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at long last

post #1 of 53
6/17/02 at 8:57am
Thread Starter 
Ok, kids. Here we go. The hole is almost done, the crushed rock is in the driveway, the cement and blocks are coming tomorrow, and I'm finally starting the brick oven. Wish me luck. I suffer severely from failure-to-finish syndrome. Here's what I'm modeling mine after... Nice size for my backyard. And it's apparently easy to use.
It's not Dairy Queen.
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post #2 of 53
6/17/02 at 11:22am
I hope you give us the blow-by-blow of this project. My husband would LOVE to build an oven in the back yard, and I'm sure he'd profit from your experience. GOOD LUCK!:bounce:
www.cakesuite.com
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post #3 of 53
6/17/02 at 12:17pm
Luckily for you, we are not neighbors...too tempting...too cool!

Let us know how it goes. ;)
K

«Money talks. Chocolate sings. Beautifully.»
«Just Give Me Chocolate and Nobody Gets Hurt.»
«Coffee, Chocolate, Men ... Some things are just better rich.»
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post #4 of 53
6/17/02 at 1:53pm
thebighat,
What a project!!! I'm hoping you will be very sucessful.
After you have finished I wish to contract you to build a project with me. I have been thinking about building a woodburning kiln. I have all the plans but can't build it in the city limits ( told the Mrs. that I could just throw a chix on it if the town came). I'm thinking we could combine the two. When you are finished you should have a handle on the stove side,no? combined with my kiln design, oh ****, might as well make a meat smoking chamber since I'm in the South.
Please keep a diary with pictures to keep us posted. Let me know when your finish date is and I'll send you a care package of local things to cook with.
Very Cool,
jeff

Never! Live To Work!:::::::Work To Live!::Life Is To Short!!
Paninicakes.com

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post #5 of 53
6/17/02 at 2:13pm
Jeff, that's what my husband wants too- A kiln/oven.

I'm sure the city would have a problem with the kiln, but like you said...;)
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post #6 of 53
6/17/02 at 2:43pm
Thread Starter 
I brought The Bread Builders over to the fire station, and they said, go right ahead. just call us when you light it so we know it isn't a burning house. I called the building inspector and he said, go right ahead. as long as it's not tied to the house, no permit. I baked bread and took it around to the neighbors and they said wow, let us know when we can get more. My wife would love a kiln, but don't they need to get to 1200-1500 degrees?
I got two tons of rock in the hole today. Looked like a lot, but I know somewhere at the bottom of that pile is the last shovelful. Took me 2 hours of intermittent work. It's like baking cookies. Yesterday I made 2100 cookies. I know at some point I'll pinch the last cookie. That also took 2 hours. They were for a big tournament today, if I got them done yesterday I got today off and wouldn't you know, the sun shone for the first time in several days. It was a very nice day finally.
It's not Dairy Queen.
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post #7 of 53
6/17/02 at 3:17pm
Last year, we built a 500sf patio in the back yard. Between the 2 of us, we shoveled and lifted tons upon tons of gravel, stone dust and brick. I vowed never to attempt that sort of project again! We have The Bread Builders, and there are some great ideas in there as I recall, but I'm still sore from last year's project!
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post #8 of 53
6/17/02 at 3:21pm
Momoreg,

I'll help you guy's if I get to use the contraption :)

TBH...good luck, what a great thing to have in your back yard. Can I send you some of my pottery to fire?
Baruch ben Rueven / Chanaבראד, ילד של ריימונד והאלאן
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post #9 of 53
6/17/02 at 3:42pm
ok, now off the topic but how many of us work in clay?
tbh,
yea, the kilns have to get up in temp. I'm basically interested in Raku firing. So we would only have to get up to temp for 15 min or so.1000c. So let's see, chix 350 for 20 min. We should be able to get one cooked in 3or 4 min. Hey! what about raku chix? Glaze it, nuke it, and throw it in a bucket of lemon grass for a while.

Never! Live To Work!:::::::Work To Live!::Life Is To Short!!
Paninicakes.com

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post #10 of 53
6/17/02 at 3:44pm
WOW! That's a wonderful oven TBH. When do you think it will be finish?


Can I come to the inauguration party? :lips:
When I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food.

- Desiderius Erasmus
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post #11 of 53
6/24/02 at 8:58am
Thread Starter 
You'll notice most of the work gets done on this thing on Mondays.
I just poured 21 bags of concrete mix. I'm a baker, I told people. how hard can it be to mix stuff? Well, stuff as dense as concrete was no picnic. It took three hours from cutting the first bag to rinsing out the wheelbarrow. We leveled it with a 2x4 and I'm just gonna let it sit in the sun. Most of it is going to be covered anyway so what do I care if it doesn't get troweled glass smooth?There's more concrete yet to mix, but that was the biggest job out of the way.
It's not Dairy Queen.
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post #12 of 53
6/24/02 at 12:25pm
And of course the temperature today is as hot as an oven! I feel for you, TBH! :blush: (there's no smiley for sunburn).
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post #13 of 53
6/24/02 at 3:45pm
Thread Starter 
I don't notice the heat if I take my glasses off. the sweat pouring off my furrowed brow doesn't get all over them. I really fell out of it after doing that today. I lay down and couldn't move for 2 hours and then was generally useless most of the rest of the afternoon. Now I'm looking a cod loin, mesclun salad with tomato and avocado, peach shortcake and some neat looking couscous.
It's not Dairy Queen.
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post #14 of 53
6/25/02 at 6:42am
>>stuff as dense as concrete<<

Sounds like my first breads :)

Hat, I'm just curious. Do you ever sit still? This is a very cool project. Much more productive the the web stuff. Speaking of the web stuff, how about some pics of your new work in progress.
At weddings, my Aunts would poke me in the ribs and cackle "You're next!". They stopped when I started doing the same to them at funerals.
www.kyleskitchen.net
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post #15 of 53
7/14/02 at 12:15pm
Thread Starter 
Almost a month into this project and the base is done. Two tons of rock, 21 bags of concrete, 45 cement blocks, 4 bags of mortar, all of which was carried by me to the back yard. Tomorrow I will make forms, cut reinforcing bar, mix concrete and vermiculite and pour the insulated slab, then the hearth slab on top of that. Should be a good day's work. At this point I'll take some pictures, up to now it just looked like a big hole, then a jumble of concrete block.
It's not Dairy Queen.
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post #16 of 53
7/14/02 at 12:22pm
I look forward to seeing it.:bounce:
www.cakesuite.com
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post #17 of 53
7/14/02 at 12:31pm
Best of luck!! What an ambitious project! Hubby and I were drooling over the website link you posted.
Food is sex for the stomach.
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post #18 of 53
8/26/02 at 12:53pm
Thread Starter 
Last day of summer vaca for the bambinas, we were going to go for a day trip to a little town, artist kind of colony on the Mohawk Trail, called Shelburne Falls, but I had no psychic energy for it. Instead I laid the hearth bricks. Took me a couple of weeks to track down some fireclay, and it's been too hot to work like that, so I kicked back a little. Next step is to actually mortar the firebricks that make up the oven box into position, then the arches. So, it's getting there. If I can figure out the homemade fireclay mortar I should move right along. Not at all out of the question to roast a turkey in there for T-Day. Got a couple of Reinhart's modified ciabatta rising on the counter for dinner and chocolate chips cookies which I'm starting to smell.
It's not Dairy Queen.
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post #19 of 53
8/26/02 at 3:46pm
Are we gonna see pictures of your oven? I would love to see it. How many hours do you think you've spent on it?
www.cakesuite.com
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post #20 of 53
8/26/02 at 3:54pm
Com'mon allready I can't wait to see this. Maybe I can shoot in for a weekend and give you a hand. I am very big on finishing projects.


:D
Thanks,

Nicko 
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post #21 of 53
8/26/02 at 6:53pm
Yeah, me too!!:D ;)
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post #22 of 53
9/20/02 at 1:12pm
Thread Starter 
So here's what I got, as of a couple of weeks ago. Since this was taken the hearth has been relaid, the side and rear walls mortared in place, and the first arch is mortared in. The outer hearth is all mortared down too. (didn't realize this would be so big. the photo. first time I've used the c-41 process black and white)
On another note, I was told today that as of next april 1, the position of pastry chef at the cc will no longer be a protected position. They will lay me off in the winter instead. (the gm actually said, "No promises." But I'm not stupid.) I kinda sorta had a feeling this conversation was going to happen. At least it gives me some breathing room to decide what I might want to do. If I stayed my big concern would be the health insurance. I haven't had any trouble the last 4 years finding pt work in the winter.

It's not Dairy Queen.
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post #23 of 53
9/20/02 at 4:55pm
Wow am I jealous! I just discovered this thread, how cool BigHat!!
How are you going to fight off all your neighboors when the good smells drift their way?


I love doing those kinds of projects.......I'm in the process of painting the trim on my house (a far call from my experience painting a canvas), by myself. There's a sense of accomplishment that feels really good about doing hard physical work yourself.

Too bad you don't live closer to me, my hubby is a ex-brick layer and does wonderful work. He'll build anything in exchange for cookies.


The job thing really sucks! But at least you know ahead of time.
"Bakers are born, not made. We are exacting people who delight in submitting ourselves to rules and formulas if it means achieving repeatable perfection", Rose Levy Beranbaum
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post #24 of 53
9/20/02 at 6:15pm
Hey, TBH, that looks very nice so far! I don't know how to post pictures, but if I did, I'd show you our patio, which my husband and I laid last summer. It ain't easy lugging all that stone!!

I hope it's easy for you to find another job. It seems to be the trend lately to lay off the lower/middle management people. I really hope it doesn't last for long.
www.cakesuite.com
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post #25 of 53
9/21/02 at 4:10am
Very nice, Your Big Hattedness! I get a Tim Taylor/Allen chest puff out thing going if I successfully change a light bulb! Your oven is awesome.
At weddings, my Aunts would poke me in the ribs and cackle "You're next!". They stopped when I started doing the same to them at funerals.
www.kyleskitchen.net
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post #26 of 53
9/21/02 at 4:46am
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!APPLAUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:) Now I need one too... about your husband W....

Kuan :)
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post #27 of 53
9/22/02 at 8:10am
Very very cool, big hat. I'm impressed. I'm sorry about the job situation(yeah, we're going thru the medical insurance scare, too), but looks like you have so much experience you'll land something in no time.

Good luck.
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post #28 of 53
9/22/02 at 8:34am
scary? medical insurance? oh it's a great thing to have until you need it. We have our group plan, it's great! Since my spouce and I are healthy but cancer survivors we pay 161% of the highest rates quoted. Oh yea, lets not forget that they raise those premiums 161% each year. oh yea, lets not forget that all the persons on that plan like children are at 161% above the norm. oh yea, lets not forget that all eligible employes must also be put on this plan at 161% above the norm no matter how healthy they are. Gosh, I just love ins. companies!!! Let me tell you that all rates are going up for they have lost more then anyone in the stock market. See all those reported losses they are claiming are not from claims payouts, it's from them deversifying and losing their shirts( don't get me wrong, I could care less what they do with their profits, but I just hate to be forces to recoup their blunders) Sorry for the rant!!!!!!! Time to send in my monthly premium. It's kind of like a menstrual cycle, my hormones go crazy, I'm tempermental, I retain water, I'm no fun to be around, I take some medication and all is well after a couple pf days, only to have it recurr when I see the envelope arrive the next month.
BTW I'm so jealous of your project. It looks great.

Never! Live To Work!:::::::Work To Live!::Life Is To Short!!
Paninicakes.com

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post #29 of 53
9/22/02 at 10:15pm
Oh man Jeff...I freak out over my insurance costs too, then I talk to other people and feel blessed I have it so good. My Mom got dropped from her insurance co. after her transplant, what a supprise, not!

P.S. Did you ever empty your mailbox Bighat???? I have a message waiting, if it holds....?
"Bakers are born, not made. We are exacting people who delight in submitting ourselves to rules and formulas if it means achieving repeatable perfection", Rose Levy Beranbaum
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post #30 of 53
9/23/02 at 5:25am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I think I got it emptied. But it says there are still some messages in a folder and I can't find the folder.
It's not Dairy Queen.
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