Rado,
Hello, and thanks so much for everything! It was a great help to have so many pictures to look at, I built the new MTo. Any questions I had, could be answered by looking ahead to see what the end result was.
Here are some pictures of my work in progress. Oven first, almost finished with a pizza prep table. Pavers, shade, lighting and who knows what else are still ahead.
Cabo, our dog has been a great oven boss, she is the project overseer, from her many vantage points. She now knows where her favorite ….. pizza crust comes from :-)
What I did was concrete over the vermiculite layer. I was concerned about moisture inside, so I used a section of pipe, cut vent slots in the bottom, cut a hole in the back wall and placed it on top of vermiculite & out the back wall.
Then I put a layer of foil over it and some sand down the sides to allow venting and capped it with concrete. After the oven was fired and cooled the next day, moisture was dripping out, so the steam vent worked. I used expansion joint material around the chimney, cut it flush and sealed it after painting with a flexible sealant.
I now get calls from my friends when a mesquite tree is down or needs cutting, I have quite a collection in my yard for future cooking.
I also made a tool to grab a chunk of wood and be able to place it in the back of the oven gently, with ought having to throw it …. Works good .. (this tool is mounted on the side of oven.)
Thanks again, take care!
– Kenny from Arizona US –