Oven By the Pond (insulated base)

Today I insulated the base of the oven with about  23 pounds of perlite and Portland cement. The ratio I used was 6 parts perlite to 1 part Portland and a appropriate amount of water to make a porridge like texture. Does anyone still eat porridge?

 Floor insulation in place

Because of the irregularities in the field stones, my oven chamber will not be as large as I hoped, but it still should be fine. The next step will be to lay out the firebrick floor and actually build the oven.

Oven By The Pond (stone base)

Besides getting a sore back from working with stone, you should also come to appreciate the work of stone masons (just for the record, I'm not a mason, not even close). If you build an oven base of stone, it will be an experience not soon forgotten. For me, stones have become even more beautiful.

I did use some mortar when laying up the stone, but only between some stones where it wouldn't show. Not that I have anything against mortar, but in this situation I didn't want to see any. Perhaps I should have used more mortar than I did for added strength, but I think all will be well.
The next step will be to insulate the floor.