First Food From the Oven!

We cooked in the oven for the first time last night, using the Steven Raichlen Best of Barbecue SR8024 Cast Iron Tuscan Grill. With this method,you build your fire, then set the grill over the red hot wood embers that remain. We put some marinated chicken and a few onions on there to test it out.


Here's how it turned out. The grill left great grill marks and the chicken cooked in about 4 minutes per side. I can't wait to try some steaks!



Our first pizzas are going in there tonight!

A Snowy Oven

Yes, it actually snows in Texas (well a little bit). I'm going to try using the Tuscan Grill tonight and hope to do first pizzas tomorrow.

5th Firing, an Icy time

You can see how icy it has been here in Texas!







I did my 5th fire, adding more logs this time. The oven dome was getting close to 800F this time, still not hot enough to burn off the soot (or hot enough to cook with). The floor under the fire was up over 700 degrees after pushing the fire aside as it burned down.

Here is a YouTube video of my most recent fire:

I'll be away from the oven until Wednesday, when I can build my next fire -- even bigger next time.

3rd and 4th Firings

I did my 3rd fire yesterday and my 4th here today, with the temperature of the oven dome getting to 300 and 400 degrees, respectively.





The 3rd fire started with just one log (with newspaper and kindling) then I added another log or two as it was going.

This shot was taken at night, obviously and you can see the ice on the outside of the oven from our Texas cold snap.





With the 4th fire today, added three logs and really got it going. I moved the fire (embers and remaining burning wood) to the side and the oven floor was over 600 degrees in the center of the oven (under where the fire had been). I'm going to track how much heat is retained by measuring every 15 minutes. Away from the center, the temperature was more like 300F. After 15 minutes, the 600 had dropped to 400. When I get a larger "real" fire going, the oven dome and floor will get much hotter and will retain more heat.

Small Video of the 2nd Firing

Second Firing

It's cold and rainy and icy outside, but I braved the elements for a second firing. This time, newspapers and some small kindling wood, with the goal being a 300 degree F dome temperature. I let the fire burn longer, adding some more newspaper. It probably burned 15 minutes total.



Here is how the dome looked after the first fire.

First Firing!

Tonight, I fired up the oven for the first time, just a small newsprint fire to begin the curing process. The goal here was to get the oven up to 200 degrees. It will be a week before I'm able to start making pizzas, unfortunately.



The air flow seemed to be working real well. Smoke was being drawn out, up the vent, and through the chimney. When pieces of newspaper were burning, small pieces were swirling around in the oven, which seems like a good sign for good air circulation.

It really is amazing to see even a small fire in there.

It's Done! Finally!

It's finally done and ready to fire up tomorrow for the first time, to start the curing process.

The contractors added the chimney top, that was really the last step and final improvement from yesterday. The top of the oven looked a bit "naked" without that top piece.

Here is a close up of the entry and landing in front of the oven.

More pictures here and here.

More Progress Today, Done Tomorrow?

More progress today on the stone work. You can see the progress here and how it was being framed up around the pizza oven. This is a view from behind and to the side.



More progress with the stone being built up around the wood framing.






From the other side, you can see the counter tops that were put in place, for the sides of the oven opening.




For context, the view again from the front. One issue we had today was trouble finding Vermiculite insulation that was to be poured in on top of the blanket-insulated oven dome. Vermiculite isn't being carried by the supply stores in our area due to some concerns about breathing problems that can be caused by the material. So, instead, we used Perlite, a very similar material (as discussed on the very helpful Forno Bravo message board).

The team still needs to finish the stone work around the oven front and chimney. They are also going to brick around the inside surface of the wood storage (the opening underneath the oven dome). The stone enclosure top will be capped off with a flagstone piece.

They should be done tomorrow and I'll get to do my test firing Thursday night (a very small fire to start the oven curing process). I'm glad this day is almost here!

Finally Some Progress!!!

Photo Album Link

Finally some progress today, a few pictures below (full set in the link above). Here, the crew is doing the stone exterior. They've place some thermal blanket insulation on top of the oven dome and they're framing up the oven vent and chimney.


Getting the chimney framed in.







More stone.






Another shot of the framed chimney.








Should be done tomorrow!

Construction Resumes Monday

The stone arrived and my contractor is starting again on Monday. I'll post photos of the daily progress. It should be done by Wednesday. I won't be able to do my first test firing (a small newspaper fire) until Thursday night. Next weekend, I'll do progressively bigger fires to help cure the oven and drive out any moisture.

Stone is Arriving Tomorrow?

After a long, long wait, my new contractors are finally getting their stone delivered on Friday. They were waiting for it to be cut from the earth and to be shipped over from West Texas (their somewhat unnecessary quest to EXACTLY match the stone from my grill island). I admire their perfectionist tendencies. Hopefully they will be building more on Saturday.

I'll post pictures of the progress and especially when it is done.