Wonderful oven with 8 position rotating switch
Don’t forget to see the Christmas style decorated oven, with Christmas lights on, turkey, and all that!
Rado,
Here are some pics of the oven. It is done after planning and work. Thanks for your help and the plans. I bought your plans now several years ago but decided to go with your new Masterly Tail design built from the blocks. I will be installing cultured stone on the exterior next spring, but it’s getting cold here already so I do not want to start it now.
We have made about 24 pizzas the last few weeks and cooked a chicken and pork roast. Still learning how to fire the oven and getting used to this new cooking. Have not tried baking bread yet, maybe next week.
The temperature gauge was actually inspired by photos on one of your pages and also comments on that page, the oven built by Jamie, it’s fantastic. I found the gauge, by looking for pyrometer on e-bay.
This thermometer has a 8 position rotating switch. I installed 8 stainless steel tubes in different locations throughout the oven inner cooking part, and then put thermocouples in these tubes. It definitely helps us with the cooking. I made the copper enclosure out of recycled copper sheet and rivets. I enjoyed doing the metal sheet fabrication as well.
Still experimenting with different pizza dough recipes and hope to try our first bread next weekend. What temp. do you try to use for pizzas?
We have been having a great time over the Holidays here with our new oven. Attached are some pictures as well. I did start burning a hotter fire over the whole floor of the oven to get a larger coating of coals. We have tried 3 batches of bread with success. We cooked our Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas Prime Rib, and a whole ham as well as countless pizzas. After cooking pizzas one Saturday night we awoke to 14 inches of snow the next morning while the oven was still almost 400 degrees F inside.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Notice the oven decoration for Christmas Festive Season and obviously the Christmas Turkey roasted!
Here are some construction images of the thermocouple locations.
The first image, is with a hole drilled in the center floor firebrick to within 1″ of the surface. It shows where the thermocouple probe is installed and fixed. The next photo shows this thermocouple probe in closer detail.
The second image, shows the tubing running to the different locations I want to monitor in the firebrick dome.
The following image is with all of the stainless steel tubes meeting in a large junction box where I will make the wire connections, and mount the gauge.
And the last picture shows details where all of the thermocouples are attached to the temperature gauge with the eight position electric switch.
Will be in touch.
Thanks again,
Bill from New York, U.S.A.
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Beautiful oven! My advice with bread would be to fire the oven for under two hours and let the temperature come down 80-100 degrees lower than you need it. When you put your door on it might make the temperature spike as much as 100 degrees.
Also, my favorite dough recipe is with Caputo flour, 500g flour, 3g yeast, 10g sea salt, 325g warm water. It makes 3 doughs and takes two hours to rise before you punch it down and portion it out. I always make it the night before and find it stretches much better and tastes better after a night in the fridge. Just make sure you give it 3-4 hours to warm up before you start making pizzas.
Enjoy!
Mark
By Mark T
Great oven! I love your thermometer. Next spring I’ll be building my oven and wish to install a thermometer like yours. Already looked at the internet. Could not find a pyrometer with a switch yet, but keep looking for it!
On my website you’ll find my favorit pizza recipe; preferably made 1 or 2 days before your pizza party, to have great fermentation in the fridge in the dough for the couple of days! Merry Christmas everyone.
Succes!
Chris
By Chris
Do you know how many 8 X 8 X 16″ Concrete Blocks you used?
I want to start my project but have no idea how many blocks to order.
How about FireBrick? How many did you end up using?
Thanks,
Steve
By Steve
I would really like details and instructions on how to install the thermometer probes? Can you give some details of where they are located and how to run the wires? Thanks!
By jeff deloche
I ran 1/4″ stainless steel tubing to all of my temperature locations to place the thermcouples in so if they fail I can replace them. I have three in the floor, first one, oven center 1″ below surface. Second one 9″ right and rear of center and 4 1/2″ below surface, Third one 9″ right and forward of center and 7″ below surface. The rest are in the dome. Fourth One at oven center flush with the dome, Fifth one, 9″ right and rear at 2″ above dome surface. Sixth one 9″ left and forward at 4 1/2″ above the dome surface. Seventh one 9″ right and rear at 4 1/2″ above dome surface and eighth one centered at 8″ above the dome. See the new pictures added that might be helpful.
By Bill
Great oven and thanks for the pictures. Been looking for information on how to install thermocouples. Question: are there any concerns with the fact the stainless steel tubing “connects” the firebrick and the cladding together? Aren’t the two supposed to be able to move separately due to the foil?
Thanks
By Grant
I am working on my own oven and would like to try to find one of these pyrometers to correctly measure the temperature. I have been searching but to no avail. Is there a manufacturer name on the unit you have? Could you send a close up picture of the face of the thermometer?
By robben kadish
Robbed,
I recently found the same meter or similar one on Ebay. Mine is an ALNOR PYROMETER. It goes up to 1600 degrees F and has the same 8 position switch on the front panel and 8 probe connectors on the back of it. I have not been able to test it yet. Cost was $100 US. Was listed as a Vintage Alnor Pyrometer. Good luck with finding your equipment!
By Grant
Did you have the ends of the tubing welded shut? From the picture with the tube in the brick I am assuming that is what had been done but want to ask.
Thanks for the previous answer also.
Robben
By Robben Kadish
Apologies for the delay. These pictures look like they are welded closed. I just crimped mine with pliers.
Grant
By Grant
I just put many Christmas lights all over our oven. First I placed just a silver and gold sorts of lights for such effects but later decided to add some greens and reds among them as well. Looks great. Very Happy Christmas time to everyone reading my comment. Hopefully next year starts to be more prosperous again, at least as it used to be back then around five years ago!
By Tim Rich
I built a wood fired pizza oven and used red fire bricks the company told me they were fire bricks; do fire bricks come in red color?
By Lorraine