The 4th time was a charm! It was much easier today to get the oven to 600 degrees and keep it there. I used up the last of the green oak yesterday and I am now using some oak that was in a flash wildfire in Eastern Utah. This wood is much drier and ignites easily. Once this wood ignites, it has a constant flame and is much easier to control.

I burned several large pieces of oak over a three hour period which gave me a really good base of white hot coals. Once I had this nice layer of coals, I put one more large piece of oak on the fire and then let it add itself to the pile of coals. After 3 hours, the dome was reaching 700 degrees and the sides were at 600 – 625 degrees. Once the oven reached these temperatures, I let the flame burn out and then closed the door on the oven. Similar to the last 3 days, the oven stayed at the desired temperature for at least another 3 ½ hours. The oven is now entering its 8th hour and it is still at 550 degrees. This system of bringing the oven to slightly above temperature over 3 hours and then letting it sit until the next day has really helped me regulate the temperatures in the oven.

Only 2 more days are left on the this curing Odyssey! Tomorrow, I will have to get the oven up to 700 degrees and then 800 degrees on Monday. I am happy to report that there are still no cracks in the oven

Please check back tomorrow.