Oven temperatures

[malcolmp]

Hello all

We are very new to the forum...don't shoot...so please politely point us to the correct area of the forum is we are posting to the wrong spot or incorrectly.

I see people speak of the Heath temperature (slab) and then also of the oven temperature.

• How do you find the heath temperature?
• How would you control the heath, as it is part of the oven?

We check the temperature with a weber temp thermometer that goes into a hole we kept on the side which stops about 1 inch from the oven inner brick surface. If we put this into the oven and close the door, the temperature is about 20 degrees celcius higher than the outside hole. Is this OK, or should we fit another type of measurement tool?

We built the oven from the plans in the Bread Builders Book. Picture attached - not sure which type of oven it is exactly.

Advice and comments would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[roo]

Hi Malcomp,
I use an infrared lazer temperature gun I bought off ebay for £10 in the UK, you just point the lazer at the spot pull the trigger and it will tell you the temp on the readout. Very useful to check the temp on the oven floor.
But they come in different temperature ranges, you need to buy one that goes upto at least 550'c.

[Bandit]

I use one of these I bought from Amazon because it has a high range of temeratures.
SainSonic SS900 -50 Degrees to 900 Degrees Non-contact Instant-Read Infrared Digital Temperature Thermometer Gun Laser Point.

I log in a book floor temperature for different types of cooking and use that for future reference.

Knowing the Floor temperature I feel is only part of the equation.

The oven has conduction heat from the floor by a pan sitting on the floor ( sometimes I use a trivet or 1 inch rack to keep the pan off the floor to reduce this).

Then there is the oven air temperature

Then there is heat from any fire or embers in the oven.

Then there is radiated heat from the floor and the dome.

You can allow fresh cool air in by opening the door partly or fully as well.

I feel I am only monitoring one source of heat by measuring floor temp.

[minesamojito]

Yep, I use a laser guided therm too, you can take hearth temps and ceiling temps too. Only bit of kit I need.
Cheers
Marcus

[Bandit]

Oct 4, 2014 10:43:38 GMT Bandit said:

I use one of these I bought from Amazon because it has a high range of temeratures.
SainSonic SS900 -50 Degrees to 900 Degrees Non-contact Instant-Read Infrared Digital Temperature Thermometer Gun Laser Point.

I log in a book floor temperature for different types of cooking and use that for future reference.

Knowing the Floor temperature I feel is only part of the equation.

The oven has conduction heat from the floor by a pan sitting on the floor ( sometimes I use a trivet or 1 inch rack to keep the pan off the floor to reduce this).

Then there is the oven air temperature

Then there is heat from any fire or embers in the oven.

Then there is radiated heat from the floor and the dome.

You can allow fresh cool air in by opening the door partly or fully as well.

I feel I am only monitoring one source of heat by measuring floor temp.

Further to the above I have been thinking about this some more.

If the oven is too hot to start with I place the pan on a rack about an inch above the base which reduces conduction.

If the meat is catching put a bit of tin foil over it, with chicken and duck especially turning the bird every 15 minutes will keep the flesh moist and not dry the breast out. this works well with duck.

If the oven is a bit hot keep the door open or remove it.

Sometimes I shovel out hot wood coals to use later.

The laser only tells you the floor temp, you have to guess the rest and adjust it to suit.

Logging the temperatures and times allows you to look back and improve.

Best successes to date:
Roast rib of Beef

Roast duck

Cured salmon on cedar plank

Tandoori Chicken

Leg of lamb

Racks of Lamb