thermal mass

[oldlevain]

I am about to order a casa 2g or premio 2g. While I will do pizza often, my main interest is bread baking. I was wondering if spreading an extra 2 inches or so of refractory cement onto the dome before insulating will provide any significant added time for baking?

[admin]

I am about to order a casa 2g or premio 2g. While I will do pizza often, my main interest is bread baking. I was wondering if spreading an extra 2 inches or so of refractory cement onto the dome before insulating will provide any significant added time for baking?

We don't think it is necessary, particularly with the Premio 2G oven. That dome is already 3 inches thick. Any addition of refractory cement will just add to the time it takes to heat up and obtain thermal distribution to the floor. It could create an imbalance in the oven design.

However, one trick that we will recommend in these situations is doing a vermiculite mix with concrete and "skinning" the outside dome before insulating. A good mix is about 5 to 1 or 7 to 1 (vermiculite to concrete) depending on the consistency you want. The more vermiculite, the better insulation, the more concrete, the more strength.

This will remove any air pockets between the insulation and dome and create a nice seal trapping the heat longer and slowing the cool down process. Although the insulation blanket is better for insulating the dome, many mobile caterers will take this extra step. So the layer would be dome, about 1/2 to 1" vermiculite then the insulation.

Here is a good article you may want to read called Thermal Mass Primer.