Finally... I got the time and some decent weather--- not too hot but still a chance of rain---to put the insulation layer on the oven. And three friends came over to help too! Dave, Sherry and Sandy! I call them my pizza angels, but they are simply angels! Without their help, I would be building this oven till next year and then some.
Sherry, me and Dave!
Truly though...there is joy in working in mud...with friends!
Always handy is Kiko's book-- the bible of oven making! I cannot tell you how many times I read and reread this book!
I am enthralled by clay ovens!
Please send me your comments and links if you made one!
This is the clay mixed with sawdust. I used cedar sawdust designed for hamster and other animal bedding. It expands when water is added--- we thought at first it was best to soak it but later we learned that was not a good idea. And proceeded with adding dry saw dust to the clay mixture (1 part clay to 2 parts sand).
This looks like a monk's head!
The insulation layer was quick work since not a lot of time is spent packing it down down as the first layer--- and with friends it only took 2 and half hours. I plan to do a final "plaster" layer but first I need to get comfortable firing this up. I am so afraid of cracking it but I need to trust the universe...so to start... I will be doing 2-3 slow curing fires--- then a bread trial and then... the holy grail...PIZZA!
Are there more pictures on the chimney construction? Did you leave the terra cotta pipe in there? Do you have those burn marks on the outside front of the oven that I see in a lot of pictures? Lastly can I come visit your oven sometime?
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting! I am not quite done with the oven---as I need to put the final finishing layer. My plan is to keep the terra cotta pipe there unless I get one of those small square chimney pots---then I am going use refractory mortar to seal and finished everything out. I will post those pics when when I complete that step. The black soot was from the very first fire I made before installing the chimney. The chimney really helped the draw and getting the the oven hot in a shorter amount of time. And yes you can come visit anytime. Just let me know.
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