outdoor brick oven

Well Done!! -- Now I'm sooooo envious.....thanks for the motivation!

Marlene

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It is the one with persistence and determination that brings great ideas into being.

I tried pizza right on the bricks- it does them in about 5 minutes-I'm having fun with this

I'm learning how to fire my brick oven, it's not just like turning a dial!I know put on the fire when I put on the bread, and about the time the bread is ready, so is the oven.It has hotter places and cooler places-which I expected.The first batch was too hot- coloured up too quickly, but this morning went beautifully.When the fire has burned down to coals I shut the sliding damper and let it sit another hour-which really builds the heat up- sometimes as much as 600*.That's too hot, so I put less wood in this time- and when the first batch went in, it was 400*- much better.I found that my improvised wooden rake worked well, then a broad push broom pulled the ash out, and by dipping it in water,cleaned off the brick deck nicely.
I put on a batch of rye last night[ started off by boiling some spuds and mashing them right in the water- that made a good base]Anyway, I let thatsour overnight then added more yeast and this morning and brought it up to the right consistency with flour.I made braided loaves and regular hearth bread with that batch- eggwhite wash and various seed toppings[sesame, poopy sed, and caraway].
Next batch was a bagguettes -no oil or shortning, just water,yeastflour and salt.That came up very nicely as well in a hot oven.Really good with cheddar cheeze.You have to eat them the same dayas they go stale very quickly- stale bread hasn't been a problem- it's all eaten!
Last batch was regular heath style bread, rounded up, slashed and eggwhite wash.
So- the oven works very well-once I got on to firing it.The last thing I do is stack in wet wood[pallets work fine] and allow them to ''kiln dry'' for the next firing-the oven is still over 200 and will be warm tomorrow morning.
The one thing I'd like to have is an oven light- maybe I could drill through the brick and install aregular oven light form an electric stove.Right now I use a flashlight, but an alternative might be to get one with a magnetic strip on it and just attach that to the oven frame when I open it-that would be simpler.
Anyway- wanted to build one of these for years- and it's worth it.Of course, I think that although I'm very happy with it- I would build another one slightly diferent-mainly like a gable roof and clay tiles so I wouldn't have to build a roof over it, but that's about it

600 or higher would be good for pizza.

You might consider burning the wood down to how coals in a barrel or something then shovel it in to control the heat better.Like they do when cooking BBQ pork shoulders.

Glad your having fun with it.

it takes about 3 hours to get the oven thoroughly warmed up,I might try and rake some coals back into the near corners so they would provide some heat while baking, but I ran 3 batches of bread before it dropped down to 300*I went out to get the morning paper-24 hours after I fired it-and it's still warm[I neglected to tarp it last night and it started to rain, so the steam was coming off of it.I still have to get the roof built, it's not good to let the brick get rain soaked.One of my planned projects is to do a while inside round of beef in it overnight, or a pig.That should be good

A few years ago while visiting friends in Canada I was lucky enough to meet a man that had built and worked a clay oven. I spent several hours talking to Mike about his oven. I took several pictures of one he had that needed lots of repair in order to see how it was put together so I wouldn't forget. Mike told me all types of clay wouldn't work so be sure to test it in my kitchen over.

This year I finally found the right type of clay. The first thing I did was take a boat trailor and cut it down to suit my needs so I make the oven portable. Its at the welders shop now and should be done shortly. Mike told me this idea would work fine as long as I kept building the oven in small even coats of an inch or two with a day or two of drying between them. He then suggested my walls and sides be thicker then what they should be to allow for bumps and movement on the highway. As I build it I'll be more then happy to take pictures and post them for those interested in building one.

He also told me to mix portland cement in with the last couple of coats of clay to form a nice hard surface to protect it from the weather. The mix he suggested was one part cement to three parts clay with enough water added to make it easy to put on. ( an oatmeal type mix is the way he suggested doing it )

He suggested heating it three or four times with small fires to prevent cracking the walls from to much heat. Mike said to build the fires three or four days apart to get the most benifit out of them ,making each fire just a little bit hotter each time. After its proofed....you can feel safe in building fires in it hot enough for your baking needs.

Mike passed away that following winter I was up there. He was a good man that loved to share knowledge with one and all. I was unable to get some of Mikes recipes for breads and cinnamon rolls before he passed on but I'll be happy to pass on any I get to those interested in clay oven baking.

A friendly tip about clay.... try your local quarry about clay. IF there is any around those fellows will most likely know about. I fooled away a couple of years looking on my own before I ask at a quarry. My copier is down right now but I will send pictures of what I took in canada if anyone wants copies of them.