Restarting Oven

[tazzmacd]

From Nova Scotia,Canada, the oven has been shut down since Late December and I am just opening it back up again for the year after the winter months. There has been some water that has entered into the inside of the oven from around the door. Should I do some curing fires again just to make sure that there is no major water built up in the brick before I do fires hot enough for pizza? I was thinking doing some smaller fires for 3-4 days just to make sure there were no issues but what do others do?

Thanks

[SableSprings]

I'd sure do some smaller fires over several days before hitting the pizza trail again. The firebricks certainly will pick up moisture from air or direct water "leaks" and will most likely dry out with those smaller fires reasonably quickly. Often what takes the longest to dry out is the insulation underneath which--whether ceramic board or insulating perlcrete/vermicrete--traps that moisture. You should be able to tell after a couple slow & low fires how well & evenly things are heating up. If the floor "just isn't heating up" then you're going to have to think about following the new oven curing schedule to drive off the moisture in the lower (and possibly top) insulation. If you only had a little seepage & water intake, that shorter 3-4 days may bring the oven right back up to working conditions.

If not covered, that winter (or heavy rains) water & humid moisture infusion into the oven will always be something to cause you to go slow & low when resuming your party/baking plans. Best part is that it's rarely a permanent or damaging issue