Curing Your Brick Oven
1. Build a fire in the middle of your oven. You can also build the oven closer to the front if it's easier and then use a shovel slowly push it to center.
2. Light your fire. You want to feed it logs (one every 7 minutes or so) to raise the temperature in the oven.
3. Continue getting the oven temp hotter and hotter by feeding it more logs and eventually you should start seeing moisture. This usually comes in the form of water dripping around the base of the oven but can also happen by seeing steam rise from the top. At the first sign of moisture stop building your fire. There is no need to take any logs or ash out. You want to let the fire burn out on its own and simply stop putting more logs in. At this point you are done for the day, come back 12-24 hours later and repeat this process. You should be able to get your oven hotter each time you do this without seeing moisture.
4. Once you can get your oven to 1000 and maintain it without seeing any moisture you're all done! Feel free to cook on your oven while you're curing it, just make sure to stop feeding it logs once you see moisture.
Pro tip: when entire oven done is fully cleared with no black soot, it is an indication that you are at about 900-1000 degrees Fahrenheit
How long does it take?
-Every oven is different. On average it takes approximately 2-3 fire builds to get all of the moisture out.
Side Note:
If you are using the correct wood our ovens should get up to 1000 degrees in 1 hour or so. One thing I notice with new oven owners is that they are hesitant to load the oven up with wood and super heat it. Don’t be, this oven is meant to have a hot roaring fire inside.
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