Newbie Oven Project Introductions Discuss Newbie Oven Project in the Good Background Information forums; Here is an update on our project. We made wooden models of the isosceles and equilateral triangles (pic. 1). These ...

[tiomarquito]

Here is an update on our project. We made wooden models of the isosceles and equilateral triangles (pic. 1). These were used to make 3 isosceles forms and one equilateral forms from wood and extruded styrene foam. (pics. 1 and 2). The foam lined forms distorted a bit resulting in castings that were not perfectly precise ( pic. 3). The dome needed 25 isosceles triangles and 8 equilateral triangles plus 2 half isosceles above the opening and 2 half equilaterals on the opening sides.

[tiomarquito]

When casting the triangles, we used 55lb bags of castable refractory cement which had to be completely used to guarantee the correct water mix. One bag filled 3 isosceles forms and 1 equilateral form with a little bit left over to make a small brick used for the bottom of the dome (pic. 1). The cement was easy to work with even though the water added at first appeared to be too little. After working the mix a few minutes it became plastic and formed easily into the forms by vibrating and tamping. They hard set in 16hrs. in a warm location.

[tiomarquito]

This is the latest news on our project. The photos show the assembled chimney above the entrance to the stove and the ceramic blanket wrapped around the dome and chimney before the perlite insulating concrete was applied.

We're just about ready for the initial heating to cure the castable refractory lining of the stove. We're wondering the best way to gradually raise the interior temperature to around 300 degrees and maintain it for the suggested 24 hours without having any "hotspots" on the floor? Thanks for any helpful tips.

[staestc]

Thanks for posting the new pictures! Very nice build! This is the first I have seen of your oven build, and it just looks great!

Travis

[tiomarquito]

The latest report on our project is that we've fired the stove and worked up in stages to 1000 degrees. The outer dome surface temperature never exceeded the mid 80's. Thank you Dmun for telling us about Royal Oak Lump charcoal for oven curing. It was the only way we could control the temperature at 300 degrees all day on the initial firing. Thank you Tracy for your encouragement.

[dmun]

Thank you Dmun for telling us about Royal Oak Lump charcoal for oven curing

That wasn't me: I still cook with the cheap stuff that smells like West Virginia when it burns.

[tiomarquito]

Sorry about two mistakes in my last comment. First I meant to thank Travis, but I wrote Tracy. Next I meant to thank Dmun about mentioning that Royal Oak is a lump charcoal available at Walmart. In the PDF on oven curing, it warns not to use charcoal and we were confused because some people in the forum were using it to cure there ovens with good results. We first tried a small wood fire, but the temperature was fluctuating and we couldn't maintain a temperature of 300 degrees for a whole day. The lump charcoal burns so steadily, a constant low temperature was possible to maintain.

[tiomarquito]

Hi everyone,
Our oven project is finished and we've enjoyed it for the past couple of months. The dome design used dimensions obtained from the website:
Desert Domes - The 2v Dome Calculator
It is so stable that we can't see any hairline cracks between joints after numerous firings. The following photos show the finished exterior and the interior as it now appears.
We're still working on how to use a peel to place the pizza in the oven without spilling some of the toppings on the oven floor.

[Tim F]

I've found that if you are having trouble getting the pizza off the peel, vibrating it back and forth quickly but not with a lot of movement if that makes sense, while you slowly move the peel back, usually gets it off. Love the oven!

[tiomarquito]

Thank you Tim for the advice. Tonight we tried your suggestion and it certainly reduced the loss of toppings off the pizza when I put it in the stove. With a little more practice I'm sure we'll be able to place the raw pizza just where we want in the stove without difficulty.