Preheating With Wood - Beech ovens E Series Installation And Operation Manual

Beech Ovens
E-Series Manual (R4)

Preheating with Wood

As mentioned in Preheating with Gas, before the oven can be used for cooking it must
undergo a Preheat or curing stage. This is best done by making a fire just as you would
build any fire for a barbeque. The best wood to use is anything hard, dry and dense
which is untreated and without paint.
To start the fire follow the following steps:
1. Place a flattened cardboard box on the oven floor just inside the opening of the
oven.
2. Scrunch up several sheets of newspaper and place them in the middle of the
cardboard.
3. Place kindling (small pieces of wood) on the newspaper.
4. Place some larger pieces of wood on top of the kindling.
5. Light the newspaper.
6. Once the kindling is satisfactorily alight and the larger wood begins to burn, push
the whole lot to the position in the oven where you will normally locate the fire.
(Either to the side or to the back of the oven)
This fire of approximately 400mm diameter should be kept going for at least 72
hours (three (3) days), to thoroughly preheat the oven prior to first use. It is important
to keep the temperature rise below 100°C per day.
After day one (1) raise the oven temperature to 150°C by adding more wood.
After day two (2) raise the oven temperature to 200°C by adding more wood.
NOTE: It is vital that only a small fire is used to preheat the oven. A large, fierce
fire may crack the walls. Cracking cannot be repaired, though will not affect the
longevity or performance of the oven.
The purpose of this fire is to dry out the oven mortar slowly to reduce cracking.
Once this preheating is complete, you can operate the oven with just wood or just gas.
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2/09/2019 (C)