Final Test Firing

With a real pizza bake planned for tomorrow night, this was the last opportunity to test-fire the oven.Today's target: carbon burn-off on the entire dome. Supposedly, at around 700° the black carbon that builds up on the oven walls is supposed to turn white (clear). Once the whole oven turns white, you can bank the fire and start cooking pizza.

The oven was still at around 100° from yesterdays burn. I'd stacked my last 3 pieces of almond wood in the oven overnight to kiln dry. At around 11:15, I started the firing with kindling and 2 sticks of almond wood and a piece of 2x4 right in the center of the floor. It started out great, so i decided to throw the third log on, and almost immediately knocked the fire out (yay me!).

I rebuilt it with more kindling and a few pieces of scrap birch. It was quickly licking the roof of the oven.As the oven heated up, the fire changed from something akin to a standard fireplace to a fuel burn of turbulent flames rolling over the surface of the oven dome.

At around 11:45 I saw the first sign of "whitening" of the carbon that had built up on the oven ceiling. By 11:15, the entire oven except a couple spots near the opening had cleared! I was so happy, relieved, excited, whatever! The oven works! It really works!

I spot checked the walls and ceiling at 11:30; 750°+ on the walls, 800°+ at the apex of the dome, and 650° on the hearth! Amazingly, the outside oven temperature still at around 70°F! I banked the fire to the side and watched as tendrils of steam worked their way out of the insulation -- hopefully, that's the last of the water.

Tomorrow we bake!