Hot Plate to Start Drying? Tools, Tips and Techniques Discuss Hot Plate to Start Drying? in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; I`ll be closing the dome in the next day or two and moving to the vent and landing. Has anyone ...

[bernerdog]

I`ll be closing the dome in the next day or two and moving to the vent and landing. Has anyone used an electric hotplate during the drying-out phase? My kid brother, who bailed me out when the transition from dome to interior arch started to go badly amiss, thinks a hotplate in the middle of the dome floor would gently speed up the drying phase before curing. For that matter. we wonder if it could also be used to start the curing too. Any thoughts or concerns? John

[Neil2]

If you used refractory mortar, the hot plate idea is OK. I stuck a small space heater in mine for a while.

[pacoast]

Sounds like a good idea to me. I did the same with my oven, just keep the heater temp on the low end, something around 100F is what I used.

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