponics customers were growing tomatoes

Cheers,
Mick

What!! You mean their not growing tomatoes!!

Thanks Mick I might jump online and check out ebay as I would need to take a day off to pick some vermiculite from my refactory supplier.

cheers

[John K]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

Heya John,

i would put some vermiculite in... just helps keep the heat in. here's a photo of the inside of my enclosure... you can see the top of the fibre blanket poking through, but the entire void is full of 2 bags of vermiculite

Thanks Michael

So 2 bags @ 100Litres each?. I assume you picked those up from Field furnace or did you find a supplier closer to home?

Mike (BackyardPermaculture) picked his up from ebay so might try there. No time to go out to Weatherille park during the week!

cheers

[John K]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

Completed the outer walls of the oven over the weekend

Not sure about the roof at this stage

Do I build a pitched roof? I have the roof tiles which I had left over from the house renovation or do I do a Flat roof and build a large pergola over the whole WFO/Open spit???

Decisions decisions!!

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

That's a great cooking area with the open spit on the right of the wfo.

I like the thought of a pergola or roof over all of it. But what does that mean for the oven? A simple, filled in flat, but slightly curved cement roof with the flu sticking up out of it wouldn't conflict with a pergola but a roof tiled structure always looks good.

I've always thought it a great idea to do like Mick says, fill the void with vermiculite.

You're going to do some amazing cooking in that think. Cheers, Dino

[John K]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

So many choices Dino but not sure?

Personally would like a pitched roof over the WFO but would also like a Pitched roof/Pergola over the whole area.

The issue is that I have not spoken to my local council authority in relation to this whole area so if I was to build any type of structure over the top I would need to seek approval at which point the WFO and open spit would fail local compliance due to the proximity to the neighbors and size of the structures.

I think I am going to just place a flat roof over the top with the flu sticking up out of it. This will do for a few months and hopefully have the neighbors overs for a few pizza sessions and see how he reacts to a possible roof structure over the whole thing (no council involvement) fingers crossed.

cheers

[John K]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

Cleaned the outside of the oven with acid and a gurney over the weekend and am fairly happy with the results

Looking forward to next weekend as I will begin curing!!

Feel free to recommend any curing Technics if you like

[fxpose]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

That's an absolutely beautiful brickwork!

George

[John K]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

Thank you for the complement George. It's been 9 months in the making and still going!!

I just read through your thread and love you build!!

Great use of the space you had and the shaping of the oven/Flue looks great!!

What colour are you planning for the stucco finish?

cheers

[John K]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

Cured the oven over the weekend and started on Friday night.

All went well with no cracks in the oven Dome so I passed the test for the time being!!

Began with 8kg of hot coals in the oven at 7pm and added another 8kg at 11pm. At this point I was going to go to sleep but against my good judgment decided to throw in timbers @ 2 am by 10 am I had the fires from hell going.

I know that the curing process should have been much longer but as I finished the dome a good 3-4 months ago I wasn't to worried about any major failings with the dome due to water retention.

We ended up cooking our first roast with potatoes on Saturday followed by some late afternoon baking of some bread. Both turned out great!!

All in all happy with the performance of the oven but know it will only get better with time.

Will post some pics when I get a chance

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

Wahooo!! oven fully cured in record time. I agree with you John, you had the majority of the oven done a while ago so your accelerated curing was fine. Your flu looks so I good I bet it's draw was excellent.
Roasting and baking already. It's great to be using the oven finally isn't it?
Congratulations, Dino

[John K]

Re: John's 42inch Aussie WFO

Thank you Dino!

Yes finally cured but still some way from completion

I have fired the oven a few times since the 1st time and am happy to say no internal cracks to date. I do however have some some cracks in the outside brickwork and put it down to insufficient drying time. I only left it 2 weeks after the final brick laying and a week after the acid clean so I guess I brought it upon myself!!

I have grinded out the cracks and will re-point these in a few weeks

Here are some pics of the first firing and also the fires from hell!!