# Pizza Oven trial run pictures



## fishingpol (Jun 16, 2012)

I was finally able to fire my pizza oven hard this evening and get a good burn going. I lit a few small fires during the past few weekends, but not that intense. I was having issues with getting a good, hot burn until I figured out to push the established fire to the back and let it draft better. Running the fire in the middle had too much turbulence and caused a poor draft. Finally, it does as it should.

Right to the pictures.

Getting it going.




Pushed back.



Secondaries action at the top of the dome. Pretty serious heat now. My oven thermometer pegged out over 600*. Pretty intense heat at this point, sexy dancing flames too.



Pine kindling on the hot coals to brown the cheese on top.




Made 4 pizzas in this batch in about 1/2 hour. I could bake bread or anything else as the oven is retaining heat really well. One went up to my good neighbors who had company from Chicago sitting outside enjoying the evening.





Here is the link for the oven build pics if interested. I am finishing the cedar shingle roof over it. It just needs a ridge cap to finish it off.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/new-pizza-mud-oven-build-a-few-pics.86971/


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## BrotherBart (Jun 16, 2012)

Now that is nice. And if the Chicago folks liked your pizza you scored. They think they invented the stuff.


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## fishingpol (Jun 16, 2012)

Thanks.  My neighbor who is from the Chicago area has his dad and brother out for a visit.  His dad is a contractor and worked at a 1.8 million dollar house and the owner had a mason build an enormous pizza oven on the patio.  When it was done, the owner fires it up and throws two frozen Tombstone pizzas in it.  The mason freaked out on the guy.

I did find a good Chicago-style pizza recipe in a magazine.  That will be the next round.  I'm tired of the frozen ones around here.

There is also something about looking at secondaries inches away without stove glass in the way.  These pictures did it no justice.


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## bfunk13 (Jun 16, 2012)

I am way jealous!
I make home made pizza at least once a week. I have perfected it and think it is restaurant quality. Scratch dough and sauce.
But the neapolitan pizza i want to make requires a brick oven and high temps.
 Next time i am in Merrimack Valley i am coming over, K?


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## fishingpol (Jun 16, 2012)

Absolutely.  What temps do you need for neapolitan?


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## bfunk13 (Jun 16, 2012)

700+
I have seen pizzas made in a WFO with the floor at 850-900 and the dome at 1000, this style cooks in about 90 seconds.
I have heard of people getting good results at 650 though.


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## GAMMA RAY (Jun 17, 2012)

I have waiting for these pics ya know!
Looks great, wish we were neighbors...

You should give yourself a pat on the back.
That was a lot of time and hard work spent building it and looks like you got great results.
	

		
			
		

		
	



Kudos Jon!


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## fishingpol (Jun 17, 2012)

Thanks Gamma.  It took a few weekends to make the roof.  The oven has been under a tarp for a few weeks with all the rain.  I can't wait until the fall to bake rolls, muffins and pies in this thing.


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## ScotO (Jun 17, 2012)

FP, that oven looks fantastic, almost as good as that pizza you made in it!  I am WAY jealous, as I am an outdoor redneck chef myself, that oven has been burning a hole in my head since you built it.  Thanks for keeping us posted on the entire process (you did a fantastic job documenting and posting the entire step-by-step too), I gotta agree with the others, I wish we were neighbors!


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## fishingpol (Jun 17, 2012)

Thanks Scott.  Not all neighbors share the wood burning enthusiasm here but my closest ones do.  Yeah, we do pretty basic cooking here.  No fancy-schmancy, over-the-top set up.  Just regular folks around here.  Once I get the area cleaned up, I'll post pics of the overall area with frame and cedar shingle roof.  I even added a wood storage rack up in the rafters to use the exiting heat from the oven to dry it quicker.  So many recipes, so little time, but plenty of wood on standby.


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## begreen (Jun 17, 2012)

Awesome job fishingpol. It's great to see this project starting to bear fruit, or pizzas and calzones.


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## Adios Pantalones (Jun 18, 2012)

Excellent! I have been curious about this one. You really knocked it out of the park

How much interior dome cracking did you experience?


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## fishingpol (Jun 18, 2012)

Adios Pantalones said:


> Excellent! I have been curious about this one. You really knocked it out of the park
> 
> How much interior dome cracking did you experience?


 
Just a few, but not even on the lines where each clump of cob met up to the next or above it. It did develop one outer one, but it closed up when it cooled down. No worries it seems with 3 separate layer. The straw should keep the integrity there in the middle layer. 700 degrees is pretty impressive, but I can't imagine your kiln at 2000+. That is really out of the park.

How is your build getting along?

Thanks BG.


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## ironpony (Jun 19, 2012)

finished laying out the outdoor grilling area this past weekend
a pizza oven is in the plans, will try to remember to take pictures as I go
going to be a 4 foot diameter dome approx.
gas grill charcoal grill and smoker
hope to be finished by fall


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## Adios Pantalones (Jun 19, 2012)

fishingpol said:


> Just a few, but not even on the lines where each clump of cob met up to the next or above it. It did develop one outer one, but it closed up when it cooled down. No worries it seems with 3 separate layer. The straw should keep the integrity there in the middle layer. 700 degrees is pretty impressive, but I can't imagine your kiln at 2000+. That is really out of the park.
> 
> How is your build getting along?
> 
> Thanks BG.


Not even started. I have to finish cleaning up a space in the back corner of the yard. I have stone gathered for the base, and I came up with a design based on a kiln design that should let me use it as a smoker as well.


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## Thistle (Jun 19, 2012)

oh wow thats incredible


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## Eatonpcat (Jun 20, 2012)

Sweet...I would like to order a pepperoni, mushroom and onion!


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## Robert Bryant (Jun 20, 2012)

love the oven! it's gonna be a wonderful thing to have come holiday season...how I envy you!


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## fishingpol (Jun 20, 2012)

Thanks and welcome!  I make Canadian pork pies and pork and beans in the winter inside, so I am looking forward to using this.  I'll bake a few loaves of bread at the same time maybe.


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## begreen (Jun 20, 2012)

Bread in a 600F oven? I would think that would leave a loaf with a dark crust yet still unbaked in the middle.


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## fishingpol (Jun 20, 2012)

No, not that high for bread. Pizza and calzones at 600 . Let the oven cool for a bit or swab it out with a scuffle and water. Once it is about 350 to 400 or so, pies, casseroles and bread time. Different foods are cooked at different stages of the oven cooling. Many ovens will hold heat for hours. After the pizzas last week, the oven cooled in about an hour with the door open to bake cornbread. When the wood is no longer fed, the temp will start to drop off slowly. I have a wood baking door to hold the heat in for when I make bread some day. The water helps the bread crust up nicely with steam off the firebricks.

From what I understand, the oven needs to be heated thoroughly to heat the whole mass up and retain heat for a few hours.

I guess it is more than just a pizza oven.


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## begreen (Jun 20, 2012)

I like it! My wife approves too. She mentioned the need to keep a humid environment, especially for french bread. She usually mists the oven every 10 minutes or so.


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## fishingpol (Jun 20, 2012)

Here is a video from which I gleaned a lot of info from.  His other cooking videos are pretty good also.


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## Adios Pantalones (Jun 20, 2012)

I have my design almost all figured out. There will be a firebox under the floor- this pic is a kiln built with this basic design (the Phoenix fast fire kiln), except I'll have a barrel dome roof with no sides rather than a sprung arch. The firebox is that arch at left- it goes all the way under the floor, which heats the floor from beneath. Heat goes up through slots on the far end of the firebox into the chamber. The gases circulate and exit on the near side- the chimney is right above the firebox entrance.

If the floor heats too quickly I would push the coals/fire to the back of the firebox. Notice the 3 slots above the firebox- those are for push-in dampers to slow the flow.This all eliminates considerations about door height, in fact I could have a door on either side and load a pizza from each end  

I should not need much floor space, as the fire won't have to live right there with the pizza etc- wood can be added at any time without worry about ash etc. It might be ~25" square

Closing up the firebox entrance when the fire is at low coals would allow me to turn the whole thing into a smoker.


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## fishingpol (Jun 21, 2012)

Whoa baby!

I think I understand the concept of this.  Ok, so if the heat and gases come up from the far end of the fire box, into the cooking chamber, would the heat and gasses go out the oven door before going up the flue?  I can see if it is bricked up for kiln firing, you can control the smoke path easier.  Your design may be quite different than what I am trying to look at in the picture possibly.


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## Adios Pantalones (Jun 21, 2012)

fishingpol said:


> Whoa baby!
> 
> I think I understand the concept of this. Ok, so if the heat and gases come up from the far end of the fire box, into the cooking chamber, would the heat and gasses go out the oven door before going up the flue? I can see if it is bricked up for kiln firing, you can control the smoke path easier. Your design may be quite different than what I am trying to look at in the picture possibly.


 
During heating, the door(s) would be bricked or blocked (kaowool backed plates?). There's a chimney right above the entrance to the firebox- the exhaust gases go through corresponding slots (that's your "exit flue") on the opposite side of the chamber from where they entered and go up the chimney- there's no gas exchange through the doors. Throw in a pizza, dough, a roast, whatever- replace the door plate.

Heat can be added without opening the door at all. Maybe I'll add a port to spritz in some water. Plus- if I really want to, I could probably get it to 2300F for disposal of my enemies.

In that kiln pic above- the door would be bricked up when it was being fired.


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## Jags (Jun 21, 2012)

Note to self: Do NOT get on AP's bad side.


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## bfunk13 (Jun 21, 2012)

As a pizza freak myself i hope you continue to post pictures of your pies.
I would like to see your take on the Margherita if you ever make one. This style is perfect for your oven.
Nothing but crust, sauce, "fresh" mozzarella and fresh basil. The simplicity of this pie is delicious.
I have started using the fresh mozz and like it so much better than the shredded stuff. A little more pricey, but worth it.
Also, i have a killer home made sauce recipe if interested.

Not sure if you ever checked out this site, its a great reference if serious about pizza.
These people are pizza crazy.
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php


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## Jags (Jun 21, 2012)

Bfunk - if your interested in different types of pies you should try one with roasted red pepper puree for the sauce, fresh moz cut as thinly as reasonable. fresh asparagus in one inch pieces and a few shrooms (as much as I like shrooms, I do find that the plain white button shrooms work best for this), sliced and topped off with basil leaves.  Knock out flavor.

The roasted red pepper just does "something" for it.


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## Adios Pantalones (Jun 21, 2012)

I once made a pizza with my home made chili (cubed beef, not ground, please) instead of sauce. I'm not sure I could make a better pizza than that one.


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## GAMMA RAY (Jun 21, 2012)

Jags said:


> Bfunk - if your interested in different types of pies you should try one with roasted red pepper puree for the sauce, fresh moz cut as thinly as reasonable. fresh asparagus in one inch pieces and a few shrooms (as much as I like shrooms, I do find that the plain white button shrooms work best for this), sliced and topped off with basil leaves. Knock out flavor.
> 
> The roasted red pepper just does "something" for it.


 
Roasted red peppers make anything friggin thing taste better...I love em.
Sounds like you are quite the chef Jagsy...


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## Jags (Jun 21, 2012)

GAMMA RAY said:


> Roasted red peppers make anything friggin thing taste better...I love em.
> Sounds like you are quite the chef Jagsy...
> 
> 
> ...


 
I would be considered an official "Food Whore".


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## GAMMA RAY (Jun 21, 2012)

Adios Pantalones said:


>


 
That there is sexy stuff AP...
See, hanging around you buggers has me calling in-animate objects sexy....
I never did that before.


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## fishingpol (Jun 21, 2012)

Adios Pantalones said:


> During heating, the door(s) would be bricked or blocked (kaowool backed plates?). There's a chimney right above the entrance to the firebox- the exhaust gases go through corresponding slots (that's your "exit flue") on the opposite side of the chamber from where they entered and go up the chimney- there's no gas exchange through the doors. Throw in a pizza, dough, a roast, whatever- replace the door plate.
> 
> Heat can be added without opening the door at all. Maybe I'll add a port to spritz in some water. Plus- if I really want to, I could probably get it to 2300F for disposal of my enemies.
> 
> In that kiln pic above- the door would be bricked up when it was being fired.


 
So in essence, would you call this a rocket oven? If it is, that should pull a nice draft and fire hard. I've checked videos on rocket ovens, pretty cool not having to futz with the coals and ash in the cooking chamber.[/quote]


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## Adios Pantalones (Jun 21, 2012)

Almost a rocket oven. There could be a few tweaks that would make it effectively operate like that.

I asked a few Q's at that pizza forum- they seem to think that under floor heating would be less than optimal as the dome should be hotter, so I might make it a little cross-draft kiln, not dis similar to my big kiln in many ways.


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## fishingpol (Jun 21, 2012)

bfunk13 said:


> As a pizza freak myself i hope you continue to post pictures of your pies.
> I would like to see your take on the Margherita if you ever make one. This style is perfect for your oven.
> Nothing but crust, sauce, "fresh" mozzarella and fresh basil. The simplicity of this pie is delicious.
> I have started using the fresh mozz and like it so much better than the shredded stuff. A little more pricey, but worth it.
> ...


 I'll definitely put more up.  That first one was basic, with grocery store dough.  I will use a family dough recipe, reg mozz cheese and more fresh ingredients.  I didn't want to use nice ingredients and have a catastrophy with the first run.  I'm still thinking of Chicago style and a BBQ chicken for the next round.  Maybe this weekend.  You got the bug bad, I'm not quite there yet .


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## fishingpol (Jun 21, 2012)

Adios Pantalones said:


> Almost a rocket oven. There could be a few tweaks that would make it effectively operate like that.
> 
> I asked a few Q's at that pizza forum- they seem to think that under floor heating would be less than optimal as the dome should be hotter, so I might make it a little cross-draft kiln, not dis similar to my big kiln in many ways.


 

I dunno but, if you are firing directly across and under the oven floor, wouldn't that heat the floor enough?  How many brick courses thick are you figuring between the firing chamber and oven chamber?  Maybe a less insulative brick for the floor?


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## Adios Pantalones (Jun 21, 2012)

The worry was that the floor would get too hot- they said the dome should be hotter so that radiant heat browns it up from the top


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## fishingpol (Jun 21, 2012)

Ok, sorry I missed that.  Cross draft sounds like a good plan.


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