I am in day three of curing my new oven. Noticed not much in the way of floor tempature
is that because it is still curing and sucking in heat. The oven was done in the fall I could not finish the stucco layer until now. I also bought a log grate from Mugnaini think that will help elevate the logs in that back to create more air flow was that a good idea
please advise
Hi Dino, and welcome to the BrickWood forums!
As long as you are following the curing plan recommended in the instructions—which encourages “low and slow” and will definitely seem like lower temperatures while everything is drying out—I think you’ll be fine, even using the log grate. When your logs burn down to coals, though, I’d be sure to spread them out over the entire floor of the oven and close the door to allow the heat to distribute and to work on curing the arch for as long as possible. By day four you should have the sense that the oven is retaining heat all around.
Must have been hard waiting over the winter to finish up, but you’re on the home stretch now. Three more fires, and then you can build up to operating temperature—again, slowly, especially for the first couple of bakes.
Good luck and check back with us when you’re done!
Thanks Matt I am glad that you are our leader and are really into this.
Two quick questions. Once the oven is cured and I am operating it ( probably twice a week)
how important is it to keep moisture out. ( i am thinking important. I am thinking about builidng a tarp system for the front and buying a damper for the flue? I hate to have it rain on Thursday and struggle to make pizzas on Friday. Question 2 is about how many logs say 12 -14 inches do you need to properly fire the oven and how long does it take? My oven has a vermiculite base,Oven ezz Bricks two layers of blanket and two layer of stucco ( I am bricking later this month)
Please advise
Dino
Glad I can be helpful, Dino.
It is important to keep an eye on weather. You want to keep water from soaking in past the door during a storm, so rigging up a tarp system can be helpful if you’re expecting that Thursday storm. Also, we’ve had a lot of discussion here about water coming in from the sides—saturating the ordinary bricks that frame your hearth and then into the firebrick and sand underneath it. Using a waterproofing treatment on any exposed bricks will help stop that.
As for firing: if you are building a fire for pizza (and your forum nickname tells me that’s your main interest!), figure 8-9 logs over the course of an hour or so, and then 1-2 every 20 minutes while you are actually baking pizza. You need to start low and slow and build up to a proper inferno over time to achieve the high temperatures that are the reason for building this oven.
And finally, be patient if the first couple of fires don’t seem to get the oven as hot as you’d like. It takes a little time tor everything to dry out thoroughly. Once it does, you’ll need leather gloves to handle your pizza peels.
Best of luck Dino!