Curing a clay Oven in Winter

[Frances]

Just thinking ahead here, but what advice can anyone give me for curing an oven with clay and sand mortar?

I'm thinking I wouldn't need to wait for a week before starting as there is no cement componant that needs to be damp to cure beforehand. The slowly and surely rule must still apply though.

And what about if the temperatures hit freezing while I'm at it? I'd like to go ahead because I really want to drive some moisture out of the dome asap.

I'm also thinking that if I cure just the dome now, I maybe should start with small little fires again when I've got the archway and chimney done. Or not?

Any advice and thoughts would be appreciated!

Frances

[dmun]

Re: Curing a clay Oven in Winter

There's a lot of discussion about when to build your curing fires, mostly about before/after insulating. The main concern is cracking, which I think is less a concern with your mortar, because you could just re-wet any spot where a crack occured. I think you do want to wait for the entry and chimney, though.