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Post by neilos83 on May 25, 2016 20:23:32 GMT
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Post by tim1989 on May 27, 2016 6:05:10 GMT
Have you got any pics of how the top of the dome come out inside? I'm debating doing the ball trick but want to see how it comes out
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Post by neilos83 on May 27, 2016 12:02:01 GMT
Tim, the ball I used was a bit light weight and although it held most of the bricks OK, one of the bricks dropped too low. I built the rest of the top of the dome out with homebrew and smoothed it off like render.
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Post by cobblerdave on May 28, 2016 10:00:31 GMT
G'day That chimneys drawing well no smoke stains on the front! Regards dave
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Post by neilos83 on May 28, 2016 21:21:09 GMT
I'm really happy with it so far. Had a cracking fire tonight. Not too hot. Dome up to about 350°. Had about 4 fires so far. No cracking visible yet but loads of steam coming off the outside of the dome. Cooked some chicken wings. Wifey well pleased.
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Post by downunderdave on May 28, 2016 21:41:26 GMT
Nice build. When you get to this stage you really want to get the thing fired up and cook pizzas, but beware, being hasty and drying it out too fast is a recipe for oven damage. If you see visible steam then you are going at it too hard, back off. You can use the heat stored in the oven to roast some stuff like cooking bread or a chicken, but resist the temptation to get to pizza temperature at this stage. you will find that there is a huge temperature difference between the top of the oven and the base of the walls and floor. This means a huge difference in expansion rates which sets up stress and possible cracking. As the oven begins to dry from the top down this temperature difference becomes even greater and the oven will also start firing quite efficiently. This is when the temperature starts climbing even more rapidly and the problem is even worse, so slow up and be content to roast and bake for a while. Also allowing the thing to cool off to ambient temperature and start firing again is a good idea. Seven fires in seven days getting progressively bigger is a standard regime. Good luck.
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Post by neilos83 on May 29, 2016 12:34:35 GMT
Ok. Thanks Dave. I will back off the fires a bit. I've made some pizza dough in the hope of cooking some pizza tonight but I think I will go with your advice and maybe just cook them as some dough balls. Cheers for the help.
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Post by neilos83 on May 31, 2016 19:32:05 GMT
I've slowed up on the fires. Been having fires for 7 days now, and I'm up to 300°c on the dome but the floor is still only at 250°c. I've started laying some vermicrete onto the dome. Whoever called it the Devils porridge was right. It's horrible stuff to work with. My neighbour had a good laugh at me trying to get it to stick. So garland I've got about 75-100mm of blanket on and probably about 20-25mm of vermicrete. Some ares if the dome the vermicrete is a bit thinner. Does this sound about right? I was in half a mind to leave the vermicrete off as it's such a pain.
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Post by oblertone on Jun 1, 2016 7:45:13 GMT
There are so many tales regarding the 'Devils porridge' that I didn't bother; although space was a constraint too. I also only managed 25mm of blanket and rendered straight over that, but my oven still retains enough heat for a roast the following day. I would think that with up to 100mm of blanket you'll be fine; but that's just my opinion and others will have different ones.
ps - Try using your pizza dough reformed as a small loaf; works very well at around 200c
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Post by neilos83 on Jun 2, 2016 12:26:58 GMT
Cheers oblertone. I think i will knock the vermicrete on the head now. The oven has had a thin layer all over and I can't feel any heat coming through so far from any of the fires I've had. The heat is starting to look more evenly distributed through the floor and dome now so I think I will start to ramp the fires up a bit. How long should I give it before I think about rendering over the dome?
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Post by oblertone on Jun 3, 2016 22:28:53 GMT
Leave the final render as long as possible; not that I recommend it but I left mine for a year ! Once your oven is heating up consistently most of the water has been driven out, that (in my opinion) is the time to render.
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Post by downunderdave on Jun 4, 2016 0:25:16 GMT
Leave the final render as long as possible; not that I recommend it but I left mine for a year ! Once your oven is heating up consistently most of the water has been driven out, that (in my opinion) is the time to render. And after you've finished the render cover it for a week to keep moisture in that layer to enhance its strength.
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Post by neilos83 on Jun 5, 2016 19:52:56 GMT
Thanks both for your help. It's been a good weekend. I got the oven up to 450° on Saturday afternoon. The dome was lovely and clear and we managed a few pizzas, and boy were they lovely. Fitted the oven door and the temp was at 260° when I went to bed at about 22.30. This morning the dial read 210° at 9 am. Well happy with that so I threw a nice joint of beef in to roast. Also cooked my Yorkshire puddings in there. 6 hrs later and we cooked some garlic bread from the left over pizza dough. There is still 150° left in the oven so I will see how long the oven holds that for. Really pleased with how it performed today. Neighbours seem interested too so I can see a pizza party coming up shortly. Thanks to everyone for your help.
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myke
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Post by myke on Jun 5, 2016 20:53:10 GMT
That pizza looks nice! I carnt wait to fire mine up (but I will) had 2 small fires so far after drying out for 2 weeks having another tonight not seen any steam so far.
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Post by neilos83 on Jun 11, 2016 12:48:20 GMT
I've fired for pizza twice now, and the oven seems to be holding its temperature nicely. I left a tarpaulin over the oven the other night and when I took it off a few days later there was no moisture on the underside. I'm hoping that this is a sign that it's almost dry. I've had no steam coming from the vermicrete and when the oven is up to temperature I can't feel any warmth on the outside.
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