My pizza oven’s interior got pretty waterlogged last week after some very heavy rains. I usually throw some plastic sheeting over it when there is heavy rain in the forecast, but forgot.
I did a few drying fires and noticed that when I let the ash from the fire sit for a day or two, it appears to absorb moisture. The ash went from very fluffy white to dark grey and heavy. This makes me wonder, is it a good practice to leave the ash in the oven until the next use to help keep the inside dry. Are there any downsides to doing this?
There may be a range of opinions on this but personally I leave the ash in more often than not. I’ve noticed the same quality to the ashes as you. I can’t think of a significant downside.
I usually leave mine in a pile in the back of the oven and, yes, have a pile of somewhat muddy consistency ashes when it rains.
But now that I think about it, I’m wondering if I should pile the ashes closer to the front when rain threatens in hopes that they act as an ash dam to keep water out of the oven. I’ll have to experiment.
UPDATE:
Made Pizzas. Moved ashes towards front (door was also in place). Got 1" of rain. Looks like the ashes helped as the water didn’t get all the way to the back of the oven but it’s not really a solution…
Why i do is if I know it is going to rain for a while i’ll take the ashes out
and put some plastic on the floor, Another huge hack trick is go and buy one of those weed torches and hook it up to your propane tank if the floor is wet and you want pizza
run the torch over floor a little bit to accelerate the drying process.
Go easy and don;t go full blast there is not enough intake oxygen to run the torch full blast. It will go out on you. but a great idea that use when my oven is over wet
also cover the oven with a tarp before it rains
Honestly, over half the time we forget about the ashes after using the oven. Once the oven cools down, or most likely, the next time we use the oven, we vacuum the oven floor with our shop vacuum. Works like a charm.
In the first year of using the oven, I had a similar problem where I could not explain the moisture in the ashes. I did two things the first was seal the edges of the Mattone Barile where it meets the base. I was thinking this would prevent water from resting on the base and being absorbed in that groove. This did not solve my problem. Second, I sealed the brick with a brush on concrete sealer to provide moisture resistance but allow the brick to breath. This application was dull/satin and did not affect the texture or look of the brick. Once I did this, I have had NO further moisture problems inside my oven. My oven has a door. However, it appeared, the water was collecting in the back of the oven, not near the door. Since sealing, the entire external structure with concrete sealant I leave the Ash inside and to this day after now a year it remains completely dry. Always.
My conclusion, the porous brick soaked up the moisture and this moisture was trapped inside the structure. It responded to drying fires but always came back after it rained.
