Hi all! I bake artisan breads for our farm stand and am quite lucky to have recently moved to a 300 year old home with an indoor brick oven. I have been researching this oven here and there since I moved and have been trying to find a bit more information on its condition. I've learned a lot from these forums, and figured I might as well post pictures to figure out exactly what I'm working with (short of having a mason come take a look). You all have been an incredible resource so far, and I thank you kindly for that!
Our house was built in 1730, with an addition built in the mid 1800s. The house has a brick oven next to one of the fireplaces, and it shares a chimney. The brick oven is quite old, but we aren't certain when it was built. We know the history of the home going back to the people who built it (a U.S. Revolutionary War Captiain!), but can't pinpoint when the oven was built. We know from neighbors that it has been there since two owners ago (1950's) and a stone mason who looked at it believed it was around 100 years old, but wasn't entirely sure since the stones used below the hearth could have been repurposed.
I have a couple of concerns about the condition of the oven. Following recommendations from several sources, I built 5 fires in it this summer starting with a small fire and getting progressively larger. I measured the temp of the ceiling with an IR thermometer and started at 350F with the first fire, progressing to ~650F-700F with the final fire. There are a few cracks that appeared to be superficial on the outer coating of plaster, but these grew wider when the fires hit around 600F. They haven't gotten any larger and contract back to being barely noticeable once the oven cools. After the last two fires, I noticed that two of the hearth bricks have started to turn to powder, and some of the mortar began to flake off on the inside. I brushed some of the mortar inside with my thumb, and it appears to be turning to powder just like those two bricks.
I did ensure that all of the mortar reached a white color and the bricks went red during the "curing" process. My photos don't reflect this because I made a small fire in it today with the anticipation of cooking bread, but ended up having wood that was still a bit too wet. I know this might not be the correct part of the forum to post this in, but I appreciate any feedback or directions to other resources. Thank you in advance!
Our house was built in 1730, with an addition built in the mid 1800s. The house has a brick oven next to one of the fireplaces, and it shares a chimney. The brick oven is quite old, but we aren't certain when it was built. We know the history of the home going back to the people who built it (a U.S. Revolutionary War Captiain!), but can't pinpoint when the oven was built. We know from neighbors that it has been there since two owners ago (1950's) and a stone mason who looked at it believed it was around 100 years old, but wasn't entirely sure since the stones used below the hearth could have been repurposed.
I have a couple of concerns about the condition of the oven. Following recommendations from several sources, I built 5 fires in it this summer starting with a small fire and getting progressively larger. I measured the temp of the ceiling with an IR thermometer and started at 350F with the first fire, progressing to ~650F-700F with the final fire. There are a few cracks that appeared to be superficial on the outer coating of plaster, but these grew wider when the fires hit around 600F. They haven't gotten any larger and contract back to being barely noticeable once the oven cools. After the last two fires, I noticed that two of the hearth bricks have started to turn to powder, and some of the mortar began to flake off on the inside. I brushed some of the mortar inside with my thumb, and it appears to be turning to powder just like those two bricks.
I did ensure that all of the mortar reached a white color and the bricks went red during the "curing" process. My photos don't reflect this because I made a small fire in it today with the anticipation of cooking bread, but ended up having wood that was still a bit too wet. I know this might not be the correct part of the forum to post this in, but I appreciate any feedback or directions to other resources. Thank you in advance!
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