I've built a Pompei style oven - which over all went very well for a first timer. I think I've got a big problem though - wet hearth floor insulation. I laid FB board under my hearth as recommended (see photos), however due to very rainy summer and long periods of me gone and not adequate cover, the boards soaked up water and appeared saturated from the edges. No way to know how far in the saturation went, so I let it dry as long as I could, and then finished up the oven deck, top,etc. Now I've been curing and firing for the last three weeks. Two firings now and I've had a cold bottom. Baked 10 pizza's last night and pre-fired the oven for four hours and the oven chamber held 700F no problem. It draws well and holds heat well. BUT - way too much top heat and not enough bottom heat - tops browned and bottom still like a baby's - white and soggy.
I have not yet used a direct read thermometer yet but I suspect that the wet floor insulation is preventing my hearth from getting to full temperature. And I'm also presuming that that moisture is all trapped in the sandwich between the slab and deck now and has no way to evacuate - it may be trapped there for a long time.
Any ideas?? I was considering impact hammering the sides open and with a long ship auger angering that insulation out from under the cooking area and replacing it with metal pipes or something to support the hearth floor while letting the remaining insulation ventilate. Anybody who has a better idea I'd love to hear it! Thanks
- Fred in Wisconsin
I have not yet used a direct read thermometer yet but I suspect that the wet floor insulation is preventing my hearth from getting to full temperature. And I'm also presuming that that moisture is all trapped in the sandwich between the slab and deck now and has no way to evacuate - it may be trapped there for a long time.
Any ideas?? I was considering impact hammering the sides open and with a long ship auger angering that insulation out from under the cooking area and replacing it with metal pipes or something to support the hearth floor while letting the remaining insulation ventilate. Anybody who has a better idea I'd love to hear it! Thanks
- Fred in Wisconsin
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