Sarah's Progress Photos

[jcg31]

Sarah,
Check out the link below. It is the enclosure I am using. It is cheap, rock solid, great guarantee, great resale value on ebay. Huge (10x10x10) . It's allowing me to work through the miseable weather in Wisconsin.

Jim

EZ UP Embassy II Instant Shelter

Originally Posted by sarah h

We started on a steel stud frame - it really IS there in the pic below (gotta open it to see the snow flakes falling last night), but under the tarp, which doesn't look as though it's coming off any time soon. The weather is keeping us from moving ahead so I had to settle for baking in the regular oven (second pic, though it may be cheating a bit to post a baking pic from a regular oven).

[Acoma]

I bought an ebay 10 x 10 pop up 4 wall canopy tent. $50 w/ steep shipping cost. Worth it if you want it done this winter. hard to believe some of us can look at an unfinished oven all winter, what patience.

[sarah h]

So far, this winter ... wait a minute, it's actually still fall! ... has been some kind of cruel joke - we have more snow now that we had all last winter ... with another foot of it coming my way tomorrow and Sunday.

That shelter (thanks for the link Jim) looks great but I don't really have any desire to be outside cooking in the cold when it's like this. Instead, I keep eying my very outdated kitchen that is long overdue for a reno and thinking how nice it would be to work an indoor-access oven into the plans for an overhaul ... just wishful thinking, though, unless I build an addition onto the house while I'm at it! Hmmmmmmm, I could build it out and around the existing oven ...

[RTflorida]

Sarah, there ya go. Its amazing what we can justify doing in the name of good pizza. I think everyone's project seems to expand once started, why not do a room addition and kitchen redo around an oven? All it takes is money and back breaking work. Oh, your gonna need a bigger pop up tent as well.
Sorry to hear about all of that nasty four letter word your getting. I know many folks enjoy it, but it forced me south 11 years - I just couldn't take it any more.

[sarah h]

It's been a while but I can finally report more progress - installed the insulating blanket & some steel stud framing this afternoon. We have a January thaw setting in so I hope to test out the blanket's heat retention by doing some bread baking tomorrow, before the rain hits on Sunday. Maybe more framing too.

[Les]

Sarah,

I admire the tenacity of the human spirit (and you must want pizza real bad) As close as I want to get to that snow is looking at it through a window with a hot toddy in my hand. You go girl!!!

Les…

[Frances]

Its looking really good! How did the baking go?

I guess framing the oven gives you the big advantage of being able to work on it even in cold weather - as long as you can stand the cold that is Keep up the good work!

[gjbingham]

Sarah,
Glad to hear you got a break in the weather. The framing looks great. Don't stop now!

George

[sarah h]

Tenacity wasn't so much the driving force on Friday, more a wish to see something positive come out of a sad day, as we had to say goodbye to our poor dog on Friday morning (we had known it was coming for quite some time, but still ... he'll be sorely missed).

Baking ... GRRRRR ... the weather was iffy yesterday and we didn't want to risk getting the blanket wet so the bread and bagels ended up in the kitchen oven. The bagels were not great - we almost threw the dough out but then reconsidered and carried on to the finish - I'll look for a better recipe for next time. The bread, fig & fennel, was better, but still not as good as the oatmeal & cinnamon swirl that I made a few nights ago (still regular oven though, sigh) - it was terrific, if I say so myself - the perfect breakfast toasting bread! I'm not sure if it would be cheating to post it in the bread thread since I didn't bake it in the wood oven, but I've put a pic below.

I can't wait to try it in my wood oven, if either:
the weather cooperates, or
I get a solid roof on it so I can bake regardless of rain or snow.
(That's the main reason for trying to frame at this time of year but the framing may all come off again in the spring if we decide to finish it igloo-style - still undecided).

Our daytime temps are expected to be well above freezing for the next week and maybe longer but there's a lot of rain forecast too, so much more progress is anyone's guess. We may make some trusses in the basement and run them outside for installation if the opportunity arises.

Sarah

[Acoma]

They look perfect. Keep experimenting, get a log book for your recipies and the success levels.