drying time Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss drying time in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Does anyone know how long I should let the oven dry before I start the curing process of small controlled ...

[mark4604]

Does anyone know how long I should let the oven dry before I start the curing process of small controlled fires? I finished the dome, the insulation and the stucco, I'm just not sure how long that needs to dry before I start the fire, can anyone throw me some ideas? Thanks everyone!!!

[aureole]

It depends - Not long though. The only reason to give your oven more time would be to let the concrete/mortar cure, but either you've used refractory mortar (which cures much quicker) or you're using the fireclay mortar (which you'll pretty much expect the portland cement to burn out of eventually. So I don't think more than a week to let the stucco cure (it'd be a shame to dry that out prematurely and ruin the finish).

[dmun]

Yes, you want to keep your dome from drying out for a week after it's finished, to complete the cure of the mortar. The process is called hydration for a reason: you want to keep it damp. If you prematurely drive out the water, your mortar will become a crumbly mess.

[david s]

I think the best way is to wrap the whole oven in cling wrap to keep in the moisture for at least a week.