Wood Fired Oven: The Brick Front

It was time to cover up my very pretty firebrick arches. But it had to be done. My bud Ben and I were done in a few hours.

A couple-ah-sixpacks later, this is what came out. It looks pretty neat in real life. These pics are a little misleading. The reclaimed brick makes the work look as if it had been there for years.

Now, onto the walls and chimney. But before then, I will begin curing the oven. I will start by burning small fires every day--in 100deg increments until I reach full bore: 1200deg F. That will make some mean quick-fire steaks. Man, I'm hungry. Gotta go.

Wood Fired Oven: Dome Rising

OK. So, it's been a while since the last post. Forgive me for being "busy" and covered in refractory mortar. That stuff gets everywhere. I also got that crappy cold that lasts weeks. But, significant progress is being made. Take a look at the next sequence of pics. We have a chimney vent, the dome is but three or so courses from being finished.

This coming weekend (March 22-23) will be the last firebrick cutting weekend. Cutting firebrick is nasty with a cut-off saw. No more breathing alumina particles into my lungs causing unknown havoc to my respiratory system. I will soon be calling a trial lawyer (e.g. Shapiro Injury Center) to sue someone because I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR MY OWN ACTIONS. Therefore, I will cash in on my own stupidity. After the last dome brick is mortared in place, it will be time to cure the oven and make it pretty. I just hope it doesn't look like some third world hack job used for cooking goat and weird things like millet flatbreads. Not that there's anything wrong with goats and flatbreads. It's the aesthetic part that concerns me. I'm looking for more of a Provence or San Gimignano look than a Nepalese mud oven. Does this make me an oven snob? Probably. However, the thrill in all this work is trying to do it right.