Author Topic: Newbie WFO questions and answers (Read 27189 times)

Ronzo · « **Reply #480 on:** May 21, 2011, 01:47:22 AM »

Quote from: Jackie Tran on May 21, 2011, 12:37:48 AM

Ron, they are best eaten hot. Had 8 guests over, 4 of them had never had my pizza before. I got the usual compliments and one person said it was the best she's eaten in her life. Made me chuckle a bit.

Your pies were most likely the best they'd ever had. I don't doubt it for a second.

Matthew · « **Reply #481 on:** May 21, 2011, 05:37:20 AM »

Quote from: Jackie Tran on May 21, 2011, 12:08:16 AM

This is where some new issues arised. Looked into the dome and towards the back left side, saw a crack in the dome. Looked around and saw a 2nd and 3rd crack that developed as the bake went on. Not sure what is going on since I had temps of 800 on the floor and 1000F in the dome last week and no cracks until today's bake. I'll email FB and see what they say.

Chau,
The cracks are totally normal & it will continue to crack until all the moisture is out. My inner dome is comprised of firebrick that is parged with a layer of refractory mortar & after about the 3rd bake it developed a crack. This was 2 years ago; the crack has not gotten worse & there is no heat escaping from the dome. The only time to be alarmed is if you are losing heat.

Matt

andreguidon · « **Reply #482 on:** May 21, 2011, 06:32:34 AM »

Chau, dont worry about the small cracks, i have them too, my oven is over 4 years old and nothing has happened, its still performs as if it was new..

wheelman · « **Reply #483 on:** May 21, 2011, 08:40:42 AM »

chau,
did you start the fire on both sides? i think it's important to have the fire on top of the part of the oven you end up cooking on during warmup. i can't imagine getting the oven properly saturated with heat without spreading it over the whole floor. that said, it looks like it worked out just fine! nice work..
i also wouldn't worry about those cracks.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #484 on:** May 21, 2011, 09:41:03 AM »

Thanks Ron and Zak.

Matt, Andre, and Bill. It's much easier hearing that the cracks are no big deal from you guys than it would be from FB. I guess I won't even bother FB about this than. It was just a bit alarming if you know what I mean. Below are the pictures. These are close up shots so they look bigger in the pictures but you'd have to be looking for them to see them in person.

Matt that's crazy there could still be water in the refractory cement dome. I pre-cure thed oven running temps around 250F for 30hours or so, followed by a day break, then 4 days of curing ramping up the temps slowly. And then last week's bake (1st bake) which the oven maintained temps of above 250F for over 48 hours. You would think all the moisture was gone by now.

Quote from: wheelman on May 21, 2011, 08:40:42 AM

did you start the fire on both sides? i think it's important to have the fire on top of the part of the oven you end up cooking on during warmup. i can't imagine getting the oven properly saturated with heat without spreading it over the whole floor. that said, it looks like it worked out just fine! nice work..
i also wouldn't worry about those cracks.

For this 2nd bake, I had the fire only on the left half of the oven. The fire was started there and more wood was added there. I did not move the coals all over the floor and just allowed the right side to come up to temps naturally. Maybe this is why it seemed to burn up a lot of wood?

The cracks developed only on the left side. I was piling the wood on trying to see if I could make that 1 hour heat up time FB claims. Is it possible that I heated up the oven too quickly? Is there such a thing?

I think for the next bake, I will burn center to get up to 75% of desire temps and then move it left. Or I may burn it hot on the right to see if I can get matching cracks on the right side as well.

Chau

BrickStoneOven · « **Reply #485 on:** May 21, 2011, 10:07:17 AM »

These are the 3 cracks in mine. Their basically cosmetic and nothing to worry about. Like Matt said as long as your retaining heat you shouldn't worry about anything.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #486 on:** May 21, 2011, 10:11:22 AM »

Thanks for posting that David. I feel much better. If your ceiling hasn't collapsed yet, I think I'm safe.

Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure the oven is not losing heat. I baked at 6pm yesterday and at 6am it is 550F in there.

Matthew · « **Reply #487 on:** May 21, 2011, 10:53:55 AM »

I had a ceramic heater in mine for a week & then curing fires. There is no way around it, if it wants to crack, it will crack. The squarish hole in the back is suppose to be there; it's for a spit.

Matt

fritznewton · « **Reply #488 on:** May 21, 2011, 10:54:10 AM »

Chau,

Can you do me a favor and shoot a pic of front/back of your door. I have a curiosity that needs to be satisfied!

Pizza looks great as always.

Quote from: Jackie Tran on May 21, 2011, 10:11:22 AM

Thanks for posting that David. I feel much better. If your ceiling hasn't collapsed yet, I think I'm safe.

Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure the oven is not losing heat. I baked at 6pm yesterday and at 6am it is 550F in there.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #489 on:** May 21, 2011, 12:02:49 PM »

Matt, thanks for posting a shot of your oven as well. Have you use that spit for roasting meats?

Thank you Fritz, hope this helps.

Matthew · « **Reply #490 on:** May 21, 2011, 12:30:31 PM »

Quote from: Jackie Tran on May 21, 2011, 12:02:49 PM

Matt, thanks for posting a shot of your oven as well. Have you use that spit for roasting meats?

No I haven't & likely never will. I think that it would make one hell of a mess.

Matt

BrickStoneOven · « **Reply #491 on:** May 21, 2011, 12:36:43 PM »

Quote from: Jackie Tran on May 21, 2011, 10:11:22 AM

Thanks for posting that David. I feel much better. If your ceiling hasn't collapsed yet, I think I'm safe.

Yea lol. At first it worried me a bit but I emailed the manufacturer and they said it was supposed to happen.

Thats a nice door Chau. Did it come painted or did you do it? And is that soot buildup on the back or is it the paint coming off?

wheelman · « **Reply #492 on:** May 21, 2011, 01:54:16 PM »

this works for me: I build the fire in the center or maybe a little to the cooking side to start. I keep adding wood until i get a good pile of red hot coals, maybe an hour and a half or so. then, I add wood away from the center on both sides and back, the dome should be completely clear now. when that burns down, I spread the coals over the whole floor for 15 min or so. when it's time to cook, i rake the coals to one side and brush the cooking side clean. the floor is about 1000 at this point. I usually take out some of the coals so that the coal bed is only about 1/3 of the way over from one side. I keep a little live flame going with small wood until the floor temp drops to the desired cooking temp. I always have the flame reaching the center of the dome from this point and it holds the same floor temp.

chickenparm · « **Reply #493 on:** May 21, 2011, 02:25:45 PM »

Chau,those pies came out looking superb! I wish I could try a slice of those!

Glad to hear the oven is working well and the guys say the cracks are normal and nothing to worry about.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #494 on:** May 21, 2011, 06:00:22 PM »

Quote from: BrickStoneOven on May 21, 2011, 12:36:43 PM

Thats a nice door Chau. Did it come painted or did you do it? And is that soot buildup on the back or is it the paint coming off?

It came painted and that is the paint getting baked off. Even though the door is insulated and there is an airgap between the insulation layer and the handles, the handles can still get a bit hot. I have to handle it with gloves. I'll have to see about wrapping the handles with a silicone or leather wrap.

Wheelman, thanks for the firing suggestions. I'll incorporate some of your ideas into my routine.

Chickenparm - thanks for the nice words. I really like how the 2nd cheese pie came out looking. My wife said it was the best cheese pie I've made. I didn't taste it but believe her since she's eaten a number of my pizzas.

Next bake - I believe I will lower the temp again. NP is just not for me I don't think. Maybe someday I'll graduate up but for now, I'm happy where I am at.

Chau

flyboy4ual · « **Reply #495 on:** May 22, 2011, 09:47:39 PM »

Chau,

Pies look great! The dome however!!!?? I guess if it s normal and everyone should expect it. Are you planning on raising your floor permanently? What do you think about adding another layer of insulation that is cut to fit inside the dome and laying the FB floor tiles on that? Do you think that would be feasible ?

Scott D.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #496 on:** May 22, 2011, 10:23:58 PM »

Thank you Scott. Yeah the dome situation is really weird. Supposedly IF there is moisture in the dome it can crack from the nuclear high temps BUT my first bake (the one prior to this) I had the dome at 1000 and the hearth 800 and absolutely no cracking or I would have seen it. If there was moisture left in the dome, why didn't it crack then? The only difference is that firing was done as soon as the oven fiinished curing so the oven was already warm.

This firing was from a "cold" (outdoor temp) and I was adding lots of wood trying to get that 1 hour heat up time. Cracks developed on that side that the fire was on. After the bake finished, I moved the coals to the right side of the oven on top of the added firebricks. The following morning I also notice a new hairline crack on the right side of the dome that was not there during the bake. At this point, I'm not too worried about the cracks but still, I'm pretty sure the Earthstone ovens don't crack. Higher quality materials perhaps?

Yes I am considering raising the floor permanantly. Your idea is a good one BUT the only problem is that the insulated door won't fit if I add another layer of insulation (from the inside of the oven) under the FB firebricks. FB's fb extends to the oven landing where the door fits in.

I think the easiest thing to do is to have my guys cut split firebricks to add inside but not extend it all the way out the door. This will allow me to still use the FB insulated door and it won't decrease the oven opening for loading chickens on a roasting pan or something like that.

Also if I ever have problems with a few of the added (smaller) firebricks cracking, they should be easy to remove and replace without much effort at all.

Chau

gtsum2 · « **Reply #497 on:** May 22, 2011, 10:28:56 PM »

I dont know if the pies or the oven look better? Everything looks fantastic...your pies already seem to be going to a different level, and I can only imagine where they will be in the near future. Nice job Chau and congrats!

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #498 on:** May 22, 2011, 10:38:00 PM »

Quote from: gtsum2 on May 22, 2011, 10:28:56 PM

I dont know if the pies or the oven look better? Everything looks fantastic...your pies already seem to be going to a different level, and I can only imagine where they will be in the near future. Nice job Chau and congrats!

Thank you Shaun, I appreciate the support. Overall, I am very please with the project, oven, and pies considering the few set backs I've had. I am still continuing to experiment with different types of yeast in combination with different dough workflows, flour blends, and temps trying to do as much as I can.

Chau

RobynB · « **Reply #499 on:** May 23, 2011, 12:31:43 AM »

Pies look wonderful and that bread looks sooooo good! I wonder if I'm just jaded to the ongoing perfection of your pies, I'm always more excited about the other stuff you make like bread. Reading your posts about getting familiar with the new oven feels like a foreshadowing of my future right now - nice to see someone else having oven anxiety

And I agree with Ronzo - your pizzas probably are are the best that most of your guests have ever had!