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Post by cannyfradock on Feb 13, 2013 19:08:52 GMT
Mark.....well done!!
I touch my forelocks to you sir for a brilliant build with very limited materials to hand. Once you start firing this beast up, you may find a few cracks appearing.....that's par for the course in a Clay/Poo oven.....but simply use the same material for building the dome....for parging up any cracks.
We truly appreciate you sharing your build with us.......but, just to be cheeky......please don't stop posting any pics of the food that you cook in your oven. btw......has your oven got a name?
Terry
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Post by limpopomark on Feb 15, 2013 9:07:43 GMT
Thank you Terry!
I love the word 'parging'; its a new one for me, and I will try and use it at some point in a sentence.
There is absolutely no chance of me disappearing without evidence of pizzerial success. My level of self-obsession wouldn't allow it either. The boss is in town on Monday (a 450km round trip) so I will insist on mozzarella of some sort being on the shopping list. The choice of flour in this country is limited - it is either brown cake, brown bread, white cake or white bread. Some mixture or combination will eventually prove best, I am sure, but for now we'll use some trial mixtures of brown and white bread flour. Used some brilliant stuff from Letheringsett Mill in Norfolk before, but obviously there is no chance of getting that here.
Still need to get a peel of some sort knocked up, but unless there is a disaster I'm hoping to get a pizza out of it next week some time.
As for names, the word 'claymore' has been in mind during the building process, but it will probably affectionately become know as 'the beehive'. I am open to suggestions.
mark
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Post by rivergirl on Feb 15, 2013 12:09:36 GMT
nelly ? Well she was made using elephant dung!!
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Post by limpopomark on Feb 19, 2013 16:20:33 GMT
First efforts... Some dough was being made the other day, and as there was just me and one of the volunteers in camp - the one making dough - and the oven was hot, we thought we'd try and eat something from it. We made a little garlic butter to slop on the dough with a little cheese, and hey presto out first effort was knocked out. In all honesty, the result was disappointing. I have learned a lot from that one trial about top heat vs bottom heat (the bottom was nowhere near hot enough) so the dough at the bottom was undercooked while the top was bubbling in seconds. Also, due to lack of a peel, we used the homemade shovel from the braai, which firstly choved the bread staright into the ash at the back on entry, and again on turning and exit. And I hadn't blown the ash/debris away from the hearth so it was burned, ashy and sandy. However, we were pleased as punch. And neither of us broke a tooth. The scrapyard next to our camp has yeielded a piece of copper pipe which I'll use as a blower, as well as a decent handle for both the yet-to-be-made peel and a coal-mover. It looks like I have camp to myself for the next two days so hopefully will be running some pizza experiments in between tidying up cracks. That's all for now, cheers mark Attachments:
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Post by cannyfradock on Feb 19, 2013 19:54:34 GMT
Hey Mark Trial and error is sometimes cruel, but it's a good way to learn. Even with makedo peels you will soon learn how to use them. I've shoved many a banana and nutella calzone into the embers while helping out at a community pizza oven with a dodgy hearth.... It's a bit awkward when the chocolate starts seeping out and makes the calzone stick, when the child behind me starts crying and shouting out......hey mam, this fat bloke just set my pizza on fire (they do burn extremely well) Once you can fire your beast up with impunity (hotter than the devil's own festering ar*ehole) then spread the embers over the whole surface of the hearth before pushing to the rear.......this will help with bottom heat. Best of luck with your next firing. Terry
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Post by limpopomark on Feb 20, 2013 15:14:19 GMT
I repaired a few cracks this morning... then re-expanded the oven for this... Attachments:
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Post by limpopomark on Feb 20, 2013 15:30:42 GMT
Oh... thanks Terry - all the volunteers have gone for two days, and taken the bananas with them, so the two jars of nutella in the cupboard are unable to provide a suitable finish to the evening. Fortunately, there's still beer.
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Post by umhloti on Mar 7, 2013 10:27:03 GMT
looking good mark . Thanx enjoyed your build
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Post by limpopomark on Mar 10, 2013 9:51:48 GMT
Thanks Umhloti - I was equally pleased to post pictures of sunshine and that red earth you must miss sometimes! I hope you got some of that warm weather I sent, otherwise it's gone straight past and is now melting an icecap.
This afternoon I'm chopping up some more mopane, watching Italy lose to England and lighting another fire in the beehive, possibly not in that order.
Hope all's well with you!
mark
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Post by umhloti on Mar 10, 2013 21:42:46 GMT
yes thanx mark wel its bloody cold here and sleet rain for 2 days nowl
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Post by limpopomark on Jul 14, 2013 12:37:26 GMT
Hello from afar!
Just a quickie to say it looks like we are upping sticks and moving to a different reserve... so there goes my clay/elephant poo baby and those rather handy bricks we found for the cooking surface. However, we've just spent a week at the potential new place and although i didn't see 'clay' anywhere like we have here, we will be re-building somehow over there. There's a good run of Limpopo river frontage, so there ought to be clay accessible somewhere. Whatever - I'll let you know what's happening with the next one as it happens. Hope all of you are having a good summer up there - it's horribly cold here, and even the elephants are wearing scarves.
Thanks for all the advice, comments, support and nonsense.
Love and pizzas,
mark
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Post by umhloti on Jul 18, 2013 9:30:54 GMT
good to hear from you mark where on the limpopo you going now . I
Its bloody warm here for Ireland now 25 degrees yes i know a tipical bushveld day in late autum can be 36,5 degrees . People are moaning about the heat and due to all the himidity the 23/25 feels like 32c .
Wow you might have build your second oven before i finish my first self build on this site .
Stay in touch and was womnderfull to watch your build thank you
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Post by limpopomark on Jul 20, 2013 7:26:39 GMT
Mate you may be going slowly but it is still looking good! We've got a camp ready and waiting on 24,000Ha that runs from the southward bend of the Limpopo diagonally across to the Pontdrift border - www.mapungubwepnr.com - so not far at all from here and still in the proposed transfrontier conservation area. It's got some stunning views and no one has done any research over there, apart from some stuff with the rock art which is everywhere. The camp needs a little work, and it will be a little more rustic than this one (ie no wireless broadband and no swimming pool) but it should allow us to get back to doing more wildlife stuff. It's a shame we can't just take the current oven with us though - those hearth bricks were a spectacularly lucky find! mark
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Post by limpopomark on Jul 20, 2013 7:35:33 GMT
I should have added this before - after investigating some of the cracks it seemed that the ele poo/clay layer had been compromised somewhat and had burned out in places. This took a little extra repairing than just the usual crack filling, but it's been ok since, and while I didn;t replace the insulation (I just stuffed it full of clay/sand) it still doesn't readily transmit heat to the outside. Perhaps that's some kind of magic. My assumption is that external cracks coupled with hairline internal cracks had allowed heat and oxygen to do their worst on that bit of the oven. It has made me very cautious about doing too much digging around external cracks with a screwdriver, that's for sure. mark Attachments:
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Post by limpopomark on Jul 20, 2013 7:41:00 GMT
... after the repairs, it seemed appropriate to adorn the oven with a little clay art... ... unfortunately the boss left the sprinklers on one afternoon, which didn't go down too well with either me or the oven, so it's looking plain again now. Next time, we will do it right! mark Attachments:
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