Thoughts on material to use when building the Door.

[jas0ny]

Have people concluded that the best material to use when building the door is stainless steel and to insulated it? Seems like people use steel, aluminum, SS. Im trying to build the door to maximize heat retention. Although there is a thread on doors, not much has been discussed about how to create a proper insulating door.

[david s]

That's not my conclusion, but most builders would disagree with me on this point. If your objective is to retain heat, why would you choose a highly conductive material like metal? In an effort to keep conduction and weight down, most use fairly thin metal, unfortunately the thinner you go the more likely the material is to buckle (stainless in particular) and this can create sealing problems. I prefer wood as it is far less conductive, is traditional, looks great and is easy/cheap to work and replace. It does need an insulating panel and will burn if left in place for prolonged periods if the oven is over 300 C, which is higher than what you need for baking and roasting.

[jas0ny]

I agree, it makes sense. Typically builders will use any hard wood to construct the door?

[david s]

Yes, I also use some high temp silicon between the timber and the insulating panel so they're not in direct contact, leaving a gap of around 2 mm. Not sure how much use it is but seems logical and in practice works pretty well. What you can't do though is put the door in position after cooking pizza and leave it there overnight to retain heat for the next day. It is likely to cook the timber, or at worst burn it away.

[jas0ny]

What is your insulating panel made out off?

[david s]

insulating castable, with lightweight steel reinforcing. Getting the balance between strength and insulating capacity is difficult.

[JRPizza]

The best insulators tend to be soft(er) and subject to wear, so many build their doors with metal skins. I have no doubt that a wood door would be better for heat loss than my metal one, and I'll probably make one like David says for the lower temps. Insulated steel "blast door" for temperatures immediately after charging oven, then a good wood door for the morning after. I would also suggest a search for cobblerdave and doors - I believe he also is a fan of non metal doors.

[Damer419]

Timely question for me........never contemplated 2 doors....but that might seem like the way to go.