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Post by bookemdanno on May 4, 2012 20:33:32 GMT
WOW...what a looker! Very, very nice oven! As Terry said, thank you for sharing your experience with us!
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Post by jonnycj on May 5, 2012 16:27:12 GMT
Well - it's currently having it's first full firing. Started slowly and building the heat up over a couple of hours. Mrs CJ is almost beside herself with excitement, mind you, pizza is her favourite food ! Here's some pics of the removable 63% arch. This one is before any firing, but it's about to get very sooty !  This shows the brick facing  This shows exactly how the 63% arch looks as a stand alone item - fire side shown  This is the bricks cut at a 45 degree angle to form a reflective surface and base for the 63 degree arch  Here's a pic of the oven burning away merrily and some fire wood neatly stacked in the various holes we built in  We're lucky enough to have a purpose built wood store (it used to be an oil tank store) and have been collecting logs, branches, twigs etc over the last 6 months, so it's filling up nicely. Going to use the oven to kiln dry some logs after each firing, so that should speed up the drying process. Pizza pics to follow shortly - I fully expect there to be some trial and error amusement for the first couple of times, but it's all part of the fun ! Incidentally, the outside of the oven is stone cold - not even a hint or warmth after 2 hours full firing. Shows the benefit of all the insulation layers. |
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Post by jonnycj on May 5, 2012 18:37:18 GMT
Here's the first one cooking away. Made the mistake of letting the coals get too low, so the pizza took about 5 mins to cook and wasn't quite browned at the edges. The roof of the oven is relatively high, so radiated heat with the temporary door off isn't as high as the base. I think the next one will have the fire still going at the back so that the edges get nice and crispy. It was still the best tasting pizza I've ever had !  |
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Post by minesamojito on May 5, 2012 22:41:18 GMT
That's a stunning oven, love the organisation with the wood of different sizes sorted, I could do with a bit of that. Pizza looks great, bet you're well chuffed  Cheers marcus |
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Post by jonnycj on May 6, 2012 8:36:37 GMT
Very chuffed - thanks :-)
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Post by samuraidave on May 6, 2012 10:28:57 GMT
Very nice build you have there, you should be very proud of yourself. Makes my build time look like it has its own time period.
Practice and patience are the key.
Well done.
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Post by cannyfradock on May 6, 2012 10:54:06 GMT
Jonny wrote
"I fully expect there to be some trial and error amusement for the first couple of times, but it's all part of the fun !"
I agree 100% !!!. Couple of points.....You will find that every time you use the oven you will get better firing up times, heat retention etc until about the 4/5/6th full firing. then the oven should have reached it's full potential.
Any thickness of pizza's can be baked as well as loaves, meat, fish, and just about anything (had the best ever sheesh kebab yesterday cooked in a WFO)...but the best pizza's from a WFO are usually Neopolitan style. About 3/5mm thick. Too much sauce or toppings may not bake the top of the pizza's in which case simply raise the pizza up with the peel to the top of the dome for 8 to 10 secs.
The crust on the bottom of the pizza normally forms (for turning) after 30 secs...I leave mine 50 secs...then look for leoparding underneath and turn as needed.
Try to keep your pizza dough cold...3 degrees, that way you won't need to dock the dough to stop it bubbling.......just a couple of points you may find usefull for your next pizza bash.
Terry
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Post by jonnycj on May 6, 2012 14:53:57 GMT
Cheers Terry, must admit to rushing the first one without bothering to research the best cooking methods, but you've nicely summarised things for me there :-)
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tapir
valid member
Posts: 45
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Post by tapir on May 6, 2012 15:00:50 GMT
Rock on Johnnycj! Great looking oven, enjoyed reading about your build and love the look of that pizza |
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Post by jonnycj on May 6, 2012 21:19:15 GMT
Muchos hacienda :-) looking forward to becoming a pizza barista, if there's such a thing !
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Post by jonnycj on May 12, 2012 18:22:15 GMT
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Post by moorsy on May 12, 2012 23:13:54 GMT
Jonnycj
awesome looking oven, well done and thanks for posting. Helps give me the inspiration to finish off mine.
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Post by turkey on May 13, 2012 11:48:43 GMT
looking great, re the high top its not uncommon for people to "top" their pizza when removing. As you pull it out on the peel just lift it right up to the roof to get a last intensive blast on the top.
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Post by jonnycj on May 29, 2012 18:52:18 GMT
Been using the top method to great effect ! Another tip is to ensure you use semolina flour on the peel, it helps the pizza slide off much easier than flour due to its more granular structure. Also, don't build the pizza on the peel and leave it sitting as the "wet" pizza will absorb the flour and it'll stick, sending your toppings into the coals ! I've now perfected the trick of getting the oven hit enough inside to burn all the soot off the firebricks. I do like a nice clean oven  |
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