Can I use the oven prior to applying the veneer

I just finished the fire brick for the Mattone Barile oven. As one can imagine we are eager to use it. After the second mortar coat dries, can I begin curing the oven and apply the veneer as later on?

Hi Chris,

Congratulations on getting to this stage! You do sound eager to start cooking.

I presume that by “second coat of mortar” you’re talking about the stucco over your ceramic fiber insulation. As I understand it you could leave the veneer off forever and it wouldn’t affect the inside of your oven, because the stucco weatherproofs and protects the insulation.

I don’t know of a functional reason why you couldn’t start your curing fires. I know of a human behavior reason why you might want to keep going…because once you stop building the oven and start using the oven it’s going to be hard to go back to finishing the work.

Kevin might jump in with a caution flag if there’s a real problem with firing your oven now. Otherwise, I’d consider telescoping your timeline and get that veneer done while you’re curing.

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I cant wait to get to this stage. I am really hoping I can get to this stage by Aug 4th as I hope to take the full 6 days to heat cure my oven before the following weekend of Aug 10th for a party. I just finished my base this past weekend and am anxiously waiting for the 5 days for it to dry before starting step 1 of the oven! So I will be putting the veneer at the same time I am curing. I really hope this wont be a problem. Anyhow, piggy backing off of this post, my question is, do you close off the front (step E) with veeneer bricks? Or standard bricks? Or firebricks?

I don’t have access to this from my phone, but there is a FAQ that covers this question. Short response: firebrick are best, standard brick may be okay, and veneer is out of the question. Use firebrick if you possibly can. And good luck as always — rooting for ya.

Just circled back to your question, and I’m guessing this info is still within your timeline:

FAQ on materials for closing off oven

Good luck with finishing up, and especially with your party!

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This helped a ton! Thanks!

Can anyone tell me if fire curing my oven only a few days after closing the front of the oven with firebricks, or if i attempt to close it off during down time (so the hours between an actual fire in my oven) of the fire curing process will be problematic?