My oven in Framingham, MA, USA

[matt]

Hi,
Well I said the oven would be ready for Thanksgiving, and I guess I made it. It was quite the project, loved every minute of it. We have had a number of dinners and everything works great! It has gotten to the point that Saturday is oven night, pizza at 6pm, and then I cook something that we end up eating the next day due to being stuffed on pizza.

I did not do a good job of documenting. Here are the pictures I have. This first one is me laying out the dome. A real mason.

Matt

[james]

Way to go Matt,

Have you posted photos yet?
James

[matt]

Hi,
James, you are too fast! Here is the next photos, just getting the dome started. You can see the tools I used and get a good idea of the technique / level of expertise.


Matt

[matt]

Hi,
Skip to a completed dome, and the addition of insulation. I am wearing a welding jacket because I was also welding the frame for the facade on this day too. The second shot shows the cement board screwed to the black pipe frame. It will eventually be tiled, but this winter, it will stay just boarded. I have to take a picture of the door and finished cement board layer. Maybe at the same time some food-shots of the results. They are spectacular if I do say so myself!

Matt

[james]

Matt,

What a great neighborhood.

Are you cooking for everybody this Thanksgiving? What do your friends think? Pizza for years to come.
James

[matt]

James,

Thanks, it is a great neighborhood! Everyone walking by asks what it is, a few already know. My rehearsed response when someone asks what I am building is, in my best imitation of Tim Robbins from the Hudsucker Proxy: "It's a pedestal. You know, for my wife".

I can't believe how much fun it is cooking in this oven. I love to cook, and am always trying to develop skills. This oven really is a great college, you have to think about temperature, moisture content, surface area, cooking vessel, and time. Perhaps because it is so unfamiliar, or perhaps it is the extreme temps, whatever it is, I find even my stovetop cooking is undergoing transformation.

Great fun and an education too, and to add one more log on the fire, a direct connection to our past. The family took our annual pilgramage to Plymouth, MA to see the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, and the recreation of the Pilgram village there. This is a great place to visit, where role playing "Pilgrams" live like they did circa 1620. The smell of cooking fires is everywhere, some from indoors, some from outdoor ovens like the one in the picture below.

Matt

[oventhusiast]

Hey Matt,
I'm east of you (just north of Boston) in Melrose. I remember those classroom field trips to Plymouth to see the rock! C'mon, lets see some pictures of that oven progress!
Rick

[christo]

Wow. Take a few days off and another oven is born.

I like the geometric enclosure!!! Kinda like sprinking salt on Dmuns oven and it turned inside out.....

Nice job!!!

Chris