First Real Fire, first meal

[Balty Knowles]

I've been patiently starting increasing fires for a while while I continue with the brick work around the yard.I bumped into my friend with the apple orchard today & scored some perfect apple wood & decided to light a real fire. Discovered a few things

The slow fires weren't hot enough to burn off the soot they produced & put a hefty coat of carbon on the inside of the dome. Today's fire was much hotter & burned a lot of it off. I'm sure over time it will disappear

Never noticed any steam coming from the dome until today. Even after 4 weeks curing & several fires. I didn't get a thermometer yet so don't know how hot it was but after an hour, steam started rising through the insulation. Lots of steam, see pic. I was worried about cracks for a while but I think I'm OK.

Just like most everyone on this sight once I saw the dome was getting hot enough to cook I nailed some Durock to the form I used for the opening & used it as a door. I left for the store in a hurry. Quickly whipped up a 1/2 leg of lamb with some roast potatoes & asparagus on the side. Tasted great & cooked really fast.

Still got lots of work ahead to finally get this project behind me but at least I'm on the way to brick oven bread & pizza & roasts & steak Fiorentina & ...

Thanks or all the input & posts that have thankfully kept my dome standing as the project moved forward.

Best Rgds

Balty

[james]

Hey Balty,

I have moved this to "Get Cooking." Congratulations. What a thrill -- it's great seeing your oven fired up and getting ready to cook; and the dome going clear. Everything looks just right. You have lots of cooking to look forward to.

Apple is perfect, and as you say, don't worry about the soot. It will burn off easily as the oven gets driers. It won't be an issue.

Also, the steam from the top is a result of the heat of the oven reaching the insulating layer, and driving out any remaining moisture there. Keep going slowly, but consistently, and keep the fires going. There is a lot of water in that layer.

Way to go.
James

[Dutchoven]

I am so happy for you Balty! Did a great job on the oven and now I hope you do a great job with all the foods that come from it! I worried about soot in the beginning also...and some steam issues...James is right in saying there is a LOT of moisture in those insulating concrete layers.
Congratulations!
Dutch

[Bacterium]

Balty food looks great...and of course the fire and the oven

[RTflorida]

Great job Balty, glad to see you have reached the indulgent stage......ENJOY!!