The Heat-Kit Bakeoven Option
 New design optimizes performance
Bakeovens are readily incorporated into Contraflow
heaters, and have become a very popular option in the last few years.
There are two types. In the traditional "black" oven, flames
pass directly through the oven, which is then ready to bake after the
fire is out.
In the "white" oven design that we have developed for the Heat-Kit,
the flames go around the oven chamber instead of through it. This allows
the oven to be used at any time. The oven floor is unobstructed, with
no throat opening to the firebox, and the interior remains clean, with
no soot or ash deposits. The sealed oven chamber and airtight cast iron/glass
oven door gives you perfect bread crust - you don't have to add any moisture.
The design has been refined over several years of trials and feedback
from users . It is no longer simply an add-on feature - instead, we have
redesigned the whole heater around it.
Benefits include:
- oven floor is several inches lower, for easier access
- oven temperature now reaches up to 500° F., and will stay above 350°
for up to ten hours (see chart below from lab test - wood load for this
test was 42 lb., previous fire was 24 hr.)
- we've added direct heat to the oven floor, so that you can now make
the ultimate brick oven pizza. The oven operates for zero cost, since
you are firing the heater daily to heat your home.
- It can be on either side (front or back). A popular design is to have
the heater serve as a space divider between living room and kitchen,
with the glass firebox doors on the living room side and the oven on
the kitchen side.
(Below): Graph of oven and oven floor temperature over time from test
at Lopez Labs. Wood load was 42 lb. Douglas Fir and previous fire was
24 hrs. Note that oven temperature peaks about 2 hours after lighting
the fire.
 The standard oven holds 4 loaves of bread, and
the new larger oven (optional on the Heat-Kit-22) holds 5 loaves per batch.
Three batches of bread per firing is a typical capacity. Gourmet cooks
will really appreciate the oven's finer points. A great feature of masonry
(retained heat) ovens is a very even temperature. It will bake perfect
bread over a wide temperature range. The same applies to roasting poultry,
fish or meats - because the oven starts hot and then slowly cools, it
is much more forgiving . Whether you are serious about cooking or more
casual, we believe that this is the best oven available today.
 Test Data
 1996 Christmas
Test Data
1997 Lopez Labs Test Data
Christmas 1996 Test Data
We've been using the oven at our house (photo at top of page) over the
holidays, and have gathered some data, below.
December 23:
The heater was fired at 7:00 a.m. About 35 lbs of hardwood had been stacked
in the firebox 8 hrs previously. Because the wood was surface dried, the
fire took off very quickly. Here is a record of the oven coming up to
temperature:
We stopped tracking temperatures at this point, and started baking. Our
house guest was baker Anna Nulty, formerly of Terra Breads in Vancouver,
and now working at Little Stream Bakery in Perth, Ontario. The goodies
were as follows:
Load 1: 3 loaves whole wheat sourdough bread
Load 2: 2 loaves whole wheat yeasted bread
Load 3: 1 pizza
Load 4: another pizza
Load 5: a tray of lemon-cranberry-almond biscotti
Load 6: a tray of almond-chocolate biscotti
In order to bake 6 loads, we added another 25 lbs of wood once the first
firebox load was down to coals.
December 24: No fire (weather was warm)
On December 25, the previous fire in the heater had been 48 hours. We
stacked wood in the warm firebox about 10 hrs. prior to burning. This
dried the surface, so that the fire was very fast to take off. We used
35 - 40 lbs of hardwood. The fire was lit at 8:30 a.m., and at 9:15 we
added a large log that we wanted to get rid of. We put the Christmas turkey
in a clay baker and put it in the oven at 11:15 (note the temperature
drop on the graph below). The turkey came out of the oven at 2:45 p.m.,
roasted to perfection.
December 26: We loaded the heater with about 50 lbs. of hardwood, brought
in from outside. No baking (too busy eating). Here's the temperature record:
December 27: No fire today. Stacked cool firebox with about 40 lbs of
large hardwood (6 pc) at 5:30 p.m.
December 28: Lit heater at 2:20 p.m.. Oven is at 90F.
At 5:25 p.m. we stopped tracking temperature and put in a pan of sourdough
dinner rolls. Note that the oven only got up to 375, because the heater
had not been fired for 48+ hours. The rolls, which went in a bit late,
took a little longer to bake, and came out at 6:10 - they were delicious.
A second batch went in at 6:10, came out at 6:45, and then a lemon-millet
biscotti went in.
December 29: No fire today. At 6:45 p.m., oven is at 120F.
December 30: Stacked 60 lbs wood in heater and lit at 11:15 a.m. Outside
temperature -15C (1F) Oven is at 90F.
At 4:40 p.m. a casserole and a squash went in. Note the temperature dip
in the graph below. At 5:50 p.m., the few remaining coals were stirred,
and 10 lbs of small wood (10 pieces) were added to bring the oven back
up to temperature for baking whole wheat sourdough rolls:
December 31: 9:00a.m. Oven is at 185. The heater was fired with 45 lbs.
wood. At 12:45, the coals were raked and 3 large pieces were added.
January 1: 8:00 a.m. Oven is at 170. Outside temperature is -5F.
1997 Lopez Labs Test Data
January 18: 10:30 a.m.
We've switched to an infrared thermometer which gives instantaneous surface
temperatures with a simple "point and shoot" operation. The
graph below shows surface temperature readings for the oven floor, back,
ceiling and side. It's -25C outdoors, so we're firing the heater with
about 70 lbs. of wood. The last time it was fired was yesterday morning.
February 3, 2003
Visit Lopez Labs
1996 Christmas
Test Data
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