Well I finally got it right I made a pizza in about 2 and a half minutes and it was great.
I am over the hump
I shut the off the flue a bit and kept the door about half way. Lots of heat retention that way
and I waiting on my damper. I believe because the flu is at the top of the barrel there is too much heat loss. Or it just takes longer to heat. I had the floor at about 735 and I made a Pizza Marg in about 2:30. It all about the heat.
One question I have a some excess mortar in the oven that is slowly loosing up. Does the high temp mortar act as a heat sink or is it refractory and I should just let it fall out on its own.
I am working on chipping it away at this point. As you can tell the more heat the better
I am liking my oven more and more. I say that because at one point I though maybe I should have bought the dome type oven as they seem to better for pizza. but now I feel I am on my way
Congratulations, Dino!
And in the next breath, stop chipping away that mortar! I know it’s tempting, especially if you feel like it’s loosening, but eventually you are going to tap at a spot and find a good sized chunk of firebrick falling out.
It is refractory, though not nearly as efficient as firebrick, and it will help your oven as long as it’s not raining down pieces. (Obviously you’ve got a different issue if that starts happening.)
It’s like a loose thread on a shirt: it might just be an annoying piece of lint to pull off, or you could pull out a whole seam without realizing it.
I’m so glad that this is working out for you. The Mattone Barile is an ancient design, and it gives you versatility in how and what you bake in it. 2½ minutes for a pizza is right on the money!