Curing your oven is a crucial step. It ensures that your oven is completely moisture-free before you cook your food, which can help prevent damage to the oven itself. When small pockets of moisture inside your oven, which are invisible to the naked eye, evaporate too quickly by a large, hot fire, it can be risky. Even if your oven seems dry, you should never skip the curing process.
To cure your oven properly, start a small fire with low flames. This allows the moisture to evaporate slowly. On the first day, light a 100°C fire inside your oven for three hours. Follow this step for an entire week before cooking any food in your oven. You will likely notice small cracks beginning to form in the dome or the hearth. If you see this, don’t worry. It’s completely normal!
Another way to cure your oven is to light coals in a separate location and then place them in the oven. With this method, the oven will cure from the heat, but won’t have any flames.
When you use your pizza oven for the first time, start slow. Light a small fire in the oven and grow it slowly until the interior oven dome turns black. This means that the fire has reached 300°C, which is ideal for cooking.