What is the temperature used in a tandoor for making naan or kulcha? I know it's higher than 500 deg. F [260 deg. C], but don't know the exact range of temperatures resestaurants use.
Update: Having baked my naan in a Big Green Egg knockoff for more than a year now, I can say that the ideal temperature seems to be between 600 deg. F and 700 deg. F. This may not be the range of temperature in a tandoor, but for baking naan on a pizza stone in a ceramic oven, the range I mentioned seems to work.
There isn't much detailed information for this online. Even the various manufacturers don't generally cite desired temperatures. Wikipedia says up to 480C/900F, but does not cite a source for this temperature. The NY Times says that a traditional charcoal tandoor gets up to 750F, but does not mention a source either. Homedoor, the one manufacturer who mentions a temperature, says that their units go up to 650F.
None of these sources mention a desired optimal temperature, though. It seems likely that the temperature would be similar to the optimal temperature for Neopolitan pizza, between 600F and 700F.
Also, a tandoor is designed so that the clay walls will be hotter than the air inside the oven -- I'd assume probably 50-100F hotter, but that's basically a blind guess as I can't find any measurements anywhere.
The one thing I can tell you from personal experience is that you cannot make Indian naan with the proper texture in a home oven with a pizza stone which only gets up to 525F. Believe me, I've tried.
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