Why I Oughta...

A couple weeks back, I posted an update on the pizza oven that showed the treated lumber framing that I attached to the front of the block stand (I used Tapcon concrete anchors) as part of the prep work for the installation of the final counter that serves as the 'landing' of the oven.   In that post, I showed *most* of the framing installed, but since then, the countertop installer came by to measure the space.  When he was here, we talked about extending the front of the framing to provide a bit more support.  And, he suggested that I put down a layer of tile-backer board across the top.  The countertop installer suggested that he would use thinset mortar to affix the countertop in-place and the tile-backer board would provide the right base. As I was looking at the framing that I had already installed, I noticed that the left 'leg' was slightly off (in terms of the correct position), so before I finished up the horizontal surface prep, I moved that leg over....

The last time that I checked in on the backyard pizza oven build, I showed off the full enclosure and roof and talked about how I had some success with a lower-temperature bake .  This was in late September and the oven - at that time - looked like this below.   From the front, you can see the block base and how I had made a temporary hearth landing out of a 2x6 that is supported by some firebrick cut-offs.   That was (obviously) temporary, but it has taken me a while to figure out what I wanted to do there. We seem to have landed on installing a hearth/landing ledge of Soapstone that will stick out from the front of the oven about 10-12 inches.  That will give me a little ledge/counter to work on before/after sliding the pies in/out of the oven.   But, in order to install that ledge, some permanent support needed to be installed.  Based on how I poured the hearth and placed the oven, I left myself four-or-five inches of space to build on top...

Now that the pizza oven enclosure sidewalls are done , I could move on to sheathing the roof and button'ing-up the whole thing.  Before I could close-up the roof, I wanted to add a little bit more insulation to the top and sides of the dome.  On top of the firebrick, I have 4" of cal-sil blanket insulation - which I hard-coated.  On-top of that 4" of blanket is going 20 cubic feet of vermiculite and perlite.  I bought these big 4 cubic-foot-bags of the stuff.  Asbestos-free, of course.   They aren't *that* heavy, so I tug'd each one up the ladder, ripped open the bag and began to pour the insulation in the cavity.  It filled the voids down the sides of the oven along the walls and corners and came-up to the top of the oven.  Adding five-or-so inches of insulation to the sides and a couple to the top.  See below for the vermiculite pour-in: At the top of the dome and below this truss framing, I put in another layer of 2" CalSil insulation...

The last time that I posted about our backyard pizza oven was earlier this Summer in Late May when I showed a long burn in the brick chamber .  But, that doesn't mean progress hasn't been made on completing the build.  Despite some setbacks and the heat of the Summer, I've moved along with my DIY build and have been working to build the enclosure.   That requires walls and a roof.  Both are underway.  But, the photo below shows a milestone:  one of the sidewalls is now completely enclosed.  The corners are built from concrete blocks and the middle section is now covered in fire-resistant concrete board.   I will post the details of the enclosure build (including the concrete blocks) and the roof.  The next step that I'm facing is to close in the other three faces.  Then, pour in some loose insulation.  And, finally...finish the roof.  

Last week, I included a mention of _Laceybakes_ - the focaccia baker on TikTok amongst other little pizza-related tidbits in a round-up post .   Her videos influenced me to make a batch of focaccia this past weekend.  I opted for a simple olive oil and garlic butter-topped bread. I was too impatient (and didn't plan well-enough), so I ended up doing a same-day dough - which lead to an underwhelming hole-structure.    Below are a few photos.   This is the second-ever batch of focaccia that I've made - with my original research back in 2022 .   Some notes:  I used the stand-mixer to do the initial incorporation.  That was a mistake.  Think I over-worked this dough.  I did about five-or-so rounds of stretch-and-folds.  That was probably fine.  I dimpled this focaccia *and then* let it keep rising.  Pretty sure...that I should have dimpled-it right ahead of the bake. Also, as I mentioned above, there was no cold...