Image: Tim’s oven with roof on

Well, it took a few years of coffee roasting plus cooking seasons with the oven, and then .. my wife an Artist/blacksmith built the roof ribs and the front supports in between jobs .. I had to drill and tap 60 holes to attach the steel roof ..

Still to come ..
I’m waiting for a good hard freeze to bring down a 700lb field-stone slab that is going on the left hand side for a work surface .. fun fun!

Tim’s other pages:
1. first oven outdoors
2. how to roast coffee in wood fired oven
3. cooking in winter outdoors
4. the oven with its roof on (art work with metal)

I don’t believe that any single living person from a developed country would not have heard about essential fatty acids, omega 3 fatty acids, or fish oil; and how beneficial they are for not only inflammatory conditions but also general wellbeing. It is most likely to be the biggest selling supplement in the health food stores, pharmacies, and online stores. So what are fish oils and what are their therapeutic values to us? There are such a variety of them on the shelves, I am sure that trying to pick one from such a wide selection will give us a headache! At the end of this article, I will include what one must look for when purchasing fish oil supplements.

Fish oils are also synonymous to Marine Lipids, Marine Omega -3 Fatty acids. The term “Fish Oil” is most commonly used as a collective name for Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) and Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA). Fish Oils are known as essential fatty acids – our body cannot produce these fatty acids, and therefore we must rely on our diet to supplement this. The highest amounts of fish oil are found in salmon, tuna and sardines. However, in order to obtain the required amounts of EPA and DHA, we would have to consume lots of it! From a practical and compliance point of view, it would be great to find a good quality supplement to take every day. Nevertheless, that is not to say we should not be enjoying nice and healthy meal containing fish often!

Fish oils are most commonly derived from tissues and livers of fishes. Just like us, fishes don’t produce these fatty acids, but obtain them from the food like micro algae. It is important to know the source of where your fish oil comes from, as getting it from the fish liver means that there will be also vitamin A present. A point to note: don’t confuse Cod Liver Oil and Fish Oil – Cod Liver Oil contains approximately 33mg of EPA and 30mg of DHA per ml. Cod liver oil is derived from liver, and contains high levels of Vitamin A and D. Although these vitamins are great for our immune system and respiratory conditions, fish oil are proven to be more beneficial to our health as they have a wider use in our body systems.

Most of the health benefits are attributed to EPA and DHA components of fish oil. Only recently studies were done which revealed the difference between EPA and DHA on their therapeutic action in the body. EPA component are said to have anti-inflammatory properties and therefore is beneficial in Auto-immune diseases, Arthritis, Psoriasis, Eczema, Asthma, Allergies, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Stress, Depression and can also help reduce high levels of cortisol (a hormone that our adrenal glands produce during the times of stress). DHA component are believed to be most beneficial and protective of cardiovascular system as well as it is neuroprotective essential fatty acid. DHA supplementation may reduce risk of Angina, Hypertension, Atherosclerosis, elevated cholesterol and LDL/HDL ratio, Arrhythmia’s, Brain Development in young children who suffer learning difficulties and also assists in memory improvement. DHA plays a very important role in our nervous system, protecting our neurons from being damaged, and in turn, improves neuronal signalling. In summary, EPA is responsible for the anti-inflammatory action in our body whilst DHA is mostly responsible for neuroprotective and cardioprotective actions in our body.

So where do you start when you are choosing fish oil supplements? Throughout shops, pharmacies and online stores , there are an abundance of fish oil available to choose from. You may notice that some will have “1000mg fish oil” in big letters on the bottle, but what does that means? We have to be aware that the total weight listed on the packaging of fish oil capsules does not equal the total amount of EPA and DHA. A 1000mg Fish Oil capsule consists of about 180mg of EPA and 120mg of DHA per capsule – this is the most basic concentration of EPA and DHA supplements. To achieve therapeutic benefits of reducing inflammation, the number of capsules per day that needs to be consumed is 9-12 capsules, which gives us 2700mg of combined EPA and DHA. These days, there are also concentrated fish oil capsules available, and are dependent on the indication of use. You can find capsules with higher amounts of DHA – this will be mostly in fish oil capsules indicated for cardiovascular health or brain functioning. Capsules with higher amount of EPA are generally suggestive for any inflammatory conditions. The liquid fish oil supplements are the most potent and concentrated fish oil supplements on market. The most concentrated level of available Fish Oil in liquid form is 4600mg, which means it contains 2700mg of EPA/DHA per 5ml. This is equivalent to 9 standard Fish Oil capsules.

There are many different brands on market and one has to be careful and to seek information on where the fish come from and the manufacturing process of the oil before it ends up in the capsule or bottle. According to my knowledge, I have few favourite brands – the first concentrated liquid fish oil to come onto our shelves are from Ethical Nutrients, (high strength oral liquid fish oil available in 170 ml and 280 ml volume bottles). It contains 2827mg of EPA/DHA per 5 millilitres servings (EPA 1.9g and DHA 927mg [0.927 grams] essential fatty acids per each 5ml serve), and is processed using a molecular distillation process that ensures purity and batch consistency. To ensure the stability of their fish oil liquids, they use process called Nitrogen Flushing. This is when the air in the storage vat is removed and replaced with nitrogen to prevent the oil going rancid (oxidized). Also, their fish oils products are well below the Australian minimum allowable levels of pesticides, heavy metals and solvents. If you decide to buy liquid fish oil, remember to store it in the fridge after opening, and to consume it within 1 month.

High concentration capsules are available from most of the brands. A particular favourite of mine is by Blackmores, called Omega daily. If you like to shop online, the one worthy to go for is Omega 3 DHA Fish Oil produced by Xtend Life, a New Zealand company, which produces clean vitamin supplements, fish oils and skin care. Their fish oil also contains powerful antioxidant called Astaxanthin. This antioxidant is fat and water soluble, allowing our body to utilise it easily. It can enhance immune system functioning, and can protect us against some types of cancer. Astaxanthin also protects our bodies against free radical damage by actually destroying free radicals on the surface of the cell membranes before they penetrate into the cell to cause cellular damage. It is present in Krill oil – another form of omega 3 making its way onto our shelves. I will discuss Krill oil at a later date, after doing more research and gathering more evidence to compare it to Fish Oils.

I do not think it takes a scientist to know why these dietary oils are so important for us – they are essential to our health, mental and physical wellbeing. The amount to take is also important factor to calculate as different conditions require different therapeutic doses of fish oil. For general wellbeing, good quality pure fish oil of about 900mg EPA/DHA (around 3000mg of fish oil) should be supplemented. For inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, it is 2700mg of EPA/DHA, those suffering depression will benefit from fish oil that has about 2000mg of EPA, which can be increased to 4000mg in major cases of depression. There were also clinical trials involving the use of fish oil for reducing the body fat in obese people – for these trials, 6000mg of fish oil was used. Together with healthy diet and healthy exercise, fish oil should be included in healthcare management of all of us.

For people who are worried about the safety profile of Fish Oil:
In general, Fish Oil is one of the safest alternative health supplements to take. There are however, certain circumstances where you need to be cautious – one of the warnings goes mostly for people on blood thinning medications like warfarin, or for those suffer from a bleeding disorder. It is then recommended that these supplements are taken under a doctor’s supervision.

I would absolutely love a new info on fish oil and omega 3 fatty acids and I would love to hear from anyone who have used it/are using it to improve their health.

Mrs. Green’s previous article on: Papaya Sweet Answer to our Well-Being and Health.

* Thank you very much to Karen Huynh for her contribution to this article.

© Copyright statement – KangaRado Hand ® All rights reserved.

What is Vermiculite? Insulation applications.

Where to buy vermiculite insulation? Best places to find vermiculite containing products, or most importantly dry loose-fill vermiculite insulation in bags, are large landscaping yards (because in horticulture the vermiculite, as well as Perlite, are used to prevent soil compaction or as soil conditioner/amendment after adding a composting matter.) Pool shops and businesses that build and install swimming pools also work with large quantities of vermiculite.

Then obviously those who work with different kinds of insulation materials. Such as; refractory firms (handling mostly refractory and high-temperature insulation) or factories producing various vermiculite based thermal insulating floor boards for use either with floor heating and without, walls, or floor levels construction to lower down a total weight of a building (vermiculite lightweight insulative concrete is highly suitable for building. A 5:1 – vermiculite to cement mixing ratio, it is light, insulating and, fire resistant with a great degree of sound absorption – more below). Then there are thermal roof panels and ceiling insulating layers, these are durable plus moisture resistant goods. Not to mention a packing material or even incubation of eggs for they remain in the warmth and protected, etc., vermiculite has many practical uses.

My advise is; negotiate with different suppliers what you’ll be charged for ~10 bags of vermiculite versus any price for one bag to source a much better deal. However, these jobs can be very easily done using a lot more cost effective and suitable insulating materials that will save you; and with the same or even better insulative properties than Vermiculite or Perlite have (with no material efficiency compromises, they do what they’re intended to do in kilns, furnaces or ovens with no quality reduction.)

Comparing the insulating lightweight concrete produced by mixing vermiculite and cement, depending on how it is mixed, this concrete is around 80% to 90% less heavy in weight sense, per same volume, than a conventional heavy/hard concrete. One inch or 25.4mm of vermiculite insulation layer thickness will have the equal insulating property values as 508 millimeters – 20″ thick regular concrete layer has. How is that for an interesting differences in material?

More on Vermiculite heat insulation and the quantity required.

I am using both US and Metric measures for the quantity explanation.

From the industry/manufacturers, dry loose vermiculite comes in sizes from 1 to 4 grade. Each number is intended for different purposes. One 100 liters bag of granulated No. 3 grade vermiculite (not dust) weighs close to 9 kilograms – which is 90kg/cu meter. Although much lighter in larger granules form exists, example is the No. 4 Grade, it has bulk density from 65kg/m³ up. The dust or tiny vermiculite packed, the first grade 1, is heavier around 160kg/m³ and it is not suitable for our reasons.

To be precise, I don’t often refer to loose vermiculite in bags as pellets. I think, typically pellets are created by compressing of small material particles, or mixture of materials, into denser pellets. This insulation material produced is expanded ex-foliated vermiculite, very light, low heat absorbent, not compressed nor heavy.

“Lighter in weight is better” is the rule for insulating. Plus any extra thickness applied on top, is only for an extra degree of benefit. It depends on the size and how they pop it; crushed volcanic mineral rock goes into kilns and in the heat they pop it just like a pop corn in the heat. The result is the mineral puff enlarges, expands into vermiculite in the heat and becomes that light.

1 cubic meter = 35.3 cu feet (0.1 cu m = 3.53 cu ft)
1m³ = 1000 Liters (0.1 cu m = 100L)
1 cubic meter = 264.17 US Gallons

For the whole job, when using vermiculite for the insulation that is, I buy 7x 100 Liters bags (larger bulky but lightweight paper or plastic bags.) 700L makes it 25 cubic feet (or exact measure convert is 24.717 cu ft equals 700 Liters). The amount is same for both Swishy and Masterly Tail oven designs.

This is amount for extra insulation layer added especially on the oven top. The job can be done with only 6 bags too but of course it is always better if more insulation thickness is applied. If you purchase say 28 cu ft (790 L), or more (1 cubic meter = 35.3 cu feet), if the structure design proportionally allows, add the left over extra on the top of the cooking part for even better efficiency results. (I turned more towards using ash instead of vermiculite for cost reasons (as mentioned before it has the same insulation properties like vermiculite and perlite.) If you DIY for single project maybe the money won’t always matter.

For the heat insulation layer under the heated floor slab and, if done that way, also for the final contours over the top; when you’re mixing your vermiculite with bonding agents, like building GP or Portland cement (same thing), add water gradually in little quantity as vermiculite doesn’t absorb water, it could become too runny otherwise. Mix by hand and shovel on a concrete ground or in a wheelbarrow, it’s very easy/straight-forward (mix not in a mixer because vermiculite granules are on a soft side and the mixer’s metal parts would surely damage its small particles.) Most ideal is to pour it simply out of the bags in its simplest loose-fill form covering all around and above if the oven was boxed in among e.g. house brick walls or in some metal casing. For vermiculite mixes here is the page dealing with heat resistant insulations applications including how to make own vermiculite based light weight concrete.

Typical physical properties of exfoliated (expanded) vermiculite

Bulk density: 4-10 lb/cu ft or 64-160 kg/m³
Temperature use: 2100-2280°F or 1150-1250°C
Non combustible.

However, if needed, you can use ash from burning coal (fossil fuel). It is sold mainly in large gardening yards (or directly from the production where it’s being burned, in hot water heating boilers, power stations; currently 80% of Au. electric power production is run on burning coal, for instance.) For the comparison, this ash costs only 35 bucks to fill my ute and the amount will suffice for insulating 4 ovens. When I am able to source it closer to a job I always use it as it performs just the same in these temp. heat conditions like either Vermiculite or Perlite plus it saves me.

*** Let me know a price you got for vermiculite or the ash when you locate it. If you can also who sells it (address/phone web contacts) I will find the info useful when building/insulating around your location area.

Some may confuse them with insulating lightweight firebricks, those are used in different applications. Dense firebricks can be cut only with diamond wheel attached to high speed handheld angle grinders, on an ordinary building brick saw or sliding drop saw for cutting bricks. Fire bricks can be chopped in half easily by using brick chisel and a couple of hits with a heavier hammer. It is fun and quick but may you want to achieve precise nice cuts hire a trade machine or buy yourself at least small size grinder. Before cutting soak the brick in water by dipping it in a bucket of water or in a wheelbarrow if you had too many. Leave the bricks in that water for 5 minutes minimum.  The cutting diamond wheel will last you for a long time if the firebricks are cut wet plus you won’t breath in any dust, and of course cutting gets a lot easier and faster!

What firebricks type to use?

When it comes to firebricks and dense refractory products composition content often Alumina (AL) ingredient is looked at which ranges ordinarily between 18% to 40% of alumina in modern product’s body. The percentage range is important for choosing the right product for the right temperature or Orton Cone but mainly if a high temps are applied. Alumina influences bulk density a lot and therefore also porosity, or if you like the weight of fire bricks. No need to apply above 26% in wood fired oven temperatures range but you can in case a low grade isn’t available to buy. Absolutely safely 18% AL amount firebricks can be used in wood ovens (you can melt and cast color metals in it too.) Furnace’s chamber build out of 18% will perform and last the same way as 30% alumina product.

Apart higher co$t, additionally, higher Alumina content grades make these bricks harder and brittle (more glossy if you like) making them absorb less steam e.g. from under pizza dough bases being cooked or bread dough. However one can get used to cooking in such oven fast.

Even though you can hear other words from a few suppliers who sell not locally manufactured product, conductivity and heat absorbing capacity is not influenced much at all by higher or lower alumina content. Higher grades won’t create magic temperature difference in cooking environment and vise versa. Main reasons for this are modern imports, one high alumina range suits all business and applications, less varieties to stock, higher markup and margin, those are the reasons if 18% to 26% brick isn’t sold by a store. Look for locally manufactured product, lower grades cost less to produce and they sell them for less. Where I buy refractory 26% AL firebricks costs $1.98 per one brick.

BTW mineral Graphite is lighter in weight by half if compared with Alumina or refractory bricks, and Graphite absorbs much more heat than firebricks (more reading about firebricks’ thermal conductivity and alternative for firebricks replacement.)

• 21% Alumina firebrick : 1850 tons Bulk density per Kg/m³ : Thermal Conductivity : 0.98 W/m.°K : 23-Orton 1620°C
• 24% Alumina firebrick : 1.925 tons Bulk density per Kg/m³ : Thermal Conductivity : 1.02 W/m.°K : 27-Orton 1640°C
• 27% Alumina firebrick : 2 tons Bulk density per Kg/m³ : Thermal Conductivity : 1.05 W/m.°K : 30-Orton 1670°C
• 33% Alumina firebrick : 2.15 tons Bulk density per Kg/m³ : Thermal Conductivity : 1.07 W/m.°K : 31 ½ -Orton 1700°C
• 38% Alumina firebrick : 2.2 tons Bulk density per Kg/m³ : Thermal Conductivity : 1.13 W/m.°K : 32 ½ -Orton 1720°C
• 40% Alumina firebrick : 2.25 tons Bulk density per Kg/m³ : Thermal Conductivity : 1.13 W/m.°K : 32 ½ -Orton 1720°C

TYPICAL TECHNICAL DATA – DENSE FIRE BRICKS

Physical Properties of Firebricks (23% alumina product)

• Bulk Density : 1915 Kg/m³
• Modulus of Rupture : 5 MPa
• Permanent Linear Change on reheating 5 hrs. @ 1400°C : -0.35%
• Cold Compressive Strength : 15 MPa
• Thermal Conductivity @ 750°C : 1.01 W/m.°K
• Apparent Porosity : 28%

Chemical Composition of Dense Firebrick – 23% Al grade

• Alumina : 23%
• Silica : 73%
• Ferric Oxide : 1.4%
• Accessory Oxides : 1.1%
• Titania : 1%
• Frits

Who is your firebrick or refractory supplier, do you have contact-s on them? And where are you located? Please leave your comments for others below…

What is Fire Clay ?

Fire clay in detail photo. Fire clay is a normal mud, simple as that, but a mud with higher Alumina (AL) content. Has usually whiter-lighter color. Whitish to yellowish, pinkish, light brownish. It’s also cheap as mud. Refractory or pottery suppliers sell it, even if it comes in dry powdered form in bags fire clay is still very heavy. You only need one bag per dome if you buy the clay in dry powdered form. Commonly Alumina content of fire clay ranges between 24% – 34% Al and Silica from 50% to 60%.

Where to find & collect fire clay in nature?

Source of fire clay from the nature- OK, maybe no one sells fireclay in your location. No worries you wouldn’t be the only person in this situation. Close your eyes and think about this…, give it a go a several times. Think of a place outside where you saw mud of a lighter color. I mean a place with water soil erosion or excavation work going on. When wet, mud is soft and sticky without any organic matter in it. Not like a top soil, don’t confuse these two (organic material would burn off.) Mud can be found usually deeper below top soil. It’s everywhere around us but can not be seen until it’s uncovered. You have to find a spot where it is not mixed with sand or rocks, and remember the light color. You need to uncover a mud which has similar structure to the play dough (when wet.) Sounds like interesting outing doesn’t it(?), I wouldn’t mind to go out with a good friend (if I had one;) and do this now. Just dig it out.

Fire clay shrinks about 10 to 15% after water dries out so take home an extra bucket more. You can make a test if you like;

1. Stretch and flatten piece of the clay into 13cm or 5 inches long strip
2. With a sharp object make 2 marks in it - EXACT 10cm or 4″ between the marks
3. Leave the clay to dry
4. Re measure when dry to see the shrinkage difference

Some Potters still keep their own clay source spots as the world’s best kept secrets. Own sourcing was very common years ago but for sure it’s many artist’s hobby and pride not buying commercially packed modern clay bodies. It’s different however with quantity producing potters. Lot’s of enthusiasts dig for the clay. Mix fire clay with sieved fine sand (Loam is great) to make the top refractory mortar! Mix it with coarse river or creek sand and make clay adobe tiles out of the stuff. Mixing send into a wet clay by walking in it, or mixing sand with clay both in dry form and then adding water in, second example requires less effort and is much more faster. As these adobes dry, they shrink a bit and should be covered with plastic so the drying speed is slower (otherwise you create propeller instead), that prevents banding and cracking. More grog is added into the clay, for adobe tiles, less shrinkage and cracking.

Never add straw or wood saw into body of adobe or mud bricks for creating wood fired oven dome, because  it burn off just as organic material does. It’s being added into heat insulation only to create honeycomb like airy lightweight effect (air is the best insulation and such material doesn’t absorb much heat!) House building bricks are different to refractory application. Clay adobe and bricks must be dense and less porous, solid and heavy. These adobes are joined by sand clay mortar – 50:50 sand:fireclay ratio. Although inner face of the dome made of adobe or mud bricks is quite fragile it cooks very nicely; if you touch it harder with e.g. a pizza paddle it drops off some clay because mud bricks and adobe are un stabilized, they would have to be bisc fired in kiln in a slow temperature speed-increase to at least 950deg. Celsius to harden. If you have a chance to fire your fireclay in an electric or gas kiln do a test firing with one adobe.

When making arches of the dome by using wooden template: If you can support dome side wall bricks to prevent the dome arch pushing on them and possibly collapsing, then the best mortar you could use is 50:50 fire clay:sand mix. Fine sieved sand that is or pebbles can give hard time in places where tiny gap between bricks is desired. Cement is used only to make the mortar to dry faster, to set as you work to progress fast. Also experts in manufacturing and selling firebricks tell you that, no need for refractory cements everywhere, these are expensive and used by industries for theirs hi temps kilns and furnaces or for castables.

Fire clay sand mortar mix dries very slowly, but if you support the side walls by pouring concrete cladding behind them, leave it cure and then form arched ceiling using the 50:50 fireclay:sand mortar is the best option. When I go fast I use a little of Portland cement in the mortar so it’s setting in 2 hours. Portland cement is already a bit refractory but it’s wise to replace one half of the amount with lime. Lime is calcium and it takes over the cement when it burns out in heat. Old ovens were built using only fire clay with lime not cement. These ovens work forever, many of them are being fired daily for decades and never cool down.

Where else can I find Fire Clay ?

Soft pottery clay body – usually 10 – 15Kg per packaging. Ask for clay with more alumina content, stoneware clay, and it can be coarse not too fine. Normally it is whitish color. You don’t need to go for expensive clay, just pick one type for higher temperature and light in color. REMEMBER: don’t be confused, when you see the soft-wet clay in bags it can be darker but when it dries it’ll change to lighter color. Then there are also clays which are white when wet. Usually the shop has dry samples. Don’t forget to ask for clay which they stored for a long time, it’ll be harder in plastic bags, not too fresh in pottery terms, potters don’t want dry clay to work with when throwing on potters wheels so you can get a better price to pay for it too. Often they run discounted sales of these nearly dry clays to get rid of it. So you brought your clay home now … but what to do next you may ask? Take the clay out of plastics bags. Use wire or stronger fishing line to cut it in thin slices. Leave it to dry. After about a week in an airy place the clay will be dry. Sit on some low comfortable soft seat on the driveway and use a hammer to brake it into almost powder. It’s not hard at all but it takes some time. You will need about a bucket to mix the mortar, and half a bucket for the sand : fire clay (50:50) bed to lay hearth floor bricks onto and level them up nicely into one smooth surface.

Substitute for firebricks can be old red clay solid bricks. In ovens these alternative red clay bricks will heat up, retain heat, cook, bake, roast, re-fire, absorb conduct store and hold the heat from wood fire and perform the same way as proper refractory firebricks do. If you can not locate fire bricks where you are or for any reason obtain them, Red Clay Bricks will perform much the same way in wood fire temperature levels and can be used instead.

How do I see it’s the right alternative for firebricks?

The replacement bricks must be of this type, old solids. Clay body is the same on the brick’s inside as it is on the outside. Break or cut one of the bricks you find in half to see what’s in the middle. New products are made out of cheap clay bodies whilst only on the outside a decorative clay slip is applied and then the bricks are fired in kiln – you couldn’t use bricks like that. The right alternate also shouldn’t be burnt, if you saw too much black-carbon color in the center don’t use such brick – it would be either over fired and brittle or made out of lesser quality clay. But a few little burnt spots will be fine. Working with red clay solid bricks is equivalent to work with refractory firebricks, all matters remain the same only bricks are different.

Where to find these old red solid bricks?

Look around in demolition yards for instance they often stock these red clay bricks. Read advertisements in papers, people very often sell for fraction of price or giveaway exactly this type of old bricks, and other great building material left over from other projects or from cleaning up. There are always few firebrick replacements to be seen here you just have to watch it. Bricks are old and in used condition with some chips and cracks, you can turn them with better side towards hot face, the oven inside. You can buy 200 to 1000 of red clay bricks even for 20 or 30 bucks in total and end up having a lucky day.

These reds have a great character in eyes of many including me. Often people wants to just get rid off them. Some sellers are obviously aware of the value and the beauty these red bricks have, and so they resell them with profits. By the way these old bricks can be easily cleaned with hammer and brush because in the past brickies didn’t add much cement into mortar if any, mostly lime was used those days. Tables with firebricks physical properties.

How to use light weight fire bricks insulation

Use of light weight fire brick insulation is broad, mainly in industrial and hobby kilns heated up with either electric spiral elements or gas burners, furnaces, both for hot face lining or outer back-up heat insulation.

IMPORTANT:
Do not confuse lightweight insulating fire bricks with heavy dense firebricks. Insulating bricks are refractory too and of course withstand very high temperatures range BUT for purpose they have very low thermal conductivity and don’t absorb the heat well at all. Those are intentions for heat insulation. For instance if you used them for building of the hot face in a wood fired oven (for cooking) the oven wouldn’t cook, because it wouldn’t store and hold almost any heat. You can however use these insulating fire bricks on the outer side (of the heavy firebrick walls, vault or under the floor bricks and slab) to prevent the soaked in heat in the chamber’s body mass from escaping and achieving superb results. Meaning well insulated oven which will hold the absorbed heat in its mass, where it should be to cook for long time.

TYPICAL TECHNICAL DATA

Insulating Fire Bricks’ Physical Properties

• Bulk Density : 604 Kg/m³
• Modulus of Rupture : 1.52MPa
• Permanent Linear Change on reheating 24hrs. @ 1280°C : 1.95%
• Cold Compressive Strength : 2.01 MPa
• Thermal Conductivity 300°C : 0.2 W/m.°K
• Thermal Conductivity 750°C : 0.28 W/m.°K
• Thermal Conductivity 1000°C : 0.32 W/m.°K

Chemical Composition of Insulating Fire Bricks

• Alumina : 37%
• Silica : 61%
• Ferric Oxide : 1.6%

Light weight bricks for insulation can be purchased by public in pottery supplies shops.

When the subject turns to analog oven thermometers and cooking in wood fired ovens; you will find out, if you haven’t already, that measuring temperature with these great self standing stainless steel thermometers is done/useful only when the wooden door is closed – that’s when temperature in the cooking chamber evens up for baking or long time slow roasting and so on. Otherwise there isn’t point to measure atmosphere inside while firing or when the entry door is opened because logically the temp is very different at vault level vs. bottom floor. Carbon burn-off gives you high pizza temperature reading, that’s when all the walls turn from black to white color (or to red color if the oven is build out of old red solids.) These meters sell for about 10 to 15 bucks in chef shops, I have about 150 of them left at the moment to give to my customers. I bought them for good bulk price from trade show in Brisbane.

If you prefer a fancier oven thermometer, or as another option although not at all necessarily needed, then take a look at digital thermometer.

I have 2 of them but in thermometer version only, not multimeter, from Temperature Controls pty. ltd. in NSW here is the Digital Handheld Thermometer TC305K details page. They are very reliable guys I reckon they will ship also overseas. The K type thermocouple is in their catalogue among SD Types. You’ll need to use the yellow wire as well as it has the correct resistance in ohms. And even if I measure frequently, say temp reading every 5 mins often so per hours, for years I haven’t had to change the powering 9 Volt battery, just because I don’t leave the meter On for long time.

I am very happy with these digital meters, they are pretty accurate for working with kilns. Also potters use them a lot. One push switches between °F and °C scales. Although I never used them for cooking in wood fired ovens. For cooking I learned to measure temperature on by looking in and sticking my hand inside or when high accuracy is needed I use self standing stainless steel thermometers because they work the best for me and are in fact easiest to use.

Measuring Oven Temperature

BUT if you like you can use these digital thermometers e.g. to measure inner wall temperature, inside the bricks’ mass) or in the floor to estimate how long will a new firing take. Or to calculate how many more hours will the oven stay hot for reloaded baking or warm for fruit drying. However, if you decide to measure with these k-type probes also inside in the chamber volume space, then to get the most accurate reading with the thermometer push the thermocouple tip completely in so it’s poking 6mm or 1/4″ through a side wall into the oven.

Papaya, Paw Paw, Papaw, Tree Melon (botanical name Carica Papaya), it has oblong shape, normally greenish yellow, yellow or orange color. It is a large tree plant fruit usually reaching 2.5kg. It has bitter sweet taste and comes from tropical places with higher humidity, native to Mexico, countries of Central America, Thailand, Africa and Asia and growing well in Australia.

Papaya Health Benefits

Paw Paw how we call it here in Australia is these days plentiful all year round in most of the countries. The parts that are used medicinally are fruit, seeds, stems and leaves. I did look around and found out you can buy paw paw in all forms, in a form of fermented papaya, herbal teas even tablets and of course plenty of the fresh fruit, which can be eaten as it is or in a form of juice. So you ask what are these awesome healing properties of paw paw? Well where do I start? Papaya fruit is and excellent source of dietary fiber, folate, vitamin A, C and E. It also contains small amount of calcium, iron, riboflavin, thiamine and niacine. It is also very rich in antioxidant nutrients flavonoids and carotenes, very high in vitamin C plus A, and low in calories and sodium.

PawPaw tree. Paw paw is rich in enzymes called papain and chymopapain which helps with the digestion, particularly it breaks down the proteins from the food we eat into amino acids. The latest research shows that amino acids are responsible for all what is happening in our organism, basically for what is happening in every chemical reaction as well as our mental and physical health. As we age we produce less of the digestive enzymes in our stomach and pancreas, which leads to ineffective digestion of proteins. Due to this we end up with excess amount of undigested protein, which leads to overgrowth of the bad bacteria in our gastrointestinal system and not enough of amino acids to perform all important chemical reactions. We can say that good quality protein is absolutely essential for our healthy being. This is where the papaya enzymes can be very beneficial.

The papain enzymes are produced in the skinny peel of paw paw. The combination of these enzymes repels insect during the ripening, without this protection paw paw fruit would not survive. Eating paw paw after a meal makes for better digestion, prevents bloating and chronic indigestion. It can also lower the inflammation in the body, alleviates the pain and edema caused by sport injuries. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties papaya can relieve the severity of Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Because of its high antioxidant content, papaya can prevent cholesterol oxidation and can be use in a preventative treatments against atherosclerosis, strokes, heart attacks and diabetic heart disease.

In a everyday health papaya works magic on strengthening the immune system preventing the recurrent colds and flu. After treatment with antibiotics eating paw paw or drinking its juice replenishes the good intestinal bacteria, which was destroyed by the antibiotic treatment. The latest good news from eating paw paw comes down once again to papain the enzyme which I talked about, it was found to destroy intestinal parasites. Papain is proteolitic enzyme, which means that it digests inert (non-living) proteins. Intestinal parasites are largely protein, the papain attacks it and causes parasite to die. Also, home applications of leaf and bark papaya extract is used to deal with mouth gums and toothaches which is being effectively practised in many cultures around the world.

Papaya Research and Products

Papain is also being studied for relief of cancer therapy side effects, especially relieving side effects such as difficulty swallowing and mouth sores after radiation and chemotherapy as well as boosting up the immune system and helping body to fight the cancer. I am big fan of the products made by Rochway, Australian company (for more information visit rochway.com.au) as they use organically grown papaya, producing among other products, product called Papaya35, fermented papaya enzymes. They also produce Blueberry and PawPaw probiotic Punch, which has very strong antioxidant properties that protects against free radicals. Free radicals contribute largely in many diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and cancer. Rochway products are 99% sugar free which makes them suitable for people suffering diabetes as well. As you can see there is plenty we can benefit from this simple fruit, more and more research is being done and I can’t wait to hear more about it.

For references and more on the current studies you can look up PubMed Gov. ( search www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ ) as for the products there are few available on the market. I am sure if you look around you will be able to find many available or simply stick with the fresh fruit. However if you are looking or hoping for more therapeutic effect of eating papaya, you need to be aware the unripened papaya (still green papaya) contains far more of the proteolytic enzymes papain and chymopapain than ripened papaya which we commonly eat. You can also juice the leaves and stems but be prepared for the vile taste of it …. you can’t naturally like its taste nor does the cancer cells.

Summary of Healing Properties of Papaya

• Increases quality of proteins in whole organism.
• Revitalize the human body and maintain energy and vitality.
• Encourages the renewal of muscle tissue.
• Supports cardiovascular system.
• Boosts up the immune system.
• Helps with the digestive system, by breaking down the proteins and supporting production of digestive enzymes.
• Papaya can be use also externally as a treatment for skin wounds that don’t heal quickly, for this you can use papaya peel or ointments made out of papaya.
• Prevents the cataract formation.
• Due to high vitamin A, it lowers the risk of emphysema in smokers and passive smokers.
• Alleviates inflammation.
• Helps with the nausea and constipation.
• Can benefit people suffering colon cancer and other forms of cancers and aliments of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems.

I would absolutely love new info on papaya and I would love to hear from any one who used it to improve their health.

Mrs. Green’s next article on: Omega-3 in fish oil liquid for health.

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