11. Curing Your Oven
Although it may seem that your oven is dry by the time you
are finished with your installation, there is still moisture in
the oven, mortars and concrete that must work its way out.
It is important at this point that you cure your oven slowly,
by building a series of five increasingly larger fires, starting
with a low temperature. If you begin building large fires in
your oven right way, you will compromise your oven's
longevity and ability to cook well, and cause damage,
including cracking.
After you have installed your oven, there is still a great
deal of moisture in the mortars, hearth concrete,
vermiculite, and the oven chamber and vent. Each of
these oven components was recently produced using an
air-drying, water-based process. Simply letting the oven
stand for a week does not "cure" the moisture out of them
oven.
Before you start the curing process, let the complete oven
sit for one week. Then, start a series of low and growing
fires, using the analog temperature gauge provided in the
oven door/frame. The temperature gauge reads the oven’s
air temperature. For a more accurate temperature reading
of the oven refractory surfaces, which can be use for many
types of cooking, you can use the optional Digital Infrared
Thermometer, which can be purchased in the Forno Bravo
Store.
Day 1. Maintain a fire temperature of 300ºF throughout the
day and as long as possible into the evening.
Day 2. Repeat at 350ºF.
Important Note
. While it is difficult to maintain consistent,
low temperature fires, it is critical for proper curing that you
do not go above these temperatures during the first two
days.
Day 3. Repeat at 400ºF.
Day 4. Repeat at 450ºF.
Day 5. Repeat at 500ºF.
Close the oven door every evening to preserve dryness
and heat.
Enjoy your oven. You have earned it. For additional
information on how to get the most from your Forno Bravo
Casa oven, read our guide to Wood-Fired Cooking,
available on the Forno Bravo CD-ROM provided with this
oven, and through our web site – www.fornobravo.com.
Salute,
Forno Bravo
Important Notes
Use solid wood fuels only
. DO NOT use charcoal,
pressure treated lumber, chipped wood products, sappy
wood such as pine, laminated wood or any material other
than dry medium or hard firewood.
Do not use products not specified for use with this
oven.
DO NOT USE liquid fuel (firelighter fluid, gasoline, lantern
oil, kerosene or similar liquids) to start or maintain a fire.
Never use water to lower temperature inside the oven, or
to extinguish the fire.
There must be a period of time between completing the
masonry work and beginning the actual firing cure. Longer
is better than shorter, particularly for the actual dome
cement. The cement and mortar must cure first and this
process is actually improved by keeping the cement moist
and not letting it dry out. Cement is exothermic and gives
off heat. If you were to start the Oven curing too soon, you
drive this exothermic action the wrong way and damage
the new cement.
Also, using a space heater can help, but only so far. It is
not an alternative to fire curing. We tested a space heater
in an assembled Forno Bravo precast oven for two days,
then quickly heated the oven up, (don't do this at home -- it
was an experiment to see what would happen to an oven
that we have here) and we found that we created a very
large amount of steam from the oven, mortars and
vermiculite, which went on for hours and hours.
Casa Installation and Operating Manual
© Forno Bravo, LLC 2008/9. All Rights Served.
Ver. 2.1
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