Friday, February 4, 2011

Slow Progress...

I've been spending my efforts on building an oven for the past month. Before starting this project I had worked as a stone mason for a couple of years. I thought this wouldn't be much of a stretch. It turns out that stone masonry is very flexible, as the mason accomodates different shapes and sizes. The brick mason is much more exacting, with a demand for straight level lines, plumb and true. The resulting work is not particularly pretty, but I hope it will be functional.


Here is the blank canvas, a spot in my basement with two masonry walls and a thick foundation.


Here are some of my raw materials, which I got for free on www.ksl.com classifieds.


A close-up of an arch to allow access to space below the oven.


Here is an overview of it all. The footprint is 8'x5'. The center wall you see there is to support the center portion of the concrete slab that I will pour next. The concrete slab will support a bed of firebricks and the chamber for the oven. More photos coming soon.

When it is all done, perhaps we can have a little baking workshop for anyone interested in trying a more traditional approach to baking. Anyone? Anyone?

7 comments:

Melissa Cunningham said...

It looks fantastic! Can't wait until our pizza party!

Jana said...

Very pretty!

Kenzie said...

Brock,
That is awesome! I love that you got the stuff for free and I love the opening with the arch. Well done! Is this going to make you house hotter than Hades? I would love to see more photos and see it in person too and also enjoy some of your bread when all is said and done.
Good on you for doing this!

Brock said...

Well... it wasn't ALL free. Those bricks were free (275 of them) but I had to buy a few more. Cody gave me the sand. I bought the cement and lime. Still, I'm getting out a lot cheaper than it might have been.

GStaples said...

The only question I have, is how is the smoke, exhaust exiting the basement??? Wouldn't want the house to catch fire. How exciting to have this, the bread will be soooo deilious! Think of all the great pizza and breads you will bake!

Brock said...

In that masonry wall there is a stove-pipe hole ducting into the main chimney for the house. There used to be a wood stove in this spot. So I think I have that issue worked out. Wouldn't it be terrible if I got this far along and didn't have the chimney figured out?

Cody said...

Looking good Brock, We all love your bread and know it will only be that much better out of this oven. How do I get on you bread production list, so that I can get bread on a regular basis? Say like 2 time per week. Are you taking orders yet? C.