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So, after getting through the 'crack panick' that I guess all of us newbies go on, I had to sit down and try to figure some things out (I really tried hard not to, but I am one of those engineering types, so....)
1) I think the idea of actually putting fire within the oven for the first three curing events is probably not the way to go. I see a lot of of folks had talked about charcoal brickets, but I was afraid of using those because I just don't want accelerants baked into my brick. Finally, I realized, that what I should have done was built a fire outside of my dome and places some embers into the dome with shovel. Temps would have been easier to control, and it could have been distributed evenly.
Taking that thought further, the heat differentials felt at the top of the oven are greater than those at the bottom of the oven. Spreading embers our evenly, with no open flame, should minimize that impact. I also think that oven temp measurements for that part of the curing process should be taken at the cieling. The increasing fires may indeed push water from oven core to oven crust (via brick and mortar), but the overall process is curing the mortar and brick from the top down (at least it did in my case).
2) I think it is theoretically impossible to not have cracking, the question is how big they will be. If the 'nice' ovens from FB, I could see why curing is so sensitive (need even expansion for a dome that has all the same material, as since heat goes up that expansion will be uneven so it needs to be as controlled as possible from top down). With our 'bulky' firebrick ovens, I think it would be pretty hard to break a brick. In that case, it comes down to mortar and bricks, which are bound to expand at different rates. Personally I believe the brick expands at a more rapid rate than the mortar. If the bricks are wedge cut (which it seems like everyone does), then that expansion pressure goes out, and hence cracks. Curing AFTER insulation would be beneficial according to that line of thought as well, because bricks and mortar would heat more evenly and thus expansion would be more even.
All of that makes me think that cracks are not the issue as much as crack management is. In that case, I think adding more and more embers from external fires for the first three days is good, then start fires on the next three days. There will still be cracks, but they should be as minimal as it is possible for the oven. I will only repair a crack if I can see it all the way through the oven, and so far I have not found one.
So, words of non-wisdome from a completely inexperienced newbie who is just finishing a first oven cure! A whole bunch of ways to say "I don't care about cracks, bring the fire on and give me some pizza!"
1) I think the idea of actually putting fire within the oven for the first three curing events is probably not the way to go. I see a lot of of folks had talked about charcoal brickets, but I was afraid of using those because I just don't want accelerants baked into my brick. Finally, I realized, that what I should have done was built a fire outside of my dome and places some embers into the dome with shovel. Temps would have been easier to control, and it could have been distributed evenly.
Taking that thought further, the heat differentials felt at the top of the oven are greater than those at the bottom of the oven. Spreading embers our evenly, with no open flame, should minimize that impact. I also think that oven temp measurements for that part of the curing process should be taken at the cieling. The increasing fires may indeed push water from oven core to oven crust (via brick and mortar), but the overall process is curing the mortar and brick from the top down (at least it did in my case).
2) I think it is theoretically impossible to not have cracking, the question is how big they will be. If the 'nice' ovens from FB, I could see why curing is so sensitive (need even expansion for a dome that has all the same material, as since heat goes up that expansion will be uneven so it needs to be as controlled as possible from top down). With our 'bulky' firebrick ovens, I think it would be pretty hard to break a brick. In that case, it comes down to mortar and bricks, which are bound to expand at different rates. Personally I believe the brick expands at a more rapid rate than the mortar. If the bricks are wedge cut (which it seems like everyone does), then that expansion pressure goes out, and hence cracks. Curing AFTER insulation would be beneficial according to that line of thought as well, because bricks and mortar would heat more evenly and thus expansion would be more even.
All of that makes me think that cracks are not the issue as much as crack management is. In that case, I think adding more and more embers from external fires for the first three days is good, then start fires on the next three days. There will still be cracks, but they should be as minimal as it is possible for the oven. I will only repair a crack if I can see it all the way through the oven, and so far I have not found one.
So, words of non-wisdome from a completely inexperienced newbie who is just finishing a first oven cure! A whole bunch of ways to say "I don't care about cracks, bring the fire on and give me some pizza!"
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