I bought extra ceramic heat blanket for the base, but does anyone put it in the base?? If so, where and which step? I’d like to have some in there, but need some pro insight
From my experience the blanket is just for the dome. There is an equivalent material that is sturdier for the base, and that is the ceramic fiber board. Others may have had other experiences but that is what I have seen done as I started researching how to build an oven.
Welcome to the BrickWood Forums, Jake!
In short, no. You want a firm surface for cooking, and the ceramic fiber blanket is not going to do that for you.
Your post landed in the GENERAL message board, so I’m not sure what kind of oven you’re building. As Joel points out there are other materials that work much, much better for insulating the base. Plus, they’re an order of magnitude less expensive.
BrickWood recommends either “Insulating Castable” material, which is a pre-mix, or a mix of Perlite and Portland Cement. I did the latter for my insulated base, and it was probably the easiest and most pleasurable part of the build.
The general principle here is that, because heat rises, you want to focus your insulation efforts on the top of the oven (barrel or dome). The base is also important, but a combination of insulating castable and the firebrick that will be laid as your oven floor will get you a very hot cooking surface.
What to do with your extra heat blanket? You can always add up to another box of it around your barrel or dome. Always. It’s recommended for colder climates, and it doesn’t hurt in warmer ones. It’s an asset, and it will improve the performance of your oven.
Keep us posted, Jake, and keep asking questions as you go along. Remember to take lots of pictures—you’ll appreciate them whenever you want to show someone how you, personally, built this oven…and sharing them here lets us see the personal touches that make it yours.