[CanuckJim]

Stuart,

Tough call, as you anticipated. My oven is high mass, so the answers here must be tempered to the mass and insulation of your oven.

For bread, typically I fire to the 900 F range on the floor, then pull the coals and sweep the hearth. If the weather is moderate, it takes about an hour and a half to two hours for the floor to fall to the 550 F range. Sometimes I keep the heat door in place during the moderating phase, sometimes not, depending on weather. My oven will stay in the 500 range for about 2-3 hours, then begin to drop off. At that point, I start baking other breads that don't require as much heat.

It's really a trial an error procedure with each oven. For no knead bread, you want the hearth at between 500 and 550. You might try some tests to see how long it takes to fall to the right temp.

Jim