Patio/Outdoor Kitchen Project

[polo1665]

By the way, thanks for all the nice comments.

I didn't mention before that the main reason I am doing this is to create some sort of a record that others may find if they choose to build one of these ovens. I know that the step by step photos that I found on-line were invaluable to me as I was doing this.

 

[polo1665]

OK,
Here's the list of on-line resources available if you are wanting to build your own oven.
It is important to point out that there are various styles of ovens out there. I chose the barrel vault or Alan Scott style because I wanted plenty of mass to retain heat for long periods opf time.

Welcome to Wood Fired Pizza
This site is a must and provides links to many other sites. Bill Funkhouser took a lot of time and effort and it shows.

BlackOven - Wood Fired Hearth Ovens
You think I took a lot of pictures. Go to this site and click on "Wood fired oven building" and then the "North House Folk School" link. The documentation is exceptional.

Wood Fired Brick Oven Tampa
Another well documented oven build in Florida.

The Brick Bake Oven Page
A site dedicated to all types of masonry ovens. There is literally hours of reading here if you work your way through the site.

My Wood Oven - A Place For Wood Oven Lovers to Gather
A network for "Alan Scott" style oven builders to show off their stuff. Click on the Photos link at the top of the page.

Wood pizza oven Building wood burning brick bread ovens
Kiko Denzer specializes in cob style ovens, but this site has building info for all styles.

Forno Bravo Forum: The Wood-Fired Oven Community - The Pizza Oven Installation and Cooking Community
A TBN type forum that deals primarily with Pompeii style ovens. Fornobravo offers free pompeii oven plans and sells materials to support it. If you decide on a pompeii style oven, this is the place to do research and ask questions. They seem to be pro pompeii and anti everything else (go figure).

My brick oven | Sourdough Companion
This is a thread in a sourdough baker's forum I belong to. Also a well documented build.

Building a small Scott-Style Brick Oven | The Fresh Loaf
Another thread with a link to several photos of an oven build in PA.

Another place to check out is the "Brick Oven Group" at yahoo. You have to Join this board, but it is a very good place to get info and post questions. It is frequented by atleast two well known professional oven builders.

Also, if you decide on an Alan Scott style oven it is a must to to get this book, "The Bread Builders". The oven can nearly be built just using the information in this book.

That's all I can think of right now. If any more come to mind I will post them.

 

[sixdogs]

Wow--for that list of links ---and this thread--you are destined for bread bakers heaven. Thanks.

 

[bironacad]

Very impressive another project for Bill. I figure about four years before I have time to start though, lol. Thanks for this thread it was excellent. I will have to show momma, mind you she would like a fence for the dogs first, go figure, that would be after the addition...........Maybe I should finish the valence around the duct work in the master bedroom..... then......:laughing:

 

[polo1665]

Very impressive another project for Bill. I figure about four years before I have time to start though, lol. Thanks for this thread it was excellent. I will have to show momma, mind you she would like a fence for the dogs first, go figure, that would be after the addition...........Maybe I should finish the valence around the duct work in the master bedroom..... then......:laughing:

Oh, it's not done yet. I'll be posting some more pictures this evening:thumbsup:

Once you get all that trivial stuff taken care of you can get started on yours:laughing::laughing:

 

[polo1665]

Wow--for that list of links ---and this thread--you are destined for bread bakers heaven. Thanks.

Some friends here on TBN were wondering what happened to me for the last few months. There is only so much computer time in the day and I was using every bit of it:laughing:

 

[dcyrilc]

Some friends here on TBN were wondering what happened to me for the last few months. There is only so much computer time in the day and I was using every bit of it:laughing:

...and it's good to have you back Mark.:thumbsup:

I still think you could have come up for breath now and then though.:laughing:

 

[polo1665]

...and it's good to have you back Mark.:thumbsup:

I still think you could have come up for breath now and then though.:laughing:

Addiction to TBN is a very strong nut to crack. I knew I had to go cold turkey for a while, but you guys where always in my thoughts:thumbsup:

Now I'm back and waist deep in it again

 

[Kyle241]

I wonder how well an outdoor oven like this will stand up to the cold we get up here? Normal temperatures in Jan-Feb are -5c (23f) to -30c (-22f) at the extreme. I wouldn't want to take this on and have it crack on me. Some serious research will be required before taking this one on but love the idea.

Not to hijack the thread, this is our indoor pizza oven that is part of our masonry heater. It works awesome and heats the whole house so well we have yet to turn on our back-up furnace. We can cook many things in there, pizza, bread, stews, etc. I`ll need an outdoor oven for the summer!

 

[polo1665]

I wonder how well an outdoor oven like this will stand up to the cold we get up here? Normal temperatures in Jan-Feb are -5c (23f) to -30c (-22f) at the extreme. I wouldn't want to take this on and have it crack on me. Some serious research will be required before taking this one on but love the idea.

Not to hijack the thread, this is our indoor pizza oven that is part of our masonry heater. It works awesome and heats the whole house so well we have yet to turn on our back-up furnace. We can cook many things in there, pizza, bread, stews, etc. I`ll need an outdoor oven for the summer!

Yup, if you look through the masonry heater site listed above you can see other examples of these masonry heater and oven combos. Pretty cool if you ask me, but not really feasible for me. Once you get into inside installations all the rules change and things can get much more complicated and expensive.

Your heater/oven is beautiful and I'm sure you can vouch for the awesome taste of breads and pizza out of a wood fired oven.

 

[polo1665]

OK, now I'm back home and have access to my pics. Here we go, back to oven building.

At this point the oven has had 3" to 4" of concrete cladding added and the curing process has begun. I kept the concrete wet for the first few days and then allowed the concrete to cure for a little over two weeks. After a couple of weeks I started lighting small curing fires.

It is extremely important to start out slowly and work the temperatures up with successive firings. I had installed three thermocouples during the building process so I could monitor temperatures. #1 is located one inch deep in the middle of the hearth area, #2 is one inch deep into the arch brick, #3 is at the junction of the firebrick and cladding.

 

[looknlearn]

OK, now I'm back home and have access to my pics. Here we go, back to oven building.

At this point the oven has had 3" to 4" of concrete cladding added and the curing process has begun. I kept the concrete wet for the first few days and then allowed the concrete to cure for a little over two weeks. After a couple of weeks I started lighting small curing fires.

It is extremely important to start out slowly and work the temperatures up with successive firings. I had installed three thermocouples during the building process so I could monitor temperatures. #1 is located one inch deep in the middle of the hearth area, #2 is one inch deep into the arch brick, #3 is at the junction of the firebrick and cladding.

Wow! that looks like that was a project. A rewarding one at that though. How do you hook up thermocouples? I am trying to come up with a cheap 3 ft probe thermometer and was wondering if it would work to put a thermocouple on the end of a rod with it able to plug into a display?

 

[polo1665]

After the oven was sufficiently cured I turned my attention to the oven's enclosure. I built the frame from metal studs. Once the frame was up I could wait no longer, I had to get a fire going to bake some bread.

 

[polo1665]

The firing process for baking is fairly simple, but it takes a while if you don't know what your doing (me). Build a fire at the front of the oven and gradually push the fire to the back. Allow the fire to burn until the arch is cleared (soot is burned away and bricks are white again). In my case the oven is heated to about 650 degrees. Put the oven door on and let the fire die out.
After the fire is out and only coals are left, remove the door and rake out the coals. Once the coals are out, put the door back on and allow the oven temperature to stabilize to the temperature you require. In my case I bake starting at 500 to 550 degrees.
Slide the loaves into the oven, apply steam and put the door back on. In order to create steam I bought a garden sprayer and spray water mist into the hot oven ever couple of minutes for the first ten minutes of baking. The loaves take about 25 minutes to bake.

 

[polo1665]

Wow! that looks like that was a project. A rewarding one at that though. How do you hook up thermocouples? I am trying to come up with a cheap 3 ft probe thermometer and was wondering if it would work to put a thermocouple on the end of a rod with it able to plug into a display?

It depends on the temperatures you are going to be measuring. The thermocouples I am using are type K and are accurate up to 2200 degrees, that's a bit of overkill if you are reading lower temperatures. I'll look up the website I bought some of my supplies from and post it. There are a couple out there. I also have access to some supplies from work. For instance, the thermocouples I am using were used in a firing furnace and were changed and thrown away after routine maintenance. Picked them right out of the hopper and took them home. Probably would've cost me at least $25 a piece new.

OK I looked up the sites where I purchased thermocouple supplies. I got the meter from http://www.professionalequipment.com/xq/ASP/qx/default.htm? cid=PEBPGGL&CMP=KNC-Google&gclid=CObO54CN96YCFUdrKgodaE6eCg

The other stuff (thermocouple wire and plugs) I got from
http://www.omega.com/

 

[dcyrilc]

Yes there was a thread referring to this as Tractor ****, lol. My wife has been giving me some grief, "Are you looking at those tractors again!":thumbsup:

Tell her, "Nope. Oven **** this time!"

 

[dcyrilc]

I wonder how well an outdoor oven like this will stand up to the cold we get up here? Normal temperatures in Jan-Feb are -5c (23f) to -30c (-22f) at the extreme. I wouldn't want to take this on and have it crack on me. Some serious research will be required before taking this one on but love the idea.

I would think that if it was in a covered area it should do fine. As long as you don't get moisture in the brick which would freeze.

 

[looknlearn]

It depends on the temperatures you are going to be measuring. The thermocouples I am using are type K and are accurate up to 2200 degrees, that's a bit of overkill if you are reading lower temperatures. I'll look up the website I bought some of my supplies from and post it. There are a couple out there. I also have access to some supplies from work. For instance, the thermocouples I am using were used in a firing furnace and were changed and thrown away after routine maintenance. Picked them right out of the hopper and took them home. Probably would've cost me at least $25 a piece new.

OK I looked up the sites where I purchased thermocouple supplies. I got the meter from Gas Detectors | Thermal Imaging Cameras cid=PEBPGGL&CMP=KNC-Google&gclid=CObO54CN96YCFUdrKgodaE6eCg

The other stuff (thermocouple wire and plugs) I got from
Sensors, Thermocouple, PLC, Operator Interface, Data Acquisition, RTD

Thanks for taking the time. I'll look into those further later.

 

[bironacad]

I wonder how well an outdoor oven like this will stand up to the cold we get up here? Normal temperatures in Jan-Feb are -5c (23f) to -30c (-22f) at the extreme. I wouldn't want to take this on and have it crack on me. Some serious research will be required before taking this one on but love the idea.

Not to hijack the thread, this is our indoor pizza oven that is part of our masonry heater. It works awesome and heats the whole house so well we have yet to turn on our back-up furnace. We can cook many things in there, pizza, bread, stews, etc. I`ll need an outdoor oven for the summer!

Yes Sir can get cool
Bancroft+More info
Past 24 HoursRadar ImagerySatellite ImageryCurrent Conditions


-20 ｰC Observed at: Bancroft
Date: 7:00 AM EST Tuesday 8 February 2011
Condition: Not observed
Pressure: 101.1 kPa
Tendency: rising

Temperature: -19.6ｰC
Dewpoint: -22.6ｰC
Humidity: 77 %
Wind: N 15 km/h
Wind Chill: -29