More news on the drum stove, now with working oven!
The fire cement arrived and I just had to test it out and seal up the oven space on the 44 gallon drum stove. I sealed the flue and the floor of the oven. I also fixed a fibreglass rope around the oven door to stop smoke getting in there.
It rained that evening before firing the stove and the sealant went all runny. Seems it is water soluble before curing!
Once it had dried out I added a few extra beads in strategic places and set a fire to do the curing.
burning with little smoke
A bit of smoke was created on initial lighting, but the stove quickly settled down and I had a steady flame going in the fire box and just a small amount of smoke coming out the flue!
first test of the oven – toast! (the burnt edge shows strength of direct heat)
No pizza’s prepared but I did manage to find some flat bread to toast as a test. A couple of minutes on a baking tray and it was done, yummy!
over ambitious fire?
If I got too ambitious and loaded the fire box up with wood it got a bit out of balance and pumped out too much smoke. A bit of practice and I should be able to make some tasty pizza’s.
oops! too much smoke
Next job? Source some pizza trays and make up the gluten free pizza bases for Ethan and Sheryl. A thermometer would be nice too. Ebay for that one I think.
steady flames make good oven cooking
Stay tuned, Brian.
