The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

On the oven road...

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

On the oven road...

I regret I hadn't photo documented and tasted that yam loaf.  It took much longer rising  (influenced by long rises on the Tartine theme) ending up on the porch overnight, and because that was too cold in the morning, I did some microwave low voltage zaps to it and then when it got to rising, had to tip it out of the banneton (no problem, rice flour) and fold the dough.  It was so full of rice flour (fear it might stick) I ended up holding it under the running tap to wash off the flour.  A few folds in the air with wet hands and I was in business.  Dusted the banneton with more rice flour, plopped dusty rose tightened dough ball to rise.  Covered with inverted bowl.

Excuses, excuses.  I was trying to bake and finish up packing with dog washing, and the hundreds of things to take care of.  At one point I turned on the oven, tossed the loaf in with a pan of boiling water.  With 15 min left to the 50 minute bake (200°C)  I threw myself into the shower.  I heard the timer and hurried dripping wet to pull the loaf out of the oven...  not bad!  Nice spring and not so purple, with a deep brown crust and lovely overall form.  I parked it on the rack and it was still warm when I headed out the door to the airport with bags and dog. (She was the first in the car.)  Called my SIL from airport security to collect the rest of the flour, the loaf and report back what she thought of it.  She's been bitten by the bread bug only recently.  Golly, the crumb colour, I so wanted to see the inside and taste that loaf.  Wish I had a hunk of it now, here in Bangkok with a midnight hunger that could rip open the crustiest of loaves without a knife.  A little butter would also be nice.   :)   

We did get a some food and rehydrated ourselves mid afternoon,  we in transit, Dolly and I, settled down for a long AC nap.  We were so tired.  Now we're awake and I have only one question... when are hotels going to put some decent baked goods in the mini bar?  

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

purple crumb too!  Safe travels and happy bread isolation till you get settled.  I have fond memories of Bangkok and Thailand in general.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Funny...all of a sudden everywhere I turn someone is going to Thailand.  My boss is on his way there as part of his vacation and my second cousin just graduated college and wants to end up there on one of his stop on his 6 month trek across Asia and eventually Australia.

So how long are you staying?  Curious if you can get any decent bread there as I know in China it's a challenge.

I know it's tough to leave behind a warm loaf of bread without even trying a slice or two!

Safe travels.

Ian

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Thailand too!  He is a computer geek and works for Oracle.  He somehow streamed live video from his iPad through his IPhone to another IPhone in Dallas hooked to Apple TV and played it live on their big screen - amazing. 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

That's pretty cool.  They must have some pretty decent Wif-Fi!

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

The hotel taxi drove us to the airport and I checked in everything except Dolly.  We get to walk and stretch until about a quarter to 2 for a 3 pm flight.  Arrival in Laos, Luang Prabang,  wonderful cool climate and mountains.  Lots of mountains. Flew over the Mekong river before landing.  Hubby waiting with bus full of supplies, had to stop at the butcher before heading south.  Now I had long forgotten how rough and bumpy these back roads can be.  Still rubbing sore elbows a week later!  It has taken me a while to shake off the jet lag and fit in.  It is the dry season and all rice fields are bone dry.  The woods/jungle behind the camp is a lush green and full of fruit trees and tall grasses.   

Finally had time to put a loaf into a mini oven today and the baked loaf was greeted with great enthusiasm.  A little bit is left to cool overnight.  Got my starter working for another loaf tomorrow.  It's a 1,2,3 loaf using a rye starter will a little rye with AP wheat.  Have no idea what the protein level is on the flour, info not on the package.  But it worked and I spiked it with a little bit of yeast too.  Didn't know how the flour would hold up to SD.  

Got seeds planted for garden.  Found the camp kitchen.  Industrial size.   Wow, a walk in freezer and refrigerator!  And an ice machine.  And I thought I would be roughing it ...  How much bread am I supposed to be baking here?  Oh, and a big big mixer.  Still in the crate.   

Mini

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Maybe they expect you to bake and cook to feed the whole camp.  That would be fin :-)

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

for my oven bricks to arrive, got caught up with a water fountain project. Designed, planed, drew up and cut plywood forms to fill with reinforced concrete.  Finished the third pouring yesterday.  Fountain has three levels of "pools" stands about 1.5m high and extends 1m from th wall. Just a small group of us right now working on making a base camp for a construction project a little more livable as private space is small.  Making recreation facilities.

Working on the outside plans of the WFO/gas oven to be able to build and transport to future sites. Looks like the cement base under the oven may be replaced with steel, insulating layers of brick remain under the fire brick but the outsides may look more caged.  To keep the oven from vibrating apart during transport, it will be lined and filled with insulating foam when the time comes. 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35397763

Didn't actually see the snow but 5°C is unusually cold in these parts.  And it is raining... in the dry season, non stop since Sunday.  

Here is one fountain... Didn't quite totally design it but I adapted one to our needs.  Good Brain exercise too.

 

Stainless steel lined concrete.  Bottom bowl is 92cm diameter.  It still needs to be levelled but the water runs from bowl to bowl.  I found the  SS bowls in the local market, cut out plywood circles to raise them on their rims while concrete was applied on them upside down.  The largest one took 7 men to roll over!  The smallest one I rolled over myself.  

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Wow!  This looks amazing.  What a beautiful looking fountain.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

of our own water treatment area so the water for the fountain reflects the water works hidden behind the wall.

Water test came back yesterday.  We have excellent drinking water quality running in our tap!  So good to know!  But I still boil it for coffee with plenty of reserve water to cool for starters and dough.   

The cold weather did miserable things to my baby plants.  Cold expected again on the weekend so a good blanket And protected location is needed.   My hands could use a sourdough "facial."

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Frozen icicles hanging down from each would be pretty cool 

Happy concreting 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

And I think I know where I want to put my WFO.  Right next to the pool emergency fire water tank/pond!  Throw myself into the water when the baking gets too hot!   That does mean that I'm about the furthest point away from the camp kitchen and canteen.  Hmmm.  Maybe still looking for that "right location spot."

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

are driving me mad!  I've tried several recipes and still come out with brownies.  The first cake had a raised bottom, fine even texture but bulged up (parchment and all) and had thin spots.  The second had a runny batter, doubled in the oven only to fall upon cooling.  I think it has nothing to do with the recipe, the oven and tin are at fault.  Volcano shaped cakes that crack in the middle.  

First cake was a well beaten 4 egg recipe with 50g flour substitution of cocoa.  Second was a runny batter dry/wet mixing 2 egg with half milk/boiling water late addition, both made with 250g flour 50g cocoa powder and oil.  I think I have too much heat on the sides and top of the cake which is giving it that volcano shape.  Tin is a cookie tin with a shiny bottom and dark painted sides. 

I think I have to cover the tin with foil for the first half of baking.  I am sooooo out of practice!  

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

I baked another cake today and covered the cake loosely with foil for the first 20 minutes.  Ended up with a more even cake, no volcano.  

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

here is a model of my pool project:  Bathrooms and showers have plumbing and walls.  Soon to dig out the pool.  

Was pasting some of the parts together with rye paste. :)  The width is 9m and length about 16m, crow's nest is 3m across and 1.5 m above patio.  Water enters in the crows nest and trickles down over edge and rocks into pool.  Far flat side waterfalls into a rock pit which serves as reserve and overflow and flows to the sand filter.  Found out my oven is still in Linz so the pool will get finished before the oven bricks arrive.  

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

As you can see I still have a few things to do to finish the pool.  The blue plastic is protecting finished surfaces while we work on the walls.  Then I'm allowed to work on the oven.  In the heat the dimensions of the pool got larger...  the crow's nest is 4m across now and easily seats 15 people and the pool length is about 21m.   measuring the inside circumference for tile, I came up with 57m.  !!!   I think this is my first and last big pool.  :)    The crew is already snooping into my oven box/crate wondering "what's next?"

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Central Laos for the time being.  Working with Thai flour that comes over the boarder.  Cool nights (14°C) and hot days (27° to 34°C) unless it is cloudy; in the mountains where the Mekong has cut thru thousands of layers of ancient metamorphic sedentary rock. The rock quarry nearby is beautifully striped with colour.  

The fish ladder at the dam is the largest in the world and cost over 300mil US$. Very impressive to see and worth looking up.  When I first saw the eastern end of it, I thought about the chariot race scene in BenHur  only the outside and dividing walls are 6 stories high.  A giant "0." People walking on the wall look like ants.  

The men in my life are figuring out a way to put the oven on wheels so it can be moved around camp without the use of a crane (but they love using the crane so much, it wouldn't surprise me if their plan didn't include wheels.)  I keep busy on various projects, most of them building and construction projects but yesterday I stuffed about 100 noodle dumplings for dinner.  Was in the local market looking over fruit and veg. picked up a papaya, some water spinach, green onions, celery, egg plant,banana leaves and a bag of hot deep fried bananas.  I do pop a loaf or two into the mini oven every week and just took out an AP loaf made with yeast but containing a cup full of discard rye & wheat starters for flavour.  

Isand66's picture
Isand66

You are busy beaver! :)

So what did you stuff in your dumplings?  Did you make the wrappers yourself?  If so, what did you use?

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

but it was AP flour, water and a little salt.  Rolled out into a log and cut into nut size pieces about the diameter of a teaspoon.  Flattened out and rolled with a clean wine bottle to flatten.  :)  Stuffed with a mixture of chopped raw pork, and veggies.  The various dips made the charm.  

Whoops!  Cement truck is here, gotta run.  :)

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Seems to be the right size to support my Turtle Bean Cinnamon Swirl Loaf.  My flipped mini oven baking pan will later support the free standing loaf (without the box) parchment stuck on the sides.  :)   It smells so good, can't wait 'til it's baking!   I'm trying to decide what if anything, should I smear on top of the loaf...   ...cream.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

New fruit to me, mini mango or plum mango...  Bought about a dozen in the market.  Search: Gandaria.  

Planted the seeds.   Would make a good yeast water I bet.  Even the leaves are edible.

Edit:  The fruit taste and peel remind me of persimmons or similar fruit.  Especially when very ripe.  

Was in Luang Prabang for Easter Sunday and the power was out.  Did our shopping in the dark store using flashlights and mobil phone lights.  Found the main items we were looking for but ran into a big snag.  ATM machines run on electricity and we couldn't find one working.  So we were limited but still had a wonderful lunch, bought some brooms at a basket shop and returned to camp long before dark.  The trip was not as rough as the first time, thank goodness and my husband was driving this time.

Oh!  Found a Pullman pan in the dark!  75,000 LAK or Kip which is under $10 US.  Wow.   Looks a little bit used but it opens and closes, bright and shiny.  Might work out better for cakes in my mini oven.  We shall see. We have been blessed with rain followed by a couple of cloudy days.  So wonderful and moderate!  Put out many of the wild fires about and cleared the air of dust and smoke.  Such a cloudburst!

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

The plum mango seeds.  Just saw them in the dark by watering. Will gladly poke a few more holes in my watering line!  :)

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

"Come, look in the garden bed, something beautiful is growing..."  

Give it three months and it won't look the same...  been planting shoots, cuttings, seeds, plants and veggies.  Watering system is along the top of the baskets/pockets.  I loose track of time when I'm out there planting.   Either the high sun, hunger or the heat drives me away so that's where I am while waiting for equipment and things.   

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Wow!  That looks amazing and beautiful.  I'm sure as you say in a few months time it will look completely different.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

all over in various pockets.  

Crate arrived today but not the bricks.  I got chimney top, thermometer sleeve and special hammer  along with the special mortar for  outside the the dry stacked bricks and filling in wedge spaces in the dome.  Also the glass webbing.   

That's about it.   Oh, and the bundt cake pan made it and my Walmart 3er Rye pan (Lasagna.)

The pool is coming along famously with water and electrical pipes today and tomorrow.   I live and breathe concrete these days.  Reebar is my middle name.

Mini-o-reebar-rye  :)

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

are complete!  Arrived today and had them transferred to camp just before lunch.  I'm so excited.  

Looks like all the parts are here, in their own little crate.  Just got it parked under a roof when the clouds unzipped and doused everything else including me, the fork lift and operator.  When it rains, it pours here!  Think I will be building not only a platform but a mini pole barn for assembly.  Found a nice spot with good karma, a view with light breezes.  I can almost smell that first bake and a pot of coffee.  :)

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks for the update.  Keep them coming with some photos!

Regards

Ian

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

ground base has been poured!  yay.  The cement pouring today for sidewalks/patio had a little extra left over and I had set up some boards early this morning just in case.  :)  One step closer!

Here's a pic of the pool early this morning before removing the boards to fill in and complete the concreting.

I am now working on the WFO while waiting for tiles and filter sand.  :)

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Love that wall and the plants growing in it.  Lucy couldn't figure out what bread to bake on Friday but after reading the update she decided on some version of MO's Rye with Walnuts and aromatic seeds.....only with sprouted rye and now maybe a Manilla Mango:-)

Happy building Mini

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

that Dolly managed to get a few prints into the finished cement last night.  The crew is working on plastering  and finishing the brick entrance wall at the far end of the picture.  Between the ladder (standing in the pool) and the end of that wall is the entrance.  Sidewalk looks good and drainage took the 5" of rain we got this morning without a hitch.  Pretty messy elsewhere.  The plants are all happy after the deluge.  

I was eating a very dead ripe mango (mostly brown) the other day and was thinking about the many disappointing attempts I've made baking with mangos resulting in not much flavour.  I think the banana bread rule applies...  use them dead ripe and just mash them up.  I've got dead ripe mango bread on my bucket list.    

Now to do something with that 832g of overripe 40% rye dough staring at me in the fridge.  Just sniffed it... what a way to self motivate!  It smells fantastic....  by the way it hasn't fallen flat yet and is about 2 weeks old or so.  Whoops, 3 weeks.  Looks like it will get put into a few loaves.   What a way to stretch rye, eh?  Wish I had walnuts.  I've got peanuts and cashews.  Just not the same.

Truth Serum's picture
Truth Serum

They do have that crunch, though not the right texture...

 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

And now a confession... been jumping into it for two weeks now...

Canoe moored only a few days. Does give some idea of the size of this thing. The canoe lies on the east/west axis and from that location, beautiful sunsets to watch over the water and mountains.  Ah... a great place to relax.   Note covered showers and toilets at the back. Easy to step into over the edge no need for ladders and the rocks get used for stability getting in.  I'm still laying tile in the crow's nest and will take time as the rain keeps coming down.  Water temp 30°C to 33.5°C.  

I keep the umbrellas at 75% up so the wind doesn't grab them and toss them over the wall into the jungle. That has happened twice now. Crazy huh? Still have some odd painting of the edging and need furniture... more flowers and things... .. and maybe a breakfast bread bar with coffee...  :)

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Might have to build a roof first, then put the oven together. Waiting on a load of local clay bricks to arrive any moment.

Truth Serum's picture
Truth Serum

Minii,

That looks grand. Thank you so much for posting the start to finish pictures of this project.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Has been on my mind...  I need to get this pool pH lower, chlorine higher and it all hangs together with alkalinity first.  Been stressing this to DH and the greening of the olympic pool is a classic case.  I hate to be the poor person taking the blame for that situation.  Lack of chemicals is the wrong excuse.  Anyway... 

Got me thinking about our water alkalinity in reference to dough and sourdoughs. ALKALINITY!  It would affect the sourness of our sourdoughs and why one recipe makes sour bread in one location and not in another even with the same flour and starter.  We've never discussed it!  Should we bother?  In a separate thread of course...

Truth Serum's picture
Truth Serum

Hopefully you will get the ph of the pool back in the proper range.

And I think discussing the ph of dough twould be a great thread.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

I didn't bake this weekend but instead stepped onto a Thursday flight for the capital city of Vientiane.  Shopping!!!  Gosh, hadn't done that in 8 months!  Don't know if I still can.  (ha)  Nervous from the start and trying not to show it.  

First the 2.5 hr road trip up river to the airport see the flood damage and yes, have seen where the road and houses have disappeared, stopped counting the one lane only roads sections when my fingers ran out.  Oh my!  A few of the houses were leaning so badly toward the river, their foundations undercut or sliding with adjoining houses gone, yards gone, trees gone, partial walls and fences.  Most had fallen and were gone on my return trip Saturday.  

Made it to the Airport and on to Vientiane.  Short 45 min flight. Quickly on my way after landing.  Did some city site seeing/driving.  Can't miss seeing the city cleaned up, primped for the big visit.  What visit?  Obama and Putin coming this week. Everyone in town is excited.  School had first two days then closed for the whole of this week.  Saw the newly built Embassy (impressive structure of glass and stainless near the river) on my way out of town Friday morning to cross the Friendship Bridge.  Once over to Thailand, changed money, and searched for stores that carry larger sizes.  Hard sometimes not to think I was in the "States" with the wide roads and fields, grass and tree medians but upon a closer look, the corn fields were rows of papaya trees, the tractor a little different and the billboards not in English.  Oh, and everyone is driving on the wrong side of the road.  The right-of-way is the left-of-way and No-left-on-red signs.  

Was on my feet the whole day in a mall, a large super market, with only a short time in the Home Depot type store afterwards.  Gosh I love hardware!   Any items I couldn't fit into my baggage got boxed and trucked with the shipment that arrived today in camp.  Can't wait to dig out my treasures!  Can't wait to use my garden hose with a reel and a nozzle!  Simple pleasures.  Bought some baking pans for the WFO.  Didn't find any rubber spatulae for mixing  or a magnifying mirror (haven't seen my face either in 8 months.)  

I also did some shopping in Luang Prabang after landing.  Picked up more flour,  fresh milk / yoghurt, mulberry jam, and hit a bakery for coconut cake (yes, the whole cake for a Lazy Sunday afternoon) and made my way on down the river road to camp.

Before I left the dry dusty clean warm city of Vientiane, at breakfast, the hotel manager warned us of the roads closing at 4pm.  I said not to worry, I was flying out at 11 and would miss all the fun.  Lucky me.  The hotel was completely booked  by the embassy.  My second night was tricky but I managed to keep my room.  All in all it was great timing.  Not so for those looking for a room this week, everywhere the hotels are fully booked.  

Friday night, checked out a restaurant noted for it's WFO pizza.  The oven is in full view at the back of the dining area that spills out into the street.  The work area table separating the oven opening from the eating area.  Picked up a few tips just watching.  Served on large round wooden boards.  Lovely and tasty.  :)  Cheese looked like he had run the block thru a french fry slicer and then cut into small cubes or blobs for tossing onto the pizza.  I have a 2.3 kg block of Mozzarella I want to cut up and freeze...Hmmm.   

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

restaurant you can find a good pizza place anywhere in the world.  Sounds like fun.  Tell Obama not to give Alaska back to Putin just to make him like Hilary better than he did after the last reset she did with him and he took Crimea:-)

God luck with the WFO                                                          

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

among travellers that one can find noodles just about everywhere... so all you have to do is add the toppings of your choice to get Chinese, Italian or a Mac & cheese.  Cheese is always the tricky ingredient to find.  I've seen pizza places close for lack of cheese (as opposed to making too much money.)  Guess they never heard of just oil and garlic pizzas.  Get a local pizza here and it tends to be sweet. 

So far we've had more rain in August than two such months put together.  Maybe I'll get a break.  We took down a large sign and I wanted to use the grid, steel, support for a roof over the oven.  I thought I instructed my guys to remove the rotten back of the sign, when I came back 30 minutes later to the sound of a grinding machine, I found my grid all cut up at the joints.  No use trying to stop them so I let them finish cutting it up. In about the same amount of time, they had rebuilt the longer steel beams into some kind of cart to move cement bags.  So I was down one roof and up with dry cement.  Those boys just love their power tools.  

I picked up a large size mosquito net (we had one man come down with Dengue fever) The size to "cube" a double bed is listed on the package as a 9 person tent.  >Let that one sink in.<     Now THAT I would like to see.  Hubby says having screens on the windows is enough but he stands there often enough with the door wide open.  We ARE on the edge of a rain forest...   Gotta bet back to oven building and cheese cutting.   Need to make bread too.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Jakarta and it almost killed her. Took forever to get over it too.  It isn't something to mess around with and I would go with extra netting over the bed for sure.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Jakarta and it almost killed her. Took forever to get over it too.  It isn't something to mess around with and I would go with extra netting over the bed for sure.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Like with "Rope" I go the extra mile and we have and are taking extra measures to make  and keep the camp as safe as we can informing everyone what they can do and providing the means to be safe.  That also includes filling pot holes, clearing and draining ditches, keeping trash picked up and no standing water of any kind in any container or garbage.  We have daily garbage pick up and no saucers under potted plants.  It's a long list especially in a camp and we are being diligent. I also know someone in Jakarta that had it.  I agree, dangerous.  

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

season ends, you will know it.  Well it ended.  Rather abruptly too.  Hasn't rained a drop since I took off in November and now I'm back in dust bowl camp life.  My poured concrete WFO base is completely covered now with a mountain of sand and some odd bricks I want under the oven.  Got to get this organised somehow but so many things to do before Christmas.  I got my hands back into tile glue, grouting and cement mixing.  Cooling off to wonderful temperatures and if it weren't for the snakes,  a great place to retire.   

On the flight back to Laos, sat next to a man who is also interested in my oven.  He built one in Thailand from local brick but says it just cant get up to the high temps he likes.  Insulation and heat retention seemed to be the big problem.  I pumped him for his garden knowledge of this area and we compared notes in housing, concrete, bathroom fixtures, flour availability (he's a SD home baker and raised on a farm in Bavaria.) We had a rather short flight and I think I almost lost my voice.  Lol!    Oh, and he raises his own meat, butchers and cures it too.  We barely touched on pickles!  

 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

It's funny how sometimes you meet just the right people at the right time!

Can't wait to see how your oven turns out and see some nice rye breads and other goodies coming out of it!

Regards,
Ian

Jean Miche's picture
Jean Miche

and the next I find you are in Asia building fountains, pools and ovens - which is where I came in. I followed your oven research with interest because I want to organise a community bread oven in my village so I'm reading everything I can find. This post, however, is about mosquitos. I grew up in Africa and our method of reducing mosquito risk from standing water to big to drain was to spray it with a fine spray of oil from time to time. The mosquito larvae can't pierce the oil film to breathe and they die.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven
Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Things are getting into gear.  At least I hope so.  Getting the oven plans to get REAL and checking them against real materials.  My oven site location changes every time I find an ideal spot.   My Garden Bakery has now been taken over by   two apartments.  So...  Where to now?  Hubby keeps directing me toward the pool.    

Meanwhile....

I'm conducting an experiment on some material here I want to put under the oven to keep in the heat.  

I'm building my oven on a steel plate for easy transport from one camp to another.  The framed steel plate will sit on a concrete or steel pedestal with an ash drop.  Above the steel plate (with cut out ash drop) comes an insulating material and then a layer of local baked clay bricks.  Above the bricks,  two layers of fire clay slabs with thin layer of fire mortar between layers to level.   The dry stack  brick oven on top.  Chicken wire and  fibre-glass mesh is laid down before the slabs and eventually continues up the sides and over the mortared arched top connecting everything with a 1 cm. coat of fire mortar.  Everything is then surrounded with 4 cm of Calcium Silicate insulation board stuck on while mortar is wet.  Stone wool on the arched top and any space along the sides completes the insulation with the chicken wire holding the stone wool in place. 

Now I have to decide what comes on the outside.  I have 6cm to play with to the outside edge of the steel plate.  Do I cage in the oven with a cube like steel frame?  Plaster it?  Brick it? (I got some skinny bricks.) and tile it?  

My door plan is wood with an inside cutout of Calcium Silicate that fits into the door opening, a small air space between the CalSil and the wood so it is light enough and can also stand on it's own.  The front of the oven consists of two arches, the door arch and a slightly larger front arch with a space big enough between them to accommodate the chimney to guide smoke upwards and away from my face.  I have two one meter lengths of steel chimney pipe 18cm ø  and a rain proof top.  So far, the top is the only rain proof thing on the oven.  

The rainy season has started.  I'm plotting under a roof getting the bricks and slabs cut first.  It does help to play with the bricks, I have a better idea of the front with the chimney part and arches and how to insulate the front of the oven up to the door.  I will start another Blog and put in pics and drawings.  :)

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

flunked.  Burned up at 400°C  so I need to find another insulation between the steel plate and the red bricks....I don't want the steel plate conducting heat away from the oven.

Edit:  found an industrial calcium silicate thermal blanket to use as insulation.  Maybe I can move some of the 4cm thermal board under the oven and use the blanket on the sides and dome.  I'm debating how much of a heat sink I need under the 8cm of fire slab floor.  A heat sink means I have to heat the oven longer, wouldn't insulation right under the oven slabs be most efficient? Holding the heat longer?

pmccool's picture
pmccool

Something crush proof like cal-sil block or foamglass would be better under the slab.  As for heat sink, how much baking do you want to do with each firing?  More time=more mass=bigger heat sink. Thicker insulation will reduce the heat loss through the oven floor but it won't make up for inadequate mass. 

Paul

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