Need some help/reassurance!

[Erniegarcia76]

I'm new here! I just had a 32 in oven built for me in my back yard as part of an outdoor kitchen, and I have a few questions if anyone could answer them. The interior is brick, covered by clay, cement, clay, sand, and finishing brick.

I'm having a hard time getting the oven up to temperature. Now, I know from the sizzling and popping in my wood that it is not completely dry. But my question is, will the residual moisture in the structure keep it from coming up to temp. I can't get the walls above 300 F consistently. And even though I get the hearth to 7-800F, it quickly loses heat even after a multiple-hour burn. Is this most likely a wood problem? Moisture/lack of curing issue? Or...

Like I said, my oven is around 34 x 32 interior on the floor, and the dome is quite high, around 30 inches. Is this dome too high?? The door opening is around 18 inches wide and 10 inches high.

My gut tells me I just have to be patient and build more fires, but I just wanted to hear any opinions out there. Thanks

[dbhansen]

Ernie, how new is this oven? Is it still saturated with moisture? And can we assume that the "brick" is firebrick?

[RTflorida]

You make no mention of insulation. The motto here is INSULATE! INSULATE! INSULATE!

You need insulation both below the hearth and over the dome. Minimum 2" of refractory board insulation OR 4" perlite/vermiculite concrete below the heart AND 2" ceramic fiber blanket OR 4" perlcrete/vermicrete surrounding your dome.

Although the wood can be a problem as well as residual moisture....if you dont' have insulation, you're screwed - it will never get up to and hold pizza temps without burning an entire forest of wood each time.

RT

[Erniegarcia76]

Thanks for the input. Yes, the floor and interior is fire brick. The insulation is all up to specs. Actually yesterday I finally got it up to temperature...quite up to temp! Maybe even a little too high for its age...

It held onto the heat like a champ. All looking good so far!