Michigan WFO Brick Oven Photos Discuss Michigan WFO in the Good Background Information forums; Hi Mike, With these summer temps I bet things are curing real well, especially if the oven gets a lot ...

[Derocherconstruction]

Hi Mike, With these summer temps I bet things are curing real well, especially if the oven gets a lot of sunshine. With the light going for quite a while I bet you are good to go. When I was curing mine we had a lot of cool, damp weather, but I also did the light for about 2 weeks, keeps things surprisingly warm after a while. The slow cure with little fires is the way to go. We had several small fires, maybe lasting a few hours, with a thermocouple wire inside, monitoring the temps. With small branches it was easy to keep the temps low, just a twig at a time at first. On the third curing fire we snuck in some nacho chips and cheese on a piece of foil just for a trial first snack, they where great. You will get a pizza this season yet I'm guessing. Once I started curing I did it pretty much every day for about ten days before the "Big One". Amazing site when after all that work the dome finally goes white. Good Luck, Jim

[mfiore]

I started the first small curing fire on Friday. Very small, just paper (ok, a little cardboard too). Went for 2-3 hours, on and off. I really didn't generate much heat. Not sure exactly where to measure the temps. The IR gun measured only 120-150 degrees F max at top of dome. The air temp inside would shoot up to 300 plus degrees when I lit the paper on fire, but the paper doesn't stay lit for too long, and it would immediately drop down. I have a thermocouple embedded in the floor brick. Measured 140 degrees F when I was done.


Now it's cold and rainy for the next few days. Hope it doesn't snow.

[christo]

Looking really good Mike!

Low and slow on the curing fires and you'll be fine. Duration of resisdual heat is important, too- with the thermocouple you'll be able to monitor that easily.

To me - and others may contridict - I think you are now ok unless you go over boiling point with your fire too quickly - I think it's the steam and pressure generated by it that is the big player with developing cracks.

Good luck and take your time - Dave has a really good mushroom recipie to tide you over until you can do pizzas!

Christo

P.S. I grew up in Michigan - near Grand Rapids

[Frances]

Yay, curing fires!

As long as you don't go too hot too fast I think the exact temperature isn't all that important - as you've noticed its not the same everywhere in the oven anyway. I didn't have a thermometer at the time, so I followed the one bit of wood, two bits of wood method, which also worked out fine.

Keep posting pictures, there's nothing quite like first firing pictures.

[mfiore]

Well, I haven't been able to get in any day long, slow cures like I had hoped. Work has limited me to a few fires, 2-3 hours in the evenings (when not raining). So far, I've progressed to my 4th fire. Reaching temps 300-400 degrees F. I now officially have a Wood Fired Oven (rather than a paper fired oven)!

It's a little easier to maintain constant temps with some wood, rather than paper and cardboard.

I loosely put on one layer of FB Blanket. Nothing thick or permanent yet, so I'll still be able to assess for damage. The inside is completely black, so I really can't tell. When sweeping out some ashes, I did find one tiny little sliver of brick. I'm a little worried about that. It may have been an uneven edge on the floor that got knocked with the rake. I hope It's not from the dome.

The blanket is a little odd. I only opened one, but it has big, blue, ink-like stains or blotches over it, like something spilled on it. Sorry, no photos (camera issues). I'm sure it's functionality is just fine. It's just a little weird.

[staestc]

Oh man Mike, this has just got to be exciting!

Travis

[peter]

Hi, another Michigan wood burner. I have been learning to cook in my oven. Never one to learn by reading, I have ruined a few loaves of bread; the dog likes them though. I was very lucky in my test fires, not a crack anywhere. I have had some interior temps of over 900 degrees. I am beggining to see that to get a good pizza fire you need a good size bundle of wood. I have a dead elm that is going to kindling probably tomorrow. I have been actively trying to cook for about three weeks now. Let me know if you have any revelations. I learned that had I watched a few videos before cooking, I would pull all the wood out before trying to make bread...leave it in banked in the back for pizza.

[mfiore]

Peter, I have no clue how to bake or cook in a WFO yet! The learning curve is going to be steep!

Well, mother nature beat me out. It's been in the high 20's for the past several days, with some snow. I have to dodge the snow clouds to get any curing in.

[mfiore]

5th curing fire today. Small pieces of scrap lumber, cardboard, etc. Held the temp about 450-500 degrees F for several hours before darkness ended my day.



I pulled back the blanket to inspect the dome. For the first time, the bricks are getting hot to touch.

I have several thin cracks running up the dome. I hope this what others have described (here's where a little reassurance would come handy)

Some are quite long, but none seem to leak any smoke out yet.

Here is one up the side.



This one up the back seems to be the biggest. The photo does not show it's entire length, but demonstrates how wide it is.



So far the arch is OK.

These cracks make me question if it is OK to cure an oven in this cold weather. Could the temperature extremes be too much fluctuation?

[Les]

Mike - it looks like you are golden, good job. Everyone has cracks and I believe your's are quite the norm. I want to believe that, because your cracks look like mine

Les...