Oven Exterior hot to the touch

[tmarsala]

Re: Oven Exterior hot to the touch

Chris-

Great! Thanks for the information. I am looking forward to the days of cooking like you have described.

Again, thank you for your input and advice.

Tom

[tmarsala]

Re: Oven Exterior hot to the touch

Hey, Chris-

It is Tom again. All was going well until my last fire (the 8-th) and the top three bricks in my entry arch have come loose. They are not falling out (yet) but they rock back and forth when I open and close the door. Do you think I should R&R them, pull them and re-mortar? Or should I just leave them alone and wait and see what happens?

I am figuring that since they are moving so freely that there is little force acting on them and they may be safe to leave alone. What do you think?

The oven is finished and is cooking nicely-holding high temps very well.

Thanks.

Tom

[SCChris]

Re: Oven Exterior hot to the touch

Hmmm? Since they're moving freely, it doesn't sound like they are supporting much.. I think I'd try to work some mortar into the gaps. I'd try a very wet slurry in a sandwitch bag and nick the corner to act like a pastry bag. I'd try this first just because, what do you have to loose?.. Carefull to keep the alignment of the bricks when and if you try, so that the door fits tight.

I'll cross my finger for you.

Chris

[tmarsala]

Re: Oven Exterior hot to the touch

Thanks-

The gaps are very small-about 1/64th of an inch so it may be tough to get anything in there. We'll see.

Thanks!

Tom

[SCChris]

Re: Oven Exterior hot to the touch

If that's all they are, I'd let them go for now.

Enjoy the food!

Chris

[tmarsala]

Re: Oven Exterior hot to the touch

Chris-

Thanks! I will (and am).

By the way, what max temp do you personally fire to? Do you think there is a "too hot"? I tend to max out at about 1200-1300 before I start cooling. That is about 2.5 hours of fire-not too huge of a fire, either, mind you. Do you think that is too hot? I could blame my looses brick on that, but the oven really stays hot well through the week when I saturate it like that.

Thoughts?

Tom

[SCChris]

Re: Oven Exterior hot to the touch

I use a Harbor Freight IR thermometer to check my temps and unfortuately it doesn't read beyond 1K or so. I don't think you need to push it to those levels to cook and have a few days to spare.. If you well insulated with a good fitting door you should be able to stay cooking for many days. A tip I picked up was when you're done cooking and down about 250 or so, put your next starting load of wood into the oven to dry. This works like a charm for minimizing the smoke and lighting right up.

Chris