wowser wowser weeeeeeeee!

[asudavew]

Fired up my badWFO again today..
No new cracks. or creaks or nutton,

Only thing that came from it was some kik-ass pizza.

The difference between it and a reg oven...amazing

hard to explain, until.......well..... you have your own.... and then you shall understand..

I still can't believe the rise of the dough and the difference in flavor

If you are trying to decide if whether it is worth building your own, have no fears. The results are simply amazing.

Go forth and build ! You will not regret it.

[sarah h]

Hey Dave,

Glad to hear how much you're enjoying your oven! I just made a batch of dough tonight and hope to try pizza soon.
Question though - I'm almost finished the curing process and the floor of my oven couldn't possibly cook anything - I can put my hand on it even though 9 inches up, it's 600F - at what point did your floor start getting hot enough to cook??

Sarah

[Frances]

Too right, I'm continually amazed by the difference the WFO makes to pizza! It really does work!! The way the dough puffs up the moment you put it in the oven...! The way it tastes soft and crunchy when you take it out...!MMMMMHHHMMMMMM!

Sarah, I found that the final large scary fire made all the difference. It was bigger, hotter, longer, it coverd the whole dome floor by the time I stopped adding wood, and somehow made the whole dome "come together". And about the heat, once you get the BIG fire going, with flames roaring up your chimney, you will not want to get your hand anywhere near the entrace, let alone test the hearth temperature! I'm sure it will work for you!

And then, as other threads have also said, to begin with the oven continues to improve every time you fire it up. Right Dave?

[asudavew]

I don't have a way to measure the higher temps of my oven.

But I've built several raging fires that have burned for 2 or 3 hours, and my oven finally performed really well tonight.

I suspect you still have plenty of moisture in the lower half. And I am pretty sure I still have some in mine but probably less than yours at this point. For example, while the dome was white hot, I took the temp of the outside of the dome. The very top bricks about 250 f. The outside of the soldier course - 130 f or so. I only have a half inch of kaowool around the dome right now. But I didn't want to add the perlite layer to the dome until the cracks finally stabilized. I think the temps will even out more with additional insulation.

During my first few hot fires I could hear the dome creek and groan and clink and clank... etc. But tonite... not a sound. So I will add the perlite layer now.

... don't know why I got so long winded here.... but I think you just need a few more long plasma fires...

But be cautious... I pushed my oven to fast (I think), and caused cracks I may not have sustained if I would of went slower.
Just keep firing, and you will be surprised by how fast your oven will improve. And I imagine your floor temps will get up there. And don't forget to spread the hot coals around the floor to heat it up.


Dave

[sarah h]

Dave & Frances, thanks - guess this means I'm not quite there yet in the curing process and will just have to suffer a high state of anxiety till a monster inferno, followed by a pizza! The dough is ready, now for the oven ...

[Frances]

Cool! It'll be great Sarah, I can't wait to read about it tomorrow!!!