Hottest Oven Setting

[pftaylor]

All this talk about modifying ovens led me to wonder which setting would produce the most heat in my Dacor Epicure Convection oven:
1) Bake @ 550 degrees (lower burner)
2) Convection Bake @ 550 degrees (lower burner)
3) Pure Convection @ 550 degrees (both burners alternating)
4) Broil on High (Top burner)
5) Convection Broil on High (Top burner)

I am discounting the modification option due to lack of spousal consent. So, my guess would be #5 but it's only a guess. Also, it seems to me that the top would cook quicker than the bottom. The best setting for cooking a pizza might be #3 which theoretically would cook the pie evenly. Or is it as simple as 550 degrees is 550 degrees whether using convection or not. I'm confused. I feel like I'm playing golf...

[canadave]

LOL!! 

Funny post   And very timely for me, since I too just discovered a day or two ago that I do not have spousal consent to defeat the safety locks and use the oven on self-cleaning cycle to cook pizza

I'm thinking your #5 option as well.  I think DKM just alluded to this idea in a post just a few minutes ago about putting the stone on the middle rack, preheating to 550 for 30 minutes, then turning on the broiler for 10 minutes.  I should think that would heat the stone from overhead pretty significantly above 550, right?  How high does a broiler temperature get to in an oven, anyway?

I need to figure this out, as I'm convinced that I need to get hotter with the oven to achieve the pizza I crave
Dave

[Steve]

Here's how I fooled my oven into heating higher.

I took one of my empty aluminum cigar tubes and filled it with water. I then unclipped the thermostat probe in my oven, gently bent it downwards and into the tube of water. While the water boils in the tube, the water remains at a constant 212° F (100° C) until all the water boils off. This lasted long enough to cook my pizza. Since the thermostat thinks the oven is only at 212° F, it did not cycle off and kept on heating. I had my oven up to 700° F using this technique. And, when all the water boiled out of the tube, the oven behaved normally again (i.e., cycled off). My oven has a self-clean cycle which heats the oven to over 1000° F, so it's designed to run very hot.

[pftaylor]

Thanks for the stealth method of increasing the WAF - Wife Acceptance Factor

[canadave]

I dunno about that...I think that such a modification would still be contrary to the letter of the standard husband/wife contract   No non-standard use of the oven allowed!  I think my wife would take a dim view of me messing around with the oven thermostat.

I have higher hopes for the broiler idea, in conjunction with placing the stones higher.

[Randy]

Some possiable failure modes that you may never see would be internal wiring insulation failure that might lead to shorting aginst an internal stucture making the door electriacly hot as an example.  One person wrote that the outside of the oven didn't get hot but what about the wiring inside. I know this is tempting but from an engineering view point this is not a safe practice.

Randy

[Steve]

My only comment regarding the self-clean cycle:

The oven is obviously designed to run at such high temperatures by the very fact that there is a self-clean cycle.

Nowhere in my owner's manual does it state how many times the self-clean cycle should be used. Someone with a dirty oven might self-clean their oven once or twice a month.

So, by the very fact that the oven has a self-clean cycle, and the fact that the self-clean cycle reaches temperatures in excess of 1000° F, this tells me that the oven has the necessary "engineering" built into it as not to be a safety hazard. So, with that said, I don't think you have to worry about the house burning down or wire insulation melting.

No flames intended (and no pun intended!), just my 2˘ on the matter. And yes, you should not bypass your oven's controls if you do not feel comfortable doing so.

[canadave]

All very logical, and makes sense....which of course means that it's absolutely useless trying to argue this with a wife   I tried all that....she didn't even want to listen!

And maybe she's got a point.  I just finished making a pizza the other night by preheating the oven to 550 for about 45 minutes, and then turned on broil for about 10 minutes.  Yesterday, the oven digital readout had an error code on it, and wouldn't work! :0  We've got to have it repaired--from what I can tell, the error code means that the oven thermostat blew out.

Of course, when I brightly said to my wife, "Hey, that means we can get the oven to as high a temperature as I want, right?", I was lucky to escape alive lol

Dave

[Steve]

Another point that I just thought of regarding the self-clean cycle.

My oven, in self-clean mode, has some type of internal fan that kicks on (not a convection fan) when the temperature inside the oven reaches a certain temperature. This fan is located inside the oven cabinet and appears to be used to keep the cabinet cool with the oven running at such a high temperature. This is good!

The cigar tube trick that I mentioned earlier did not produce this result (i.e. the fan never came on.) This could be dangerous in that the cabinet could possibly overheat. So, in the future, I will not be using the cigar tube method. Instead, I will use the self-clean cycle which appears to have all of the necessary safety features engaged.

[Randy]

No flames felt.  A good discusion that had some thought provoking comments.

Randy

[varasano]

Hey Guys,

Steve, your comments on the cleaning cycle exactly matched my logic. There has to be some little old lady with OCD that feels that she needs to clean her oven twice a week so the manufacturer has to build it for that. Plus the actual cleaning cycle exceeds the temp on my Raytek (which is 975). I don't know by how much. But by opening the door and baking, yada, yada, it never really gets up to that and I shut  it down well before the full 3 hour cleaning cycle.

That said, Randy you could certainly have a point about reaching the failure point over time. I hate to admit it, but it's possible.  I have a fire extinguisher nearby, but I know that's not the best option in the world.  Your electrocution point is also possible, I guess.   

The cigar tube thing really scared even me.  But I tried something nearly identical once.  LOL...  We are crazy.  I used a pool of water in foil. I even did the whole unscrewing of the guage thing to dunk it.   I have shattered the glass on my door twice by getting it wet with sauce. That was pretty scary.  My advice on covering the door with foil very loosely is serious advice.  Please do that.

Do they make urns shaped like pizza boxes? Can I be creamated in patsy's oven?  Well, at least I don't smoke or run with scissors.

Jeff

[Trinity]

 


Well,

From all the money I have saved making my own pizza's,,,, I could buy a new oven,,, Or two.
 If I were to ruin my present oven. rofl

But one thing to watch out for.... At those very high temps.... DO NOT drip/spill/drop ANYTHING on the door window...

I was basting something years ago at a high temp and had a small spill on the inside of the oven window... BOOM!!!! The whole thing exploded!    


At least my food was done at that time...

[Steve]

Do they make urns shaped like pizza boxes? Can I be creamated in patsy's oven?  Well, at least I don't smoke or run with scissors.

 

[canadave]

Correct me if I'm wrong....but doesn't this article tell how to "calibrate" your oven so that you gain another 35 degrees of heating capability?  In other words, to borrow a phrase from Spinal Tap, doesn't this show how to make your oven "go to 11"?

http://web.appliance411.com/faq/temperature-calibration.shtml

Dave

[pftaylor]

Dave,
I was able to go to the manufacturer's web site for instructions on how to recalibrate my oven. The online Dacor manual was easy to follow and allowed +/- 35 degrees either way. Took all of 2 minutes to get an extra 35 degrees. The purpose of recalibration, according to Dacor, is to allow for an easy way to equalize your previous oven's heating setting to theirs (in case you notice a difference). 

[canadave]

Glad you were able to gain an extra 35 degrees!  They probably didn't anticipate that people would use the recalibration procedure simply to squeeze extra heat out of the oven to cook pizza   When my oven gets fixed (hopefully tomorrow), I'm going to try it too.