Anticipating the Yule Log

The Backyard Pizza Oven with its timber door

Since the pizza oven has been insulated, it has been operating at +500 degrees C which makes for 'fine' pizza but has played havoc with the oven and firebox doors.  The timber doors were protected with fire bricks and vermiculite panels but even so on the last firing the the back of the doors nearest the heat were carbonized and required replacement. This week, thermally insulated double skin mild steel doors have been fabricated in the Cabine and installed. Hopefully, these will not require replacement any time soon!

 

The carbonized rear of the old oven door looking like furniture reclaim from Herculaneum

The oven firebox with new thermally insulated twin walled mild steel door

The oven with new thermally insulated twin walled mild steel door

The oven with door removed showing the vermiculite hot tiles and trivet

When we travel to the Berlin Christmas Markets, Toot and I really enjoy eating the flat breads, raclette and fire roast salmon. Of course, if you want to keep the cold out, it pays to accept a glass or two of mulled wine - well it would be rude not to! 

Thanks to 'Covid19' and bloody 'Brexit' the chances of visiting brilliant Berlin this or even next Christmas appear remote. So not to be down hearted, we will reenact the Berlin experience in our backyard. We have raclette cheese in the freezer, plenty of flour and yeast in the pantry, loads of wine courtesy of Aldi, Iceland and Asda, spices from the Orient via Southend and World of Fish Lowestoft will no doubt provide top rate Yuletide salmon.

We have already reinforced the garden 'Chinese twinkly light panorama' - tastefully arranged and RIBA approved. The fire-pit 'roaster toaster' is ready to go for roasting the salmon and the 'pizza oven' is now operational for baking the flat breads. We only need Barry to rock up and take pride of place in his garden office and then Christmas 2020 can commence.

We hate you Covid19 virus but you wont stop us eating molten cheese until we become spleeny and  drinking spicy wine until our baubles drop off. So there you little sub microscopic bugger!