Now what would this be?

[Slarty]

Hi all, I'm hoping that someone within this very informative & knowledgeable forum can shed some light on this one:

Whilst on holiday in Sicily recently at my father in laws small holding we cleaned up and baked fresh pizza in the bread/pizza oven on the property - whilst doing so my father in law pointed out two dark patchs on the inner oven wall telling me these would indicate when the pizza oven was hot enough (~500 degrees) by turning white - sure enough they did indeed turn white at just the perfect temperature for pizza (which was very tasty), intrigued I asked what these were made from to which I got the response - no idea, this is just what they used to do when they built these ovens..... asling around most of the locals seemed to have these as well but no one could shed any light on what these are made of.

I'm toying with the idea of buidling a pizza oven in my own garden and would love to have this feature, anybody have any idea what this might be?

 

[Lorenzl]

Going off topic. You should look at seeing if you can cook "croatian peka" in your oven it is a great way to cook meat and the flavour is fantastic.

I believe there are other countries in the same area that use a similar cooking method.

 

[niall Y]

I am intrigued about what this could be. When I worked as a technician at a college, the pottery kilns had small ceramic cones placed on the shelves. These bent over when the required temperature was reached. But the effect wasn't reversible, as new cones were used for each firing.

 

[Slarty]

Going off topic. You should look at seeing if you can cook "croatian peka" in your oven it is a great way to cook meat and the flavour is fantastic.

Thanks for the suggestion Lorenzl, having just googled that looks very tasty

 

[Essex Barn Workshop]

this is mine. It is great fun, but quite a knack to get perfect results. What we love to do is after pizza, put a leg of lamb in for 5 - 10 minutes to sear it, take it back out, wait for the temperature to drop to around 120 or so, stick the lamb back in, shut the door on the oven and leave it all night! Falls off the bone.

 

[Phill05]

Hi all, I'm hoping that someone within this very informative & knowledgeable forum can shed some light on this one:

Whilst on holiday in Sicily recently at my father in laws small holding we cleaned up and baked fresh pizza in the bread/pizza oven on the property - whilst doing so my father in law pointed out two dark patchs on the inner oven wall telling me these would indicate when the pizza oven was hot enough (~500 degrees) by turning white - sure enough they did indeed turn white at just the perfect temperature for pizza (which was very tasty), intrigued I asked what these were made from to which I got the response - no idea, this is just what they used to do when they built these ovens..... asling around most of the locals seemed to have these as well but no one could shed any light on what these are made of.

I'm toying with the idea of buidling a pizza oven in my own garden and would love to have this feature, anybody have any idea what this might be?


View attachment 142304

Extract from: How long does it take to heat a wood burning pizza oven?

How do I know if my pizza oven is hot enough?​

Pizza Oven Temperature Guidelines: When Is It Ready?

1. When the black soot on the oven dome turns to white.
2. Use an infrared thermometer to read 850F or 450C.
3. When a handful of flour browns in 10 seconds when thrown on the oven floor.

 

[Droogs]

Yep it is carbon that is left on (usually on the top center of the dome) when cleaning so that you have an indicator of when the oven is at temperature. As the oven heats up to 700° the carbon starts to be come translucent and appears white.

 

[mikej460]

this is mine. It is great fun, but quite a knack to get perfect results. What we love to do is after pizza, put a leg of lamb in for 5 - 10 minutes to sear it, take it back out, wait for the temperature to drop to around 120 or so, stick the lamb back in, shut the door on the oven and leave it all night! Falls off the bone.

Sounds great but I do prefer my porridge in the morning..

 

[Slarty]

I've learnt something new, always a good thing - thank you Phil05 & Droogs - I'm still wondering however what this material was as it's built into the structure of the oven and doesn't rub off to the touch so it's not just a build up of Carbon.

 

[Richard_C]

Maybe it is carbon, a fancy square piece of charcoal? I guess if it inset not much air gets to it so it lasts well.

In a DIY version you could try either a piece of artists charcoal or bbq charcoal as an indicator, not a fuel. (You know a bbq is ready when the charcoal is grey/white.)

 

[Ollie78]

It is feasable it is glass, my neighbour made a Turkish style pizza oven in the garden. He packed in lots of crushed glass into parts of it and rockwool insulation in other parts. He said the glass helps reflect or retain the heat or something. It was quite an involved construction.
It looks like an igloo with a slate roof over it and a chimney at the front.

Ollie