brick oven pizzas

[artigiano]

Here are yesterdays pizzas.. yes I know its a barrel oven.. its the first one I built at my mother's house.. but I use what I have until I build another one day.  I can still keep the temps up high at around 800 or 900 but I know the dome would be more efficient and better.  Having said all that, I think the pizzas tasted pretty damn good.  24 hour Caputo room temp rise using Neapolitan rules (except the oven) and IDY.

Alessandro

[Jackie Tran]

Nice looking oven and delicious looking pie.

[artigiano]

Thanks Tran, the bricks could use a good scrub on the outside around the opening.. they are a little white from some salts that come out of the brick from moisture during the winter.  I sealed the oven when I built it so its not really an issue but quite visible around the entrance as you can see.  First firing of the season.

Al

[Matthew]

Thanks Tran, the bricks could use a good scrub on the outside around the opening.. they are a little white from some salts that come out of the brick from moisture during the winter.  I sealed the oven when I built it so its not really an issue but quite visible around the entrance as you can see.  First firing of the season.

Al

Hi Al,

Nice job.  I too have the same issue with the salt on the exposed fire brick around the mouth of my oven & have to keep them covered so they don't get wet when it rains.  What did you use to seal the brick?  Does the seal make the bricks water resistant?

Matt

[dellavecchia]

Beautiful oven - is that the same oven as pictured in your avatar? And is that slot in the front an ash dump? After working with my oven I really wish there was a way to get an ash dump installed.

John

[JConk007]

Looks good to me also!    Is that 1X4 leftover, red oak you are burning? Expensive stuff!  if and only if I have leftover from a woodworking project.
Great looking pie to me also Do you do bread later on after oven cool off a bit?
John

[pizzablogger]

It's no so much the oven as the fornaio's ability to adapt and learn a particular oven.

Those pies look pretty damned tasty to me too......and being I have been jammed at work and still haven't had lunch, my stomach just started drooling at the mouth!

Good looking pies. --K

[artigiano]

Hey guys, thanks for the nice comments.  I have a good friend at a hardwood lumber sales so he keeps all untreated hardwood scraps for me.  Usually eastern maple, oak and birch.  I also have some nice dry alder tree wood but running low on it now.  Matthew, as far as the sealing goes you can buy a masonry sealer and it will do a great job sealing your oven.  I even used muriatic acid at first to acid wash the brick and then used the watertight seal all around and it is very clean with no salts coming through.   Just a bit at the opening where I didnt really put any sealer... especially on the firebrick you don't want any there.  Just be careful with the acid if u decide to use it.  That is a slot for ash but I usually just scoop it out as it is just as easy for me.  When I build another oven I wont bother with the ash slot.  That is the same oven as my avatar and I also agree that its all about knowing your oven and I feel almost as if it has its own personality.

Al

[Matthew]

Hey guys, thanks for the nice comments.  I have a good friend at a hardwood lumber sales so he keeps all untreated hardwood scraps for me.  Usually eastern maple, oak and birch.  I also have some nice dry alder tree wood but running low on it now.  Matthew, as far as the sealing goes you can buy a masonry sealer and it will do a great job sealing your oven.  I even used muriatic acid at first to acid wash the brick and then used the watertight seal all around and it is very clean with no salts coming through.   Just a bit at the opening where I didnt really put any sealer... especially on the firebrick you don't want any there.  Just be careful with the acid if u decide to use it.  That is a slot for ash but I usually just scoop it out as it is just as easy for me.  When I build another oven I wont bother with the ash slot.  That is the same oven as my avatar and I also agree that its all about knowing your oven and I feel almost as if it has its own personality.

Al

Thanks anyway Al.  I thought that you were referring to sealing the firebrick.  As you can see, the mouth of the oven is firebrick & I have to keep it covered so they don't get wet.  A bit of a pain in the ass; but a small price to pay I guess.

Matt

[artigiano]

Matthew, you could look into sealing the outside ones.. im really not sure but the fire brick is porous and retains heat so I dont know if it will be a suitable application.  For Jconk I definately make bread once the oven cools down a bit, but usually from the left over pizza dough.. I do make sourdough as well but not when I make the pizzas since it is a lot of work to do them both.

Al