The Bar 2014 Edition

[FIGJAM]

Hmmmm... this gets me wondering if the marble tile I have would work as a pizza stone..
highly polished white marble, a foot square by 3/8" thick.
I'll have to try that!!

As long as it's real marble or ceramic it will be fine.

NO CULTURED MARBLE!!!

[GreyCoyote]

The first time you use a tile like this, heat it slowly at 250 for an hour. Especially if the tile has any glaze. You want to drive any moisture out slowly so it doesnt get trapped, build up pressure, and create shrapnel.

I have used unglazed saltillo tile like this and it works pretty well.

[unjonharley]

The first time you use a tile like this, heat it slowly at 250 for an hour. Especially if the tile has any glaze. You want to drive any moisture out slowly so it doesnt get trapped, build up pressure, and create shrapnel.

I have used unglazed saltillo tile like this and it works pretty well.

Moister in stone is not good.. A new home with a river rock fireplace went boom. I got the job of repair.. It looked like a grenade had been thrown in the family room....

[Canoe]

Moisture in stone is not good.. A new home with a river rock fireplace went boom. I got the job of repair.. It looked like a grenade had been thrown in the family room....

Saw a caterer setup a BBQ at a fancy yacht club using two rows of concrete blocks with coals in between them, grills on top. Only he'd soaked the blocks so they wouldn't "burn". Fancy people in 'garden dress' going down the row of blocks with tongs, picking out their rib steaks, with occasional blocks blowing and flipping a grill over. After three or so blocks blowing, it turned into the fancy people standing off with drinks, watching catering staff guardedly approaching to grab a steak off the grills. With hoots & claps like they were watching fireworks.
Only minor small cuts...

[ygmir]

*wanders in, makes CCC*

jeeze, pizza rocks? ....where, or where would a person find those??????///granite? marble?

drove to the Hof yesterday, hardly any snow on the mountains around, none really on the ground. dang. gonna be dry up there..

*shuffles to ROS*

[lucky420]

Gooooood Mooooooorning one and all!

Getting ready for a big party for the REno Core project this weekend.

I'm with the DEA at the Morris Burner Hotel here in Reno. I is the sublead greeter and can't wait to get my fabulous on...

theme is Pardi Gras...

ok, alright now, everyone have a great thursday or at least get a nap in!

[trilobyte]

Thanks, Elliot. When I'm working on playa projects (or any projects for that matter), I try to plan the purchases so that nothing has to get rushed, and there's room for error on 'unknown quantity' stuff (suppliers I've never worked with, etc). My years in the tech industry taught me a lot about logistics (wrangling manufacturing times, and getting containers across oceans and continents around storms and other snafus. Compared to all that, camp and art planning's a walk in the park. We've already gotten a response back, and then sent them the photos - I fully expect them to get things taken care of with loads of time to spare. Stuff happens, I know it wasn't malicious.

AntiM, Camp Chef makes a couple models that sit on top of and use the burners of the existing camp stove. They're still a little spendy, but much less expensive than the stand-alone dedicated unit. A stone will do a great job of evening out the temps (though you'll go through more propane than you did before using one), but for our purposes we need something that can do the proper convection thing and get to/maintain 700+ degrees.

Aww, sorry to hear about the lack of the white stuff at the Hof, Yggy. Yeah, gonna be dry and crackly I think. The pizza and baking stones I've seen are usually some kind of ceramic, though anything that can withstand the temps and repeated heat stress would probably work. The main thing they do is redistribute the heat evenly - it's kind of like the oven equivalent of using a cast iron skillet instead of one of those super thin aluminum pans to cook.

Hooray, Lucky! Pandorra and I have been very excited about all the details and images we've seen of the Morris so far. I wish we could have made it to NadaGras...

In other news, woohoo for my proposal being well received and successful. I've already heard back, they're definitely on board, and will be gifting me some software tools that will help me not only with this year's projects, but with bigger plans and projects in the years to come.

[Patsh]

Thanks for the comments on the marble tile, all!
FIGJAM, it's definitely not cultured marble. Raw, and highly polished on one face. (not glazed or waxed)
Thanks for the tip, GreyCoyote! I'm sure this piece is already Very Dry, this being Arizona, but I'll heat it anyway, just to be really sure!

Unjon, rebuilding the fireplace when only part was destroyed seems like it would be harder to do than starting from scratch!

I'll bet that was pretty funny, in retrospect, Canoe... watching all those fancy people keeping their distance...

I have several of these tiles, Yggy, and will gladly bring one to the Hof party, or the burn for you. They're only 12" X 12", though. Somehow, I can't picture you with such a small pizza! (When I get ready to slowly heat mine, I'll put in an extra one for you!)

Lucky, they don't call you Lucky for nothing! Sounds like you'll have a blast! *envious*

Yay, Trilo! You always seem to be well prepared for the burn. I'm impressed at all you do!

Happy Day to ALL!!!

[Mojojita]

*runs through the bar with hair on fire, in the front, out the back*

[Patsh]

*runs through the bar with hair on fire, in the front, out the back*

Burning man.jpg

[^Rhino!]

*wanders in, makes CCC*

jeeze, pizza rocks? ....where, or where would a person find those??????///granite? marble?

drove to the Hof yesterday, hardly any snow on the mountains around, none really on the ground. dang. gonna be dry up there..

*shuffles to ROS*

A ferromagnesian-poor granite would be ideal.

Marble wouldn't work. Remember, the primary mineral in marble is either calcite or dolomite. Heat calcite and you get lime by driving off the carbon dioxide. Heat dolomite, and you get magnesian lime the same way. Great for plants, but not pizza rocks.

BTW, I use granite as a baking pan. I chose a large slab, had it sawn into a 16=inch circle, 1/2-inch thick, and it's wonderful for baking things on.

That baking pan does serve as a glaring indication of my level of punsterism, as well as making great pizzas and breads.

The USGS approved formation name for the unit it came from is the Breadtray Granite.

[Elliot]

Will ya cut it out already! I'm trying to get rid of my Winter Pizza Belly here!

[AntiM]

Trilo, the camp chef pizza ovens fit the stand alone big burner stoves, ours is the smaller oven model. Those don't fit. The stone I am looking at is made by camp chef specifically for our little oven.

I have a pizza stone from that gourmet home shopping whatsit... perfect for crispy rolls or shrimp.

Hmmm, shrimp? Let's have a BBQ!

BBQ72.jpg

[ygmir]

HI Gang!
ah, thanks Patsh......I have about 100 or so marble and granite tiles like that. I'm always happy to share!
I'd think, though, 3/4 or so " thick, fine grain granite would be nice! polished so not at sticky?
anyone nearby, or wants me to bring something, I have tons of scrap polished and unpolished (from my countertop days) as well and Academy black and Sierra white, I can bring you. Free if they can be just a size, needing only a cut or so to get close.
I've made some from soapstone for a baker here locally. I wonder how slate would work?

I'll be offline starting tomorrow for a few days. BM pow wow.

[MyDearFriend]

HI Gang!
ah, thanks Patsh......I have about 100 or so marble and granite tiles like that. I'm always happy to share!
I'd think, though, 3/4 or so " thick, fine grain granite would be nice! polished so not at sticky?
anyone nearby, or wants me to bring something, I have tons of scrap polished and unpolished (from my countertop days) as well and Academy black and Sierra white, I can bring you. Free if they can be just a size, needing only a cut or so to get close.
I've made some from soapstone for a baker here locally. I wonder how slate would work?

I'll be offline starting tomorrow for a few days. BM pow wow.

*raises hand*

I would like a baking stone, Yggy. I will even come to your house and collect it hahahahahaha... I hope you don't regret that invitation.

Winter Pizza Belly, oh geez Elliot thanks for reminding me...

*does dips*

[Joeln]

http://inyo.coffeecup.com/site/ammonoids/ammonoids.html
http://www.ammonoid.com/oxfordian.htm

Hey, I showed these sites to my boss who is a rock hound and he was all over it.
He said "Pump them for information, I go on rock trips all the time.
He said the New Mexico rock club wasn't at all forthcoming about good locations down there.

Good boss. First one I've ever had that I know for sure he's got my back.

[trilobyte]

I'm happy to report that the vendor will be taking care of everything for us on that damaged oven. They're making the arrangements to get a new one out to us early next week, and the shipping company will pick up the damaged one when they bring the new one.

I wish I had better skills on the waterjet, playing with stone tiles might be fun! It's a spendy tool to play with (I have to pay a per-minute fee to cover its ridiculous costs to operate).

I've seen that oven model, AntiM, that thing is cool! Now that I think about it, I remember you mentioning your stove also had an oven and you were able to do some baking on the playa.

[MyDearFriend]

Cogratulations, Joeln! A good boss makes a huge difference. And good work Trilo, getting the oven snafu sorted out!

That calls for a drink: gin-gin-gin.

[kittyrodriguez]

That calls for a drink: gin-gin-gin.

Oooohhhh.... what is that? I think I recognize a Fentimans back there.

[GreyCoyote]

Trilo: just as a ballpark figure, what do they charge you for the water jet? I'm about to have to start playing with one and would like a point of reference.

[Patsh]

[quote="^Rhino!"
A ferromagnesian-poor granite would be ideal.

Marble wouldn't work. Remember, the primary mineral in marble is either calcite or dolomite. Heat calcite and you get lime by driving off the carbon dioxide. Heat dolomite, and you get magnesian lime the same way. Great for plants, but not pizza rocks.[/quote]


Thanks for that warning, ^Rhino! (!) Now I'll have to sweet-talk Yggy into one of his granite tiles...

("...I have about 100 or so marble and granite tiles like that. I'm always happy to share!
I'd think, though, 3/4 or so " thick, fine grain granite would be nice! polished so not at sticky?
anyone nearby, or wants me to bring something, I have tons of scrap polished and unpolished (from my countertop days) as well and Academy black and Sierra white, I can bring you. Free if they can be just a size, needing only a cut or so to get close.")

So, Ygmir.... if you really could spare one of those slabs, I'd love to have one. I'll think of you every time I see it!
3/4" thick would be ideal, and my oven is just over 15" X 20", so anything smaller than that would work. Do you have a piece that's already polished? (I don't care if the edges aren't straight or round or perfect.)
If you're planning a Hof party this summer, it's on my wish list to get there again. It's been such a treat to be there with all the Cool Kids!


edit: hmmm... the quote from ^Rhino! didn't work like it should have... odd.

[ygmir]

you guys are my friends. what you want, is my gift, MDF and Patsh.
@Rhino: so, you think the 400 or so degrees of an oven will degrade marble?
I have a ton or so of Carrera marble, I suppose I could experiment.

[MyDearFriend]

you guys are my friends. what you want, is my gift, MDF and Patsh.
@Rhino: so, you think the 400 or so degrees of an oven will degrade marble?
I have a ton or so of Carrera marble, I suppose I could experiment.

At your house??? Gosh!!!

Edited to add: Kitty, a gin-gin-gin is: Gin, ginger beer, & ginger syrup. Pretty tasty.

[VultureChow]

Pi DAY!!!!!!!

Happy Pi Day everyone.

[Joeln]

I like Pi!

...and nice looking pies btw

[VultureChow]

Not my pie.

Though I did bring in pie for the office today.

[AntiM]

Mmm, pie. Hungry. Must go find pie.

Or I could break out the frozen berries and bake one.

[MyDearFriend]

Pie & = perfect!

[^Rhino!]

Hmmmmm......looks like I've created a stir.

Ygmir, you COULD use the Carrera marble.

The problem with most marbles from my standpoint is that they contain trace amounts of clay. Tennessee pink marble is like that. The clay tends to reconcentrate upon the pressures induced by lithification and metamorphism into pressure-solution features, squiggly-looking things called 'stylolites. Those stylolites are zones of weakness in the rock and clay attracts water, Ever seen a chert or a limestone rock explode when it gets hot in a campfire? I have. Except in the lower temperatures of an oven, it would just crack the stone. An example of a stylolite here:



Carerra marble from Italy and the US-quarried Yule marble from Colorado are largely crack free because they're pure. Yule marble is what the Washington monument is made of, though after years in the acidic rain environment of the northeast, they did get cracks developing on that structure (which were later filled and cured by professional conservators).

Granite, on the other hand, has interlocking mineral textures. No place for water to get into. Feldspars and quartzes GRAB each other and hold on tight. Ferromagnesian minerals (hornblende and augite, for instance, and biotite mica) tend to weather quicker, and are not good. The granites I use are co-magmatic (same magma) and are low in ferromagnesian content. The BEST is Graniteville Granite, known by its trade name as "Missouri Red" That granite has been quarried since the Civil War. They use HUGE extrahot oxyacetylene jets to cut out blocks of it. Those blocks are then lifted for cutting by cranes to make tombstones, countertops, and the like. Missouri Red takes a high polish.

See it here:



I saw somebody refer to a 'pizza stone', like from HSN or something. Those are actually made of refractory CLAY. Refractory clay is a high-temperature clay that's used in things like smelting crucibles and steel melting crucibles. They don't melt, and are normally sanded pretty smooth when you get them. However, they may be fragile, and you might just put it on a countertop and it would break. They are long lasting when left alone....there are actually clay sewer pipes made from the same clays in Turkey that are over a thousand years old and still in service.

[ygmir]

*wanders in, makes CCC*
Hi gang!
Thanks Rhino, I feel better now. I thought the Carrera marble, or the like, would be ok.
I might discuss, though, granites don't, or can't, contain water. It does soak in . I can leave a cup ring, on most any granite counter (unsealed) with a simple cup with water under it.....it does evaporate back out, but, the water will go in. I've heard of experimental water filters, using granite, as well. Acknowledging, some are far more porous than others.

Heading down to hopefully have lunch with Magic Marty today, then meetings all weekend.
someone else may have to take cartoon duty!! unless there is wifi, and I'm doubting that.

*scurries out back door*