Building an oven with ultimate control

[TXCraig1]

Ambient heat may play an extremely small role, but I think you'd be hard pressed to detect it. Pizza is 99.9% conduction and radiation. The ambient heat probably does play a role in pre-heating the hearth, but, once the pizza goes in, you're pretty much talking heat conducting up from the hearth and heat being radiated down/from the side from the dome and fire.

I noticed a big difference this weekend. I could see it in real time - right before my eyes.  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,14249.msg168867.html#msg168867

CL

[shuboyje]

Craig,

Anything in particular that makes you think ambient air temperature made the difference versus more saturated mass, smaller coal pile, a more heated flue, ect.?  One thing that jumped out to me in the pictures was the coal pile is small, but every last coal is undergoing intense bright combustion and giving off a ton of radiant heat.

[TXCraig1]

Craig,

Anything in particular that makes you think ambient air temperature made the difference versus more saturated mass, smaller coal pile, a more heated flue, ect.?  One thing that jumped out to me in the pictures was the coal pile is small, but every last coal is undergoing intense bright combustion and giving off a ton of radiant heat.

Maybe I misinterpreted. I was thinking in terms of the ambient temperature of the oven - which I interpreted to mean heat saturation or the average temperature of the oven mass. With respect to ambient air temperature, it probably makes a much bigger difference for outdoor ovens than indoor. I know it matters to me. It is much harder to get the oven hot and hold it there at 45F than at 95F. This is probably somewhat mitigated as the oven becomes saturated with heat.

CL

[shuboyje]

There are so many different ways to look at this, lol.  I was actually thinking about the ambient temperature of the air inside the oven, like an oven thermometer would read. 

[lennyk]

one way to get precision control with full propane safety is to use a gas burner with built in spark igniter and flame sensor with propane valve control like this installation in a bbq smoker

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43117

The pid powers it on/off depending on temperature sensed.
Once powered on it ignites itself and has safety to shutdown its gas valve if there is no flame.
The temp sensor could be mounted on the pizza stone.

Only construction concern is that it is a blown flame so would have to be at the back with some kind of baffle to spread the heat.

I have actually ordered one for a smoker I plan to build.