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Post by jsmythk on Nov 22, 2013 16:17:14 GMT
Final pic for today - first curing fire in the oven. Very happy with that. Attachments:
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Post by jsmythk on May 8, 2014 13:47:42 GMT
A couple of updates as I have been working on finishing off the oven but the weather has been the main delaying factor. I have had a few early cook sessions including a first pizza party which was fantastic. The oven got to around 650C and pizzas were cooking in around 45 seconds! More on that later, but see the latest pics of the build in the next couple of posts... This pic is taken looking down on the top of the chimney as I was not quite sure how to build it up.
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Post by jsmythk on May 8, 2014 13:49:16 GMT
I eventually figured it out as you can see above, but I still need to build it up a bit higher. I also had a bit of vermiculite left over so I added two "columns" of vermicrete to the front of the oven to make sure I retain as much heat in the oven as possible! You can see the "columns" where I have moulds being held in place at the front of the oven with bricks etc.
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Post by jsmythk on May 8, 2014 13:56:52 GMT
We cooked burgers and buns and they were truly delicious! But I did burn the buns which was rather annoying. See pic below:
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Post by jsmythk on May 8, 2014 14:06:26 GMT
This pic shows the entrance of the oven when the extra "columns" of vermicrete at the front had dried off.
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Post by jsmythk on May 8, 2014 14:15:51 GMT
This is the first ever pizza from the oven! If I was not already a converted pizza lover, I would be now. This is the only way to cook pizza and this oven is going to get regular use from now onwards. I did not know exactly when the time would be right for cooking, but I pushed the fire right to the back of the oven and the flames were curling forward towards the entrance, no smoke was apparent from the top of the chimney just a magical heat haze. So I got on with it and what a result! I did not have a chance to get hold of a peel yet, so I fashioned one out of an old broom handle and a section out of an old water tank, hammered it flat and gave it a good scrub. Worked a treat. Next project is to get the base rendered, finish off the chimney and then figure out a roof over the top, but I love the curved shape of the oven body, so I may just render that too!
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Post by mattyb on May 8, 2014 15:56:00 GMT
Great pic! Its a fantastic feeling when you are regularly making such good pizzas. I had a pizza party for approx 35 people on Bank Holiday Monday and took great delight in seeing these friends sample the pizzas for the first time. When people tell you that they are the finest they have ever eaten it gives you such a buzz. In terms of comparision, I now give frozen / refrigerated prepacked supermarket pizzas a wide berth. I have no interest in takeaway / Pizza Hut / Dominoes as I feel tjey are inferior in quality and taste. Whilst we're on the subject of Dominoes.....large pizza, £17?? Seriously?
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Post by dirtlover2005 on May 9, 2014 15:39:07 GMT
What great thread! Thanks for sharing your build. I have been collecting heater bricks and considering both Vault and Pompei - swaying towards the latter. I'm sure I have seen one built but can't seem to find it. Out of interest how many heater bricks have you used?
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Post by moonhead on May 11, 2014 11:57:06 GMT
Great to see the first pizza out of your oven. It's a tremendous feeling getting to the stage you can stand back and enjoy the graft you've put in to your build. Looking really great! Rick
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Post by jsmythk on May 12, 2014 15:24:43 GMT
Thanks for the replies and encouragement. I could not have got this far without the inspiration of this excellent forum.
MattyB - I have never been a fan of takeaways and never will be now!!
Dirtlover - I collected 56 heater blocks and used 53 (as I still have 3 left) but I did waste 3 or 4 of them messing about when I was cutting them to shape for the entrance of the oven, so I reckon you could get away with using 50 or so for this size of oven. Also its not necessary, in my humble opinion to use them for the entrance. I used them as I had some left over after building the main body of the oven.
Rick - Many thanks, your oven is superb and real example to me during my building process, I certainly "borrowed" some of your ideas and build spec but there is no way I could match your skill and precision. You are quite right, I was grinning from ear to ear when that first pizza came out perfectly. I was amazed by how fast it cooked!
Now I need to get it finished......
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Post by brennanpincardiff on May 19, 2014 20:23:50 GMT
Really inspiring to see the first pizza out. Thanks for sharing that. Glad to read that I'm not the only person with a winter delay. Still, I'll have a pizza from mine soon. Thanks for the inspiration. Paul
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Post by jsmythk on May 21, 2014 12:42:15 GMT
Hi Paul,
Thanks for that. You will get there, your build is really coming along well and I am sure that it will be a great oven once you have it finished.
Keep going!! The summer is coming and there is nothing better than having a pizza party for a few friends with a couple of cold ales.
Cheers
Jas
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Post by jsmythk on Jul 21, 2014 13:39:03 GMT
Its been a while since I posted, rather a lot going on and that has delayed the progress somewhat. Plus from the point I got to in the last post with a picture above, I did not have a clear plan of progression. This caused me to take rather more time to re-design how the final oven will look. Because I had not made allowances for the oven to be finished in the way that it now will be - so the following pictures will look a little odd. I put this down to being a complete amateur! Note to all those considering building an oven - make sure you finish your design before you start the build. It will save you a lot of time...... but then again maybe that is half the fun of doing something like this for yourself for the very first time. Pic below shows some additional breeze blocks added to the front of the oven to bring the sides of the entrance at the same height as the oven floor. I decided to put a slate roof on the oven to match the house so the pic also shows the roof frame that I built. In this pic it is just resting on the body of the oven so I could visualise how to make the rest of the oven! I also decided to build on top of the entrance to make sure the overall visual of the oven is balanced with a high roof behind. So I needed to add bulk on top of the entrance which I have done with thermolites set in place with homebrew.
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Post by jsmythk on Jul 21, 2014 13:46:33 GMT
Next Pic shows breeze block supports for the roof frame so that the roof does not rest on the body of the oven, I have also added slate shelves to the both sides of the entrance to the oven plus slate cladding to the vertical surfaces of the oven entrance. The top of the entrance will have a rocky outcrop built on top of it with various stones from my favourite part of the world and the start of this can be seen in this pic.
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Post by jsmythk on Jul 21, 2014 13:48:11 GMT
The growing rocky outcrop hmmmmm - its fast becoming a mountain.... We have been using the oven for lots of pizza parties and I have to say that the oven is performing incredibly well, it gets to about 615C in about 1.5 hrs and cooks pizzas to perfection in 45-60 seconds.
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