My new oven door

[scottme]

I finally got around to making a decent door for my WFO. It's constructed out of hardwood which used to be a handrail on the stairs of my house. I cut three lengths for the body of the door and two shorter lengths to tie the other three together. The whole thing was then given four or five coats of Danish Oil, and it ended up looking too nice to put on a dirty old outdoor wood fired oven. But I did so, and here's a picture of it in place:



There are a couple of casseroles cooking in the oven behind it; we'll see how they come out in the morning!

[DuncanM]

Hey Mark,

Love the look of your door.

I'd be very interested to see how it gets on with the heat of the oven - have you attached any insulation to the other side of it?

[turkey]

will be interesting to see how it holds up to the heat. Looks very nice with the oil, I always wanted decking in that sort of colour.

[cannyfradock]

It certainly looks the part......keep us informed on how it performs....

Terry

[scottme]

I must say the new door is doing a great job of holding the heat in. It only went on when I put the casseroles in last night, by which time the oven was down to about 180-190°C, so it's not been exposed to a really fierce heat. When I took the pots out this morning at 7am, it was 120°, and it's been on the empty oven all day today. Now, almost 24 hours after the burn, and it's still 100°C in the oven.

The door has no protective or insulating layer on the oven side; just oiled wood. It doesn't appear to have suffered at all from the temperatures, but as you'd expect it has a few sooty marks.

I'm thinking that I may rout out a channel for some fire rope to try to get a better seal, but my oven entrance is pretty flat already so I can't imagine it will make a lot of difference.

Next time I bake bread, which happens at 220-250°, I'll use the new door, which will give it a sterner test.

[scottme]

My oven door now has a spiffy dial thermometer:



That's a Flue Gas Thermometer from Clas Ohlson, and as you can see it reads up to a respectable 500°C. I love that store.

[turkey]

awesome, its only a leather steering wheel short if a classic British sports car :-)

[cannyfradock]

Yeah Mark.......Now you're showing off.....I love it!!!

The thermometer looks pricey......was it?

Terry

[DuncanM]

Terry,
The link is give. Below the picture, just over £6... Fantastic price. I'll definitely be sticking one of these in my door!

How is the bare wood holding up? Any chance of a pic of the inside of the door?

[scottme]

Duncan, the back of the door isn't really showing any signs of damage after three baking sessions, exposed to temperatures up to about 250°C.



I've yet to try the thermometer, but we are about to fire up this afternoon.

Terry, I bought the thermometer in Clas Ohlson's Reading store. I don't think it's currently available online, so you'd have to fork out a whopping £8.49 for one in a store. There is a branch in Cardiff - if you've not been I guarantee you will love it. My wife calls it a kindergarten for men - she can leave me quite happy in there while she does her shopping, and she usually has to drag me out afterwards!

[cannyfradock]

Mark

.....I'm getting to like that door....even more, the more I see it!!!

Thanks for the tip on Clas Ohlsen (whoever she is).....I've always gone to "Lakeland".....never knew of any other.

Terry

[turkey]

ahh Clas is more like Maplins and B and Q mixed, they do have some interesting stuff, well worth a browse.

I think I will need to pick one if those up :-)

[Fat Bob]

By Gad Sir you have quite a probe there!

[pete123]

Very impressive. Is the brass nut part of the thermometer? Or have you found an oversize nut and drilled a hole in the top and put a grub screw in, as a means to keep it in place?

[dougclay]

It's even more impressive when you realise the scale.
I saw this when it was on offer for £6 odd online with free next day delivery. I don't really need another thermometer for my oven but at that price grabbed one for future project. It just got delivered and it is a little bigger than I expected :-) the whole thing is about 26cm long, 25cm of which is the probe. The dial is 8.5cm in diameter.

The brass nut is part of the fitting.

This will go on the shelf until I move house and build a bigger oven.