Need help before i demo my oven and start over

[Jed]

Daniel5455,

If you are still boiling steam out of the floor, you still have a ways to go before your oven is ready to cook.... The steam, and moisture pull the heat from the structure and will prevent you from attaining and maintaining higher temperatures.

Build another half dozen or dozen fires in the oven over then next couple three weeks, then start to get critical about performance...

JED

PS: Insulation under the structural floor probably won't add much in the way of performance benefits....

[Neil2]

Don't worry too much about a little smoke escape and steam. If there is a lot of steam, consider slowing down your curing process a bit.

When it is cured and you get to the full firing phase, I would use about 3 or 4 times as much wood as shown in your first photo. Stack it in "teepee" fashion for a quick full burn.