Curing strategy

[NYFirinci]

I wouldn't sweat the performance of your floor and oven in general during the curing process. Especially when you are in the early stage and have yet to 'saturate' the oven. You are still coaxing the moisture out of your oven. It's possible you could have wet insulation and as it dries the efficiency will improve.
Not sure what method you are using for curing fires but off the cuff I would say a 300 degree floor on the third fire is a bit fast.
You can't cure too slowly but to sure can do it too fast.

Thank you for the reply, it definitely doesn’t last long. The average it reads is 250 degrees then drops 180. We did have a lot of rain in New York. This is the first week with just today raining. But after the rain stopped I started a fire to clear out the wetness

[Mongo]

Hey guys, I’m new here and started my curing process. I’m on my third day and my oven floor goes up to 300 but then loses heat and goes back to 180 degrees. Is this normal for first three days of curing or is my insulation not enough? Would really appreciate the advice

I wouldn't sweat the performance of your floor and oven in general during the curing process. Especially when you are in the early stage and have yet to 'saturate' the oven. You are still coaxing the moisture out of your oven. It's possible you could have wet insulation and as it dries the efficiency will improve.
Not sure what method you are using for curing fires but off the cuff I would say a 300 degree floor on the third fire is a bit fast.
You can't cure too slowly but to sure can do it too fast.

[NYFirinci]

Hey guys, I’m new here and started my curing process. I’m on my third day and my oven floor goes up to 300 but then loses heat and goes back to 180 degrees. Is this normal for first three days of curing or is my insulation not enough? Would really appreciate the advice

[david s]

Re: Curing strategy

The second oven I built had cracks around the flue that seemed to be caused by the expanding ss flue pi[e getting hot first and expanding. Now I use a layer of vermiculite with 10% cement in it surrounding the flue and the ferro cement shell around that. Seems to work ok, just a few hairline cracks that become visible when oven hot but youcant see them when the oven cools and they dont get any bigger. Dont worry too much about small cracks.

[david s]

Re: Curing strategy

Have no idea what the flooor temp is. I do have a pyrometer with probe set in about half way up the dome, but you get to know when its up to temp. Methods I use are ...
1. Just get it really hot, it wo't go much over 400 C because of heat loss (unless you use some forced air induction)
2. I start my stopwatch when I light the fire and slide the first pizza in 1 1/2 hours later.
3. A hand held to the outside of the oven tells you when the heat has crept right down to the base of the dome. Unless your insulation is so good the outside is still cool to touch, after 1 1/2 hrs

I love playing with fire,
Sorry I ramble.

[david s]

Re: Curing strategy

My oven is quite small, so I find it easier to take out about half the coals and dump them into a $5 crazy Clarks galv bucket 1/2 filled with water (careful of steam) It'll burn off the galv if you don't put in water. I then push the remaining coals to the outside of the oven, and blow the ash to the outsides also, using a piece of 12mm copper pipe (blow don't suck!)Then slide your first pizza off a wooden pizza peel (some semolina flour or cornmeal between the dough base and the peel will stop it from sticking) You have to use a jerking motion. Have your next pizza ready because the fist one will be really quick. Seems to be like pancakes the first one is often not perfect. Hardest part is rolling out the dough. We cook only one pizza at atime but if you getem straight in youll cook for about an hour. If your doing a party for lots of people the frozen bases are easier (but not quite as good)

[mieno]

Re: Curing strategy

Mieno,
Just cookedsome pizzas tonight, for my wife, son and self. Oven to pizza temp in one hour and about 3Kg of wood used. In my baby oven an evening meal like this is so easy. I tried the step down method tonight and was amazed that it worked really well, and, hardly any smoke. I my youth i did alot of camping and hiking in the Victorian Alps and starting a fire there, in Victorian winter, is an achievement. Glad to hear your oven preparation is working well. You don't have to go to pizza temp straight away. Try cooking something like puff pastries, bread or a roast.Seems a pity to waste the heat.

David
I'm almost there with the cure and all has gone well. Around where the render meets the chimney there is some cracking - having a look at it, it is no surprise as the render tended to taper to a feather edge in this region. I'm at about 350 C on the floor and 400 C at the top of the dome. The gidgee was great to use - caught a lot easier than those cheap Bunnings heat beads!
I'll see what the temp is tomorrow night and hopefully do a roast. I agree about wasting the heat. Can you give a brief guide on how you prep your oven for pizzas? Do you push your coals to the side/ rear etc. What temps do you aim for on the floor/dome?

Also, what type of oven is yours? Thanks

[david s]

Re: Curing strategy

Mieno,
Just cookedsome pizzas tonight, for my wife, son and self. Oven to pizza temp in one hour and about 3Kg of wood used. In my baby oven an evening meal like this is so easy. I tried the step down method tonight and was amazed that it worked really well, and, hardly any smoke. I my youth i did alot of camping and hiking in the Victorian Alps and starting a fire there, in Victorian winter, is an achievement. Glad to hear your oven preparation is working well. You don't have to go to pizza temp straight away. Try cooking something like puff pastries, bread or a roast.Seems a pity to waste the heat.

[david s]

Re: Curing strategy

Sounds like your slow elimination of water is working well. If you reached 350 your almost there. You will probably notice that when the inside goes white there will be a ring of black around the bottom, on the inside. This is an indication that the heat hasn't quite driven out all the water there. Your oven performance wil continue to improve the more you use it. Throw in a roast to use some of the heat you've captured.

[mieno]

Re: Curing strategy

I would go straight to wood (not too much vicious flame) and the heat beads too ( say 3 handfuls) Around 50 C/Hr rise should be safe. Do you have any damp patches on the outside ? Sounds like it's going perfectly Thanks for the link I'll check it out. We're in beautiful Townsville.

No damp patches but I can't recall ever seeing any. I have a refractory concrete dome then 5 layers of ceramic blanket then chicken wire and render over. Should I be seeing damp patches? Also, have you tried that step down method to start your fire?

[david s]

Re: Curing strategy

I would go straight to wood (not too much vicious flame) and the heat beads too ( say 3 handfuls) Around 50 C/Hr rise should be safe. Do you have any damp patches on the outside ? Sounds like it's going perfectly Thanks for the link I'll check it out. We're in beautiful Townsville.

[mieno]

Re: Curing strategy

Mieno, If you've been heating for three days I'd be switching to wood to take it the rest of the way up.

David

I will switch to wood in the morning but the temps just keep slowly rising on the gas. The floor and side of the dome are at ~300C with the top of the dome ~350C. I found a site that has a good curing section Curing a Traditional Woodfired Oven
They use heat beads. Would you go from gas to heat beads then wood?
Where are you in Australia by the way?

[david s]

Re: Curing strategy

Mieno, If you've been heating for three days I'd be switching to wood to take it the rest of the way up.

[david s]

Re: Curing strategy

I'm pleased the gas ring worked well for you. I'm sure this is the best method yet. Slow, gentle and even temp rise. Way to go.
On the wood- the best wood is free wood. I think we must have exported all the crappy eucalypt varieties to USA Iv'e never heard or experienced any problems here in Oz. Have heard gidgee is really good to burn, but you'll need to split it up and That sounds like work.

[mieno]

Re: Curing strategy

I use one of those gas rings with a long braided metal hose attached to a 9Kg LPG gas bottle, set it at 1/2 throttle and let it burn all night. It doesn't go over 200 C which is safe. We use the procedure to dry out clay work in our kiln prior to biscuit firing to avoid steam explosions. Gas flame is the best for eliminating water. I then light a wood fire and keep it gentle by using heat beads. Build up slowly until all the damp patches on the outside stucco are gone then build up to 400 C. Hope this helps.

David
I am using your method to cure my oven at the moment and it working great - thanks!. I am about to go into day 3 and the temperatures of the floor, dome and air are rising slowly but surely almost exactly as recommended. I have only just started my second 9 kg bottle of gas with the burner still at 1/2 throttle. May need to crank to full throttle if the temps stop rising. Very little maintenance required which is a bonus.
Also, I would like to try Eucalyptus because it is just so abundant in Australia but it seems to be getting a bad wrap. What is your experience with it? I also have access to some very old gidgee posts (100 years approx so it should be well seasoned). Have you or anyone else used it? Apparently it burns incredibly hot and for a long time so may need to try a little to start.