Have i purchased the wrong type of Outdoor Oven

[ejwjohn]

Hello,

I purchased a built oven, although it was delivered locally I think it is of Portuguese origin.

My biggest issue is I cannot seem to get it up to temperature.

The design uses a Centre located vent/Chimney, with a damper to close it fully, the vent is inside the oven chamber.

I thought I had done enough research before i purchased but now I sense I have made a big mistake..... or have I missed something.

Can I rectify this issue? or am I doing something wrong?

thanks in anticipation of a response.

JohnW

[Chach]

Pictures of the outside and inside if th oven would help to determine what you have going on there along with the specs of the oven from the manufacture. Pictures should be no larger than 1MB

[UtahBeehiver]

Also tell us about about the insulation under the oven and around the dome.

[ejwjohn]

Hello,

First of all, thank you for responding.

I have attached three pics.

I can not give you any further spec info as I bought it from a distributor in-country (Ireland) and the manufacturers specs were not available.

I am reliably informed that there is the correct heat resistant base with insulation, also that there is the correct insulation on the exterior of the dome.

There are no visible signs of any cracking from the inside, but when I have the fire in the oven certain parts of the external start to crack, then when the heat from the fire dissipates those cracks ten to close up??

ON one of the pics I have identified a pipe at the rear of the inside of the dome, I have no idea what this is there for it does not appear to go anywhere???

The outside dome measurements are 120cm at the widest and inside it is about 98cm diameter inside

At this time the chimney which is a 5 ins stainless steel pipe has an outside diameter of 5ins... and is 75cm tall, it now has a proper cap, and is supported on each side.

Thanks very much for your assistance with this.

JohnW

[UtahBeehiver]

I did some looking and the oven is a JVP and manufactured in Portugal. How many times have you fired this oven, did you cure cycle (many days of incremental temperature increase)? Base on the carbon on the bricks, it appears the dome temperature has not reached the point where the carbon burns off (know as dome clearing) this occurs around 900 F. It is possible that the oven still has mechanical water in it if you say there is proper dome and floor insulation. I could not see any info on the website regarding construction. Have you contacted JVP as well? Also according to the web site the small holes in the door are for skewers/rotisserie so my guess is the other end in the dome is the receiver end. Other than that, you should contact JVP.

[Chach]

Yeah you should contact them. I also agree there should have been a cure fire process done on this oven...Just by looking at the pictures on their website it shows pictures of their manufacturing/build process and it looks like there is no insulation. Sometimes we have to be like Magnum PI UtahBeehiver lol

Ricky

[ejwjohn]

Hello Both,

And thanks for the responses and the effort.

I have googled for some time and never came across the JVP brand, but that is the right company as they mark their oven sizes on the top.

I need to look into the issues that you have discovered regarding the production process and no Insulation.

I spent about 6 - 8 curing firings trying to bring it up to higher temps and on one occasion I did get to the situation that the dome inner changed from black to a grey "ish" white colour. but since then every other attempt as resulted in the oven turning more into a smoker ???.

Thanks once again, I need to do some more investigating with JVP and possibly try to refine my fire lighting process.

ONE QUESTION? Is the centre chimney as in my oven an acceptable option, or have I got to move onto another design and treat this as a learning process???

thank I will get back to you

JohnW


PS UtahBeeHiver,,, in the early 80's I lived in Salt Lake City with my wife and two young children it was a very enjoyable and interesting time... the computer company I worked for no longer exists...

[UtahBeehiver]

Forno Bravo, the host of the blog, also makes an oven with a center vent called a Napoliono so the design is not unorthodox

[ejwjohn]

Hello,

Thank you for the response.

But I believe the Napolitano is a centre chimney but the vent for that chimney is within the outer part of the dome ... it is not directly taking hot air from the oven part of the dome itself.

I am sure I read a page on Forno Bravo web site that explains how their centre flue/vent works...

Thanks

JohnW

[UtahBeehiver]

Yep, you are correct, learned something new today.

[hughjamton]

The hole on the back wall that goes nowhere is to take a manual rotisserie, there is/should be a corresponding hole in the door.

[ejwjohn]

hello

Yes, thanks for this info, this was also referred to within the JVP site, but you have to do a little digging to find the reference.

Thanks for all the advice from this forum.

However, the thought of tearing this oven out of its location is another hurdle, so i am persevering with the unit for a while and trying different 'Firing up" techniques in an attempt to get to the optimum temp and then to work out how to keep it there. As when I add some more wood it will generate a little more smoke and that forces me to open the damper on the centre chimney, which also lets more heat out from the highest point in the dome so I get into a downward spiral at that point....

Not sure if this makes sense... but.

Again thanks.

JohnW