Oven Curing

[That's Amore]

Re: Oven Curing

Ok, so I can actually light a small fire one day and a few days later start again and slowly buid it up until I fell certain that the moister is out then build it up to the 800 deg C. Thanks for the help , just a little scared to scew things up after all the hard work, hate to see it fall apart by doing something stupid.

[goorpoo]

Re: Oven Curing

Hi I'm new to this forum... but I have a brick oven.. i put it on a trailor frame so i can kaitter....but i only have 5 fireing on it... the doem has some hair line cracks. It's made with castable cement, but the floor is brick and the sides..but I live were it freezes what should i do a bout winter should leave it a loan till thaw or heat it slowly for hours if i want to have a pizza party...

[That's Amore]

Re: Oven Curing

I am still in the process of starting the curing on mine and as you see I too have many questions but have done a lot more re search and the way I see it be sure the oven is dry and if you have any dought then I would start with a small fire to get the oven warmrd up then when you feel it has dryed then bring on the wood. I live in Subury Ont Canada where the temps get as low as -30 deg C and evan colder, I would'nt start the party on those days but -10 or so I just may take my time and get the oven going.

[Schotz]

Re: Oven Curing

James etal, just started my curing process of a 2GCasa100. I'm a little confused as Amanda at Forno Bravo told me I need to build a fire for 6-8 hours a day! Who has time to do that? I've been building small fires and keeping them going for about 2-3 hrs at a time. I'm building them fairly "slow" so it will likely take me more than a week to get to 800 F (measured at the dome). I've gotten the dome temp as high as 450 F but one really has to stay vigilant to keep it going with a steady temp.

I'm using smaller diameter sticks of hardwood, should I step it up to 1 - 1-1/2" pieces now as I start getting those bigger fires? Was so windy yesterday I had trouble keeping a descent fire going. Thx

[That's Amore]

Re: Oven Curing

Hi George, on the sixth curing fire I decided to take the approch of getting the fire to 700 or so and I kept feeding the wood to maintain the temp and it seemed to work well. For the first time I seen some smoke come out the dome and I did see a little steam as it was also a little out but after the fire the next day all loked great on the inside. I cove the couple of spots where the smoke was coming from. I will let the mortar cure for a week then fire it up again slowly when do you think I should start the big scary one. the inside did clear pretty much on the last firing

[fxpose]

Re: Oven Curing

That's Amore, I would light up several more progressively larger dome clearing fires before lighting up the big one. Have you done any cooking, like roasts, during these curing fires?

[That's Amore]

Re: Oven Curing

No I have not cooked anything yet. So If I here you right, I should light up slowly again and keep them going for as long as I can. Sorry for all the questions I have done the research but I just don't want to mess up after all the hard work. It is just a little harder now with work kids homework and it getting dark at 5:00 but the weekends are mine so any direction would be great. Thanks for your response

[fxpose]

Re: Oven Curing

If you saw steam coming out on your last firing I would still stay at the same firing intensity for several more days before going all out.

[That's Amore]

Re: Oven Curing

That sounds good, better to be on the safe side. The oven did clear the top 2/3's and I think it is well on its way to being dry so whats a few more fires. Thanks I hope to post some more updated pics. Thanks George

[NathanC]

Re: Oven Curing

Just looking for a little reassurance that I'm on the right track here with my casa2g90

I let it sit for about 1.5 weeks after mortaring the joins and then started the curing fires.

Day 1 was for about 5 hours at ~130 C (~266 F) before closing the door to retain heat.
Day 2 was for about 12 hours at ~150 C (~300 F) before closing the door to retain heat
Day 3 was for about 10 hours at ~180 C (~350 F) before closing the door to retain heat
Day 4 was for about 5 hours at ~200 C (~400 F) before closing the door to retain heat
Day 5 (today, oven was still 160 - 170 C at the top of the dome first thing this morning) will be about 7 hours at ~230 C (~450 F) before closing the door to retain heat.

Tomorrow I will take it up to 260 (~500 F) for about 4 hours, before closing the door to retain heat. According to the current instructions that should be good enough, but it seems like a big jump to go to pizza temp from that?

I do have Thursday and Friday off, so I could run at least 8 hours each day with higher temps, perhaps 300 C (~570 F) and 350 C (~660 F). Looking to cook pizza's on saturday for the fiancee's bday.

I've been measuring from the very top of the dome ceiling using an infrared thermometer. My concern is that the floor is quite a bit cooler so I am not sure if I have been going about it the right way, and if I should have been basing my temperatures on the floor or wall (or air temp using a typical thermometer. Unfortunately, there is no thermometer in the door of my casa?). Floor was about 130 C a few hours ago (dome 230 C).

I've been using clean burning, non self igniting heat beats for the process, but am starting to add some small bits of wood. The first burn I did not have any insulation on, but every burn since has been insulated.

General advice / guideance anyone?

[That's Amore]

Re: Oven Curing

Sounds like you had exellent control of the temps, I had a little harder time keeping the same temp but I also cured it a little different as I started a news paper fire only, let cool then news paper and kindling then added wood to the mix each day for seven days but from day six I kept and tried to maintain a 500 deg oven for the day. When more wood was added the oven temp would spike for a little while then come down to the desired temp and as I was doing this the oven cleared telling me that the moisture has been driven out. So I think at this point you can increase the temp slowly to 600 keep an I for the clearing let it cool down then do one last cure at 700 + temp for a short period, let it cool then if the moisture is gone I think I would still take my time as I here that it takes 10 or 12 firings to get the oven stableized. Good Luck

Cheers!!

[ddonalds]

Re: Oven Curing

I have just made a brick dome oven. Should I do the first firing prior to putting the insulation and the clay outer on to let the steam out?

[That's Amore]

Re: Oven Curing

Yes I would make a few fires to let the steam out and also this alows you to see if any repairs are needed . I have finished my 42" pompeii oven and fire cured it as per the instructions on the forno bravo forum and I tookit a few steps further to be sure. when I got to the 5th and 6th fires I then got the oven up to 500,600 deg F and maintained that temp for 5 to 6 hrs. This was done without insulation and I did see some steam come off the dome. There were a couple of spote that I was able to see that there was a path for the smohe to escape and that was not a concern, i then layered a 1/2 coat of refractory motor over every thing, let that cure for a week then insulated it with FB blacket and then vermiculite. I am inclosing the dome. So long story short I then had a fire built up slow to 500-600 deg F and maintained this for 5 hrs and actually cooked a roast chicken. The next day the oven was still warm to the touch. This prompted me to start the big scary fire, I loaded the oven up and started the fire. The oven cleared in about and hr and I was reading temps of over 932 F The floor temp was also over 900 and Tonight a day later the oven is still hot to the touch. Sorry for the reply but I wanted to get across the message that taking your time and insulating properly realy does pay off. I have now officially brocken in the oven with 5 pizza's under my belt that were cooked in 90 sec or less, UNBELIEVABLE. Cheers!

[FiredupinNH]

Re: I'm not expert, but...

During the installation and curing process if the outside temp falls below freezing will this effect the oven?

[That's Amore]

Re: Oven Curing

Yes it will. Depending on how cold it gets I would stop construction or if you can cover your oven and place an electric heater or heat lamp so that the mortor will not freeze. Not good! Good luck Cheers