Author Topic: 2nd time pies with my DIY WFO (Read 3599 times)

jon7821 · « **Reply #40 on:** July 16, 2012, 11:03:45 AM »

Mike,

In my heart, i know Scott123 is probably right, and that i'll have to incorporate the mass of the steel plate to get that radiation and ultimately drive those bake times down to true neo times. That being said, my total lack of desire to re-cut that stupid plate has me conjuring up alternatives to try out first, namely what you just mentioned. It will be fairly easy to make corner cuts on the bricks, then take my dome insert and extend it the extra 2" over to the left to make it run the full width of the lid, and tie the chimney into the dome insert. Lastly, i am contemplating some additional ways to try to add mass/insulation on the cheap to the dome insert to try to start getting some radiant heat coming back down.

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #41 on:** July 16, 2012, 11:13:34 AM »

Jon, do you have a small angle grinder (20 bucks at Harbor Freight) with a 3in. diamond tipped cutting wheel...

jon7821 · « **Reply #42 on:** July 16, 2012, 11:27:48 AM »

Bob,

I do have a couple of 4" angle grinders. No small diamond wheels, but i have a tile saw with a diamond wheel and a large (14") concrete domolition saw with a diamond blade. Are you asking for how I'll cut the bricks, or do you have thoughts on cutting the steel plate?

petef · « **Reply #43 on:** July 16, 2012, 12:33:06 PM »

Quote from: jon7821 on July 16, 2012, 11:03:45 AM

Mike,

In my heart, i know Scott123 is probably right, and that i'll have to incorporate the mass of the steel plate to get that radiation and ultimately drive those bake times down to true neo times. That being said, my total lack of desire to re-cut that stupid plate has me conjuring up alternatives to try out first, namely what you just mentioned. It will be fairly easy to make corner cuts on the bricks, then take my dome insert and extend it the extra 2" over to the left to make it run the full width of the lid, and tie the chimney into the dome insert. Lastly, i am contemplating some additional ways to try to add mass/insulation on the cheap to the dome insert to try to start getting some radiant heat coming back down.

Jon, I'm thinking that more mass with that 1/4" thick plate may not be necessary. Reason I say that is the pic you posted showing how the upper level fire flows over the top of the pie and your very short bake times. If that fire is only stoked up during the bake, then the plate doesn't have that much time to heat up. Even if it did heat up a wall of flame like I saw in that pic is going to be a lot hotter than a heated plate. It would be an interesting experiment to see if Scott is right about that plate, but i can understand that's it's difficult to cut it. Is it possible to stoke a bigger top level fire as a means to increase temperature?

Keep us posted. This is an interesting project.

---pete---

jon7821 · « **Reply #44 on:** July 18, 2012, 10:16:25 AM »

I started the next round of modifications last night, widening the dome insert to the full width of the lid, and then i welded on a 3" OD section of automotive exhaust pipe to the chimney so it would drop down into the lower dome. Tonight i will line the entire hearth with fire brick and then cut out the corners to get some more heat from below, and to allow for adequate (hopefully) air flow to the fire from the vents below.

I'll post some pics tonight of this evolution and run a test fire to see how it does.

pizzaneer · « **Reply #45 on:** July 18, 2012, 11:04:53 AM »

I'm not sure that having a more direct path for heat to the chimney is going to keep that nice curl of flame going over the top of the hearth. Seems to me it might "short-circuit" the path, for want of better terminology.

If you build a strong fire in your attached smoker box and hit it with forced air, you will have the equivalent of a kiln's heating system. Vary the airspeed and fuel depth to control temp.

Nice work on sealing the top. Are you still planning on making the insert removable?

jon7821 · « **Reply #46 on:** July 18, 2012, 11:27:30 AM »

Both the top and bottom inserts will/are still removeable, though the dome instert is a little tougher to get out now, with the pipe in there and a tighter fit. I'll let you guys know how the test fire turns out tonight.

jon7821 · « **Reply #47 on:** July 25, 2012, 11:22:07 PM »

Well, had a bake last Friday night and have to say I regressed, style wise at least. I made the mods to my oven and made the hearth bigger, with only the corners cut out. Bottom line, not enough airflow. Had to keep the lid propped open to keep flame really going, so heat was way down. Kind of went back to ny style pies.

That being said, flavor was great, but didn't get that top browning I wanted. So, back to the oven drawing board. Decided to go back to the fire basket on the right, but kept the corner cut outs, s now I have an octagon shaped hearth with a fire basket to the right. Sadly, I am camping in the Arkansas river valley this weekend, so no pies for me. Ten more days or so to the next bake.....

jon7821 · « **Reply #48 on:** August 05, 2012, 11:09:32 PM »

Finally, a weekend free of other distractions and an opportunity to do another bake. Made some oven mods since last time, namely removing a row of bricks to get more airflow and a bigger spot for my fire. I think the increased oxygen did the trick, giving me a much quicker heat up (about 30 minutes after i put the charcoal in and covered it with the hearth) and some seriously shorter bake times, down to just over 2 minutes.. actually, the deck got too hot (well over 800) so i will have to drop my charcoal bed down lower next time. However, the better air flow and higher heat really did the trick for oven spring. i think now we are down to an effort to increase dome temps just a bit and then take the deck back down to 650 ish. in the end, i have no upskirts because they were a bit, well, charred, but the flavor was fantastic tonight and i feel like progress was made. we are getting there with my little smoker that could.