Winter

[duckrabbit]

Re: Winter

Picture of the temperature probe inserted in the cooking floor !

Do you recall where you sourced that thermometer/thermocouple?

b

[Spunkoid]

Re: Winter

I've cooked in temps as low as -27, maybe a bit cooler. I tend to start the fire slow then build it pretty hot. Usually burn a combination of pine, fir, and poplar. Lots of radiant heat comes out the door which is nice when you are working near the front of the oven.

[Spunkoid]

Re: Winter

I generally start the fire slow especially on a cold winter day. No rush, let it warm the oven a bit and take the frost out first.

[Laurentius]

Re: Winter

Hi Tim,

When you say "ceramic", you are speaking of a kiln and not an oven in which ceramic is a reference to fiber boards and blanket insulation. I have no knowledge of kiln building or firing. I do know that last week we had a sub zero snow blizzard and that my oven hadn't been fired up in ove 10 days and it was about 12 degrees.

[fornax hominus]

Re: Winter

I have been working with ceramics for 40 + years and I always warm up and fire slow . I go to 2,350f and in 40 years everything that can go wrong has .
If my oven interior is sub 300f I do a warm up fire . While in moderate climes the oven retains heat for a week I find after a week in the winter my oven interior is at freezing or below temps , and the door arch especially so .
I have friends who scoff , but they have blown up bricks .
tim

[Laurentius]

Re: Winter

On a well insulated closed oven, thermal shock is rubbish. If I can fire my oven up to 1000 degrees and the outside is not higher than ambient temperature, wouldn't the same insulating materials keep the minimum oven temperature from going below that, regardless of the ambient temperature? If you prep your oven after using it, you open it, lite the fire just like any other day of the year. Science is science, BS is cow paddies.

[fornax hominus]

Re: Winter

-24 C here going down to -32C tonight ..not including windchill . Will be firing up tomorrow roast coffee, bake bread and roast a chicken .. make beef jerky the next day .. Last week after just firing it up for 3 hrs in the evening the next morning my oven was still 600F .. I had to bleed off heat ! ..The ovens don't care what it's like outside .. but you do have to do a slow warmup from cold to avoid thermal shock . . And handfuls of snow are great for introducing steam when you are making free form loaves . You know it's cold when you have to keep your beer in your pocket so's it won't freeze! Ain't winter grand !.. not a blackfly in sight!

[Laurentius]

Re: Winter

Hi Spunky,

If you really want a moist tender breast(turkey's), cook it breast down and turn it over to crisp the skin after its done, in the kitchen oven.

[Spunkoid]

Re: Winter

We user our oven year round. Fired it up Christmas Eve and cooked the turkey Christmas morning, it was -27C overnight. I've cooked turkeys in the oven before but this one was 27 lbs and the oven was very hot in the morning. Cooked the bird in 2 1/2 hours. It was not as moist as it usually is when cooked for longer periods at lower temps, but was still more moist than if cooked in a regular oven.

[Mr.Buckles]

Re: Winter

Yes I completely understand the knee. I had 4 knee surgerys and had to leave the skiing. Now I have a family my son has got me back on the slopes. I try to hit the powder days on the slopes. I do love it but my body just kills me after a hard day of skiing...... Too much pizza and not enough stationary bike !! You have lived in some pretty fantastic places. I do love the Bay Area (Pebble Beach) is heaven !! Now you have the mountains ! Enjoy !

Cheers,
Jeff

[Les]

Re: Winter

Great question. When I lived in the bay area I drove up here 2-3 times a month to ski. When I moved to Carson and could look out the window to see what the mountain was doing, I went up once, and then quit. Something about knee surgery's - same thing in the water - I would take the boat out but became a floater. This is an awesome place for snow.

[Mr.Buckles]

Re: Winter

Les do you ski living so close to Lake Tahoe ? I have skied the area and love it. Kirkwood being my favourite.

[Lburou]

Re: Winter

Thanks, Laurentius. I have no choice with the colour of my fence, it's an architectural neighbourhood control. The roof is cedar shakes. The manufacturer does not suggest any stain or paint on the shakes. I have the same shakes on my roof of my house we just let them naturally age. They will last 35 plus years.

I lived in a community dictating those shakes.....When a real forest fire was just over the foothills from us, it became a non issue, and we all went to something else. We went to concrete shingles and that is what was there on our Colorado Springs home this past summer. The fire came within 100 yards of our house (actually, we sold it five years ago).

[Lburou]

Re: Winter

I hate the green !! Here is the picture today tons of snow and anther storm is blowing in this weekend.

Its well done! I fired my oven a bit more slowly in the cold......Must have gotten down to 25 degrees F last winter

[Les]

Re: Winter

I hate the green !! Here is the picture today tons of snow and anther storm is blowing in this weekend.

Yep - looks like the same crap we get here. So far we have been blessed with rain. I'm totally OK if the white stuff stays up on the hill.