Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

[SpottedFrog]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

Hi I was wondering what people think the advantages are in having the inner arch separate to the vent area. I have noticed that there are a lot of people adding thermal breaks but I have seen a great diagram of a once piece arch vent area that is tapered and also has a reveal.

[brickie in oz]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

You really need an insulating door, I didnt have one on my first oven but sure do notice the difference with an insulated door on the second oven.

[Rocko Bonaparte]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

Well how much could it suck the heat out of the oven? With my first build, I was not using a door. By the end, I had finally made one, got it wet, put it in the oven, and came out 30 minutes later to see it completely on fire. Oops. It was more annoying than anything since I don't consider myself a carpenter, and don't really want to be one, so the door was clumsily put together. However, it really tempered my desire to use a wooden door at all.

Without the door, I could slow cook some meat overnight with some loose firebricks stacked up in front of the oven. In the morning, I would be down to around 225F from 800-900F. I know people can sustain much higher heat then that, but that might just work against my interests.

Is there an insulating panel of some kind I could mount on the back of a metal door to reduce heat loss? I'm supposing I could try to set that door up so that the loss is less apparent, but I think I'd be needing something that can adhere to the metal, hold up against a whole bunch of steam, and shrug off open flame.

Edit: Apparently they're cool with a making an insulating door, although I don't know what that would entail yet.

[brickie in oz]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

That door offers no insulating properties at all and will just suck the heat right out of your oven.

I must say it looks good though.

[Rocko Bonaparte]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

Eventually I'll be building an oven at my new house here, having cut my teeth on one at my old house. The oven entrance is occupying an overwhelming amount of the time I think about what it will be like to build this new oven. I previously did cob with some bricks slapped into the lower parts of it, so I haven't really gotten a change to cut firebricks accurately yet. I did not find the plans to be entirely reassuring. I am likely to get into a custom opening due to wanting a very good door to seal the dome off for bread. I also will be building a 48" dome, and will end up with an entrance likely wider than usual, so I'm trying to reconcile that.

We are probably going to do a door like this:

Pizza Oven Doors by Teton Iron

And having read various threads, or rather examined lots of pictures, I will probably do the arch-in-arch. However, I haven't figured out how exactly I'd mount a door like that. I'll probably just engage the merchant on it, but I figure in the end, I'll have to just figure it out when the piece arrives.

[Stevenb]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

This is one pic of what we do. We basically build one small and one slightly larger arch. The smaller one inside becomes the reveal to close the oven off.

[Les]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

It really isn't that much of a hassle. You just need to slide the door out a couple of inches (my door is about 2 inches thick) and tilt it forward - lifts right out. I would avoid any type of ledge. You will find yourself sliding trays, pots, etc all the way out to the edge of your entry.

[gmchm]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

Then my other "thought" was to make the entryway about an inch lower as well, so the door could be put in and removed easier. If the entryway and chimney are going to be seperated from the dome for the "heat break", having thinner floor bricks or insulation would not be so much of a factor.

[Aegis]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

Well, my thought was it would be a sight inconvenience for making pizzas, but could serve as more secure way to retain heat for baking and roasting.

I did think of doing a trough on the bottom to insert the bottom of your door and then tilt it up against the reveal. That would make a good seal! I didn't bother with it because heat rises and you wouldn't lose much under the door as opposed to the top of the door. But that is an option for sure. Maybe I'll get my grinder out.... Hmmmmmmmm Oh thats right I have it out to fix my cracked Dome! lol

[gmchm]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

Well, my thought was it would be a sight inconvenience for making pizzas, but could serve as more secure way to retain heat for baking and roasting.

[Aegis]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

Just wondering. Has anyone considered also putting a reveal in the floor of the oven? gmchm

Nope!

I think it may hinder sliding RED HOT pots and casserole dishes in and out of oven. Plus another place to stop a peel in its tracks. Just my 2 cents

[gmchm]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

Just wondering. Has anyone considered also putting a reveal in the floor of the oven? gmchm

[Keepemlo]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

Thank you so mich I'll be a waiting for that

[Aegis]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

Thanks Dave,
Yes I did stand them up on edge and they are sitting on a set laying flat so the oven floor is 7" of mass. My primary purpose is baking bread so I have a large oven mass all around.
I just finished my insulation layer and one coat of hard shell over the insulation. This weekend I'm planning on a large bread bake so I'm excited to see what the oven can do. I had one good batch of bread so far and that was befor the insulation was installed.
Thanks again, Faith

Hi Faith, How did the bread turn out and how is the extra mass to heat and cool? I would like to also use my oven for bread and pizza. I would also like to win the lottery! So the balance of mass vs firing times is challenged. I would love to hear how long your firing times are and how long it retains the heat.
Thanks in Advance
John

[Mike D]

Re: Leave a reveal at the entry to the oven

So--- how deep is the vent area? Looking at other posts it tends to vary. I think too much vent just gets in the way of cooking, but it needs to be big enough to capture the smoke. What would be the min/ideal depth?

Thanks
Mike