Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone had tried to build an electric oven from scratch? I've got an old oven that I think is original to my house (which was build in the 70's I think). I haven't done much cooking in my life (read: ever), but recently I've been experimenting with drying food (jerky, fruits, etc..) and even at the lowest setting on this oven, the temperature is too high.
I'm primarily interested in suggestions for the heating elements, and thermometers that are easy to use with Arduinos, and I don't really know how to hook up an arduino to control a 110V or 220V system.
For those interested, my reasoning for building an oven from scratch:
I suppose I can reuse parts of the oven I have (insulation, heating elements). However, I am inclined (and may be forced to) build an oven from scratch. I figure I may need to upgrade the thermometer, and maybe upgrade the controls from an analog dial with (at best) 100 degree accuracy +- 50 degrees to digital controls, and a digital read out. I think updating the timer wouldn't hurt either because the one that's there is like one of those old egg timers (wind it back, and it rings when it gets to zero), needless to say it's not accurate either, so I use my microwave's digital timer. Also, I would be surprised if oven insulation hasn't become more effective and safer in the past 50 years (apparently asbestos cement board was popular in industrial ovens for some time, so it's possible that food ovens followed suit). Last but not least, the women in the household are always ready to kill for NEW appliances, I shudder to think what may happen if I disable an appliance. And of course, I also have several ideas how I can use an oven for some synthetics/composites fabrication. Thus, the best course of action is to build a new oven, replace the old one, and use the old one for projects.