Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a... Brick Oven Photos Discuss Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a... in the Good Background Information forums; She's a real beauty, Nikki. Very nice work indeed!...

[egalecki]

She's a real beauty, Nikki. Very nice work indeed!

[Frances]

Aaaw, what a sweetheart!!

And then they get big so fast, don't they?

[Modthyrth]

We had pizzas last night, and I remembered to put the door on for the first time. This morning I had temperatures around 575 and made some bagels for breakfast (took the temp down to about 475 with some mangled steam creation). I just checked again at 8pm and still had 400 degrees. It works!

Well, I guess I should say it kind of works. The back half of the door (the second layer of concrete board) fell off after I made the steam and opened the door to put the bagels in. I don't know if the thinset didn't like the moisture, or if it was never strong enough to keep that heavy material bonded when it gets moved so often. It still seems to be working well with the single layer, however, so I'm still happy for now.

[Modthyrth]

I haven't been around for a while, mostly because I haven't worked on my oven since Niamh was born! I really need to get around to finishing the stonework. We had (are having--guitar hero festivities are ongoing) a fun pizza new year's eve party tonight. This time of year it's good to live in Phoenix!

[Les]

It has been a while. Hope all is well with the child. I do agree about living in Phoenix this time of year. I have very fond memories of doing my homework by the pool in March, when all my friends were freezing their butts off back home. The pic looks perfect. Happy New Year!!

Les...

[Frances]

Hey Nikki, good to hear from you! Happy New Year!

...don't worry, the oven will still be there to finish once Niamh is a bit bigger, and in the meantime you can still use it. A lot of build threads seem to have a pause once the oven is functional, so you're in good company.

[Modthyrth]

We've been using mostly mesquite for the past few months, but I wasn't sure if we had quite enough for the fire last night, so I sent Drew out to pick up a load of new wood yesterday. The new stuff was smaller (more appropriate) diameter than the dregs of the mesquite we'd been using, and it was a different mix of hardwoods, including a lot of citrus. Drew built a fire like he normally would...and we ended up with a three foot flamethrower out of the top of the chimney. I wish I'd taken a picture, but I was much more excited about getting the fire calmed down at the time.

We heard a tremendous popping sound, and after the fire was calmer, noticed that the flue had cracked. I'm going to have to do some repair work. I wish I hadn't given away the two extra flue sections now, but I have to say I've been happy to have the garage space and have them go to a good home.

The oven is only 375 this morning. It's usually about 525. I don't know if that's a feature of the super hot, fast fire not soaking as much heat into the bricks, or if there's a serious crack and heat leak. Man, I hope not the latter.

[schallert]

breathtaking! Nice space.

[mfiore]

Looks very charming, Nikki. Happy New year to you.

I cracked a flu tile with a raging fire as well. Frustrating, but it looks like it should be fairly straight forward to replace, as your flu is exposed. I doubt there is a crack big enough to lose heat. From my (limited) experience, the heat soak into the brick seems to be more a factor of how long the fire is burning rather than it's peak temp.

Good luck!

[christo]

Hi Nikki!

Wonderful space! I just bought a bunch of white LED strings on after Christmas sale to wrap around some of our trees!! Love the look.

My oven has been acting strangly lately, too - I've never had an issue with uneven cooking of pies, but the last 2 pizza bakes resulted in fully cooked bottoms and underdone tops.

I have changed wood type - maybe that's it?

Happy New Year!

Christo