SE Minnesota insanity Brick Oven Photos Discuss SE Minnesota insanity in the Good Background Information forums; Hey! Look at this. A middle-class MN home outside of the kitchen, with established flower beds. It's about to be ...

[Eric Pfeifer]

Hey! Look at this. A middle-class MN home outside of the kitchen, with established flower beds. It's about to be destroyed. Why? Cos, I just gotta have the pizza. Quattro Staggione. Fungi. Whatever. I've waited twenty years for this.

It's now time.

[Ken524]

Looks like the perfect spot to me! Don't tell the neighbors what you're up to... Keep them guessing

[Eric Pfeifer]

Digging the 48 inch deep (below the MN frostline) footings was the last discrete thing about the whole project. Then a truck with a 100 ft boom showed up to blow in the concrete for the hearth tower. After that, although they're still guessing, there was nothing clandestine about this!

[james]

Nothing too subtle there. I am looking forward to seeing your build -- and your neighbors' reaction.

Good on ya' Eric.
James

[paulyboy]

Excuse my ignorance. Your formwork is high, high, high.
Is this oven going to be accessed from inside the house?
Paul

[jmhepworth]

This will be a fun one to watch.

Joe

[Eric Pfeifer]

Originally Posted by paulyboy

Excuse my ignorance. Your formwork is high, high, high.
Is this oven going to be accessed from inside the house?
Paul

Yep, the oven will be accessed from within the kitchen--a necessity I feel, when it's -26F around here. The dome will be supported by this tower, which is steel reinforced concrete and is 8 feet above grade. I have a friend who is a skilled concrete tradesman, and we borrowed the mud forms at no cost. It took a day to put them up, and 45 minutes to pour (with the monster boom truck), and half a day to remove the forms. Even after paying my friend his normal wages, buying the mud, and renting the pumper (150 dollars per hour), doing it this way was far cheaper and faster than laying block. The foramen will be about elbow-shoulder height inside.

[fxpose]

Nice. This is going to be such a cool set up. Have you begun work in the kitchen yet?

[Eric Pfeifer]

Hello, yes. This is what the disaster looks like in the kitchen as of this morning.

[pizza_bob]

This is almost as insane as Brett favre leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 6-0 start to the football season!
This ought to be really cool!

Good luck with the build!

~Bob