Hi there! Many thanks for the quick and elaborate reply. It is very helpful to read through some different ideas. Had not come across the term white / black oven before.
Take a look through the different pages, as am now onto my second bake in the later pages.
The heat seems to spread surprisingly evenly across the barrel, I think because the chimney and riser are not aligned and the "barrel within a barrel" approach provides a heat spreader (the barrel element page) I shall have to see just how long things will last with the outer barrel dispersing the heat in this way...
Thank you so much for the interest and perspective.
Kind regards,
Matthew
