Home Initial Start-up Instructions
Your oven was fully cured at the factory. However the ceramic materials and insulation in your oven will absorb moisture, especially during the course of shipping, storage, sitting on a construction site etc. Before cooking in your oven for the first time it will be necessary to go through an initial start-up procedure for your oven which will help drive this moisture out of the oven in a slow controlled fashion. This will help minimize cracking in the oven ceramic. With this procedure you will be bringing the oven up to a temperature of about 500F over a period of 8-10 hours.
Follow the instructions below that pertain to your oven model. It is assumed that the oven has been hooked up properly, the gas line to the oven has been bled properly, and the oven and its venting system are fully operational.
Mountain Home (MH) Gas-Fired Ovens, RFG, RFG-W, RFG-IR, RFG-IR-W Models
- Turn on fan for oven venting system.
- Turn on oven at the oven controller. For IR (underfloor burner) equipped ovens, use the arrows to adjust hearth heat setpoint to its lowest setting, 100 F.
- Your oven utilizes an electronic ignition system which will automatically light the pilots and gas burners. The radiant flame at the back of the oven should light within 5-10 seconds after the oven has been turned on. If the oven is being turned on for the very first time, there may be some air in the gas line and it may take longer for the burner to light. If the burner does not light within 1 minute when firing for the first time, turn the oven off and verify that the gas supply to the oven is turned on, and also verify that the switch on the Honeywell gas valve(s) beneath the oven is in the ON position. Turn the oven back on and allow another minute for the burner to light. During this time air is being purged through the pilot for the rear burner. If the burner still has not lit after an additional minute, turn the oven off, and then back on, once again for 1 minute. If you smell gas at any time, please shut the oven off immediately and contact Wood Stone. If after an additional minute, the oven is still not lighting, contact your installer to verify that gas is hooked up to the oven, and that the line to the oven has been bled properly.
For IR equipped ovens, once the rear flame has lit, the oven will then light the IR burner if the hearth temperature is below the hearth heat setpoint. - Using the knob on the front of the oven, adjust the height of the radiant flame so that it is 6” tall. We recommend using your 8 inch utility peel as a reference for adjusting the height. (image of utility peel/flame) Allow the oven to run like this until the hearth temperature reached 500 to 550F. This will take approximately 8 hours.
- If your oven has not been used for an extended period of time, especially if installed outdoors, you may want to repeat the initial start-up procedure.
Bistro Home (BH) Gas-Fired Models (BH-3030, BH-4343, BH-4355)
- Turn on the oven. The exhaust fan for the oven should be interlocked to the oven, if the fan does not turn on, shut off the oven and contact your installer.
- Your oven utilizes an electronic ignition system which will automatically light the pilots and gas burners. The radiant flame at the back of the oven should light within 5-10 seconds after the oven has been turned on. If the oven is being turned on for the very first time, there may some air in the gas line and it may take longer for the burner to light. If the burner does not light within 1 minute when firing for the first time, turn the oven off and verify that the gas supply to the oven is turned on, and also verify that the switch on the Honeywell gas valve beneath the oven is in the ON position. Turn the oven back on and allow another minute for the burner to light. During this time air is being purged through the pilot for the rear burner. If the burner still has not lit after an additional minute, turn the oven off, and then back on, once again for 1 minute. If you smell gas at any time, please shut the oven off immediately and contact Wood Stone. If after an additional minute, the oven is still not lighting, contact your installer to verify that gas is hooked up to the oven, and that the line to the oven has been bled properly.
- Using the knob on the front of the oven, adjust the radiant flame to a height of 5 inches. We recommend using your 8 inch utility peel as a reference for adjusting the height. (image of utility peel/flame) Allow the oven to run like this until the hearth temperature reached 500 to 550F. This will take approximately 8 hours.
- If your oven has not been used for 6 months or more (indoors) or 3 months (outdoors) you may want to repeat the initial start-up procedure.
Mountain Home (MH) and Bistro Home (BH) wood-fired only ovens.
- Build a small fire using 3 or 4 pieces of wood, 2-4 inches in diameter and 12 inches long. Start the fire using a paraffin/sawdust type fire starter. Never use any type of flammable liquid to start a fire in the oven. Maintain this fire, at this size until the oven reaches 500 to 550 F. This may take 8 to 10 hours. This relatively small fire is used only for this initial start up procedure.