I started my oven yesterday around 4pm and kept it at full pizza baking temperature for about 5.5 hours. The pizzas turned out well (attached), but after baking the last one I happened to put my hand on the back outside of the hearth. I was really surprised that it was very warm to almost hot. I expected a little heat transfer, but not that much. Is this normal for that bake time?
Thanks.
I try to respond to every question, but pizza photos are a great incentive!
“Very warm to almost hot” is not at all worrisome. You are obviously getting a very hot fire and a well-“soaked” oven for your bake. The mineral fiber blanket above the arch is going to be very efficient in slowing heat loss. The insulated space below your brick hearth similarly will keep heat from being drained off by the cold concrete below.
But once your firebrick in the back wall is thoroughly heated there will be some transfer between the firebrick in the base layer and the concrete slab outside the insulated layer. It took hours to get there. That seems entirely normal to me.
It’s not enough to worry about. If you told me it was so hot that you couldn’t keep your hand on it, that might be a different story.
Thanks @bikerbudmatt, glad to hear this is normal. I have always wondered why the design only uses 1 layer of ceramic fiber blanket for the back wall given the fire is at the back of the oven for the majority of the time. I’m very happy with the performance of the oven for pizza, just wondering if an updated design would call for a second layer to retain more heat for say next day bread baking.
Would it hurt to put a second ceramic fiber blanket layer in the back?
It wouldn’t hurt, though it might push your back wall over the edge of the hearth.
The design philosophy is to put your resources (like insulation) where they will do the most good, rather than throwing money and materials at things that do not matter.
So, when I say it wouldn’t hurt, I’m also saying sure, if you want to spend more money on an expensive component, go right ahead.
No sarcasm intended here, just the reality that you’re better off making sure you have a high-quality chimney cap/spark arrestor, or putting the cash into your finishing materials.
I had the same concern’s about the temperature of the outside of my oven while using it. So one day after it hadn’t been used for a while I checked the temperature with a laser thermometer. The ambient temp outside that day was 90 degrees and full sun the temperature of my veneer was 155 degrees, the vinyl siding on my house is a darker bluish gray, it’s temp was 145 degrees at the same time. So I figured all is good.
That’s pretty much what I’ve found with mine, which faces west. I have painted stucco rather than veneer, and it’s a dark red. The south side and top of the oven will reach those temperatures on a bright day. That’s with a double blanket of mineral fiber insulation underneath. It cools off quickly after the sun is off it, even if there’s a fire inside.
All is good.
I’ve also noticed while cooking if the wind is blowing towards the oven open it will push heat from the down the sides of the oven causing the sides to get warmer than normal
