floor temperature and dome temperature question

[Hasan]

Re: floor temperature and dome temperature question

ok thanks, i hope tha is the case, ill keep firing it

[rosebudforglory]

I thought you are suppose to burn (in a new oven) low slow fires for a period of time - to drive moisture off. Concrete masters know that the slower concrete drys and for initial cure ...slow is better and in fact you should cover your new poured concrete and mist every day for a week or so and then extend in order to slow the drying time. Take plastic off in a week to 2. It makes it stronger and much less prone to cracks. The faster it cures and dries out, the less strong it will be..may even get crumbly and crack. Thus these super high fires (until the flames are licking out the door) seem to be contrary to mfg recommendations. They all state too high a fire in the beginning and stuffing it with wood will cause permanent cracks and I believe this could be a safety issue. Also, besides the moisture still in the oven especially depending on season, location, age...there is the issue of the type of wood. A number of guys mentioned seasoned vs not so seasoned. What folks didn’t mention is you should have a firewood moisture meter, know the highest and lowest moisture levels of the wood you burn, and realize that when wood is delivered as seasoned, if you meter it, you will most likely find it still needs 6-8 months to another year to season to get the most heat out of it. It needs to be no higher than 30%, better at 20-25% but below 10%, it just may burn up too quick. Keep in mind a tree standing may have as much as 65-90% moisture reading. I have heard a newly cut full cord of green oak can contain 5 or 6 - 55 gallon drums of water - I don’t know if it’s true bit I do know green wood is heavy. Remember a legal standard cord is 4’high, 4’ wide and 8’long and weighs 4000 lbs. A face cord has no standard.

Also, it is my understanding when you do breads, you may fire an oven for 12-14 hours or more, then let it burn down, remove all fire, mop to clean, close it up and when it reaches the temp you need for the bread you are baking, you load, spray for steam and quickly close and cook. A well built bread oven properly fired can take a day to temp and will cook for hours. You put the loaves in that take the longest and highest heat, gradually going to lighter smaller breads and pastries.

However some woods burn much hotter and longer than other thus putting out more Btus. Some woods smell better (some stink) and some pop and crack a lot. Some like softwoods should be very very dry, and only used in small quanity for starting a fire but many are very festive smelling. Osage Orange burns the most btus per cord and then the shagbark hickory and other hickories, apple, black locust, ironwood, oak, cherry, etc for USA woods. Different countries have different woods. See the following for BTU by wood species: https://www.environmentalchimneyservice.com/firewood-burns-hottest/

Firewood facts and sell kiln dried wood to Long Island area.
http://www.lifirewood.com/firewood-facts.php
http://www.lifirewood.com/about-li-firewood.php

[Alomran]

It is also worth mentioning that many recommend dry hardwood as opposed to softwood like pine or newly cut hardwood. This is because pine has glue within it, hardwood has moisture, which if fired will reside then absorbed by the mortar in between the bricks and causing mortar to expand, which will cause cracks in the oven. I know this as fireplaces in the UK often have huge cracks if pine wood or undried hardwood are used frequently.