[helsinkiandrew]

There’s a saying in Finland that foreign "saunas" are not true saunas at all, but rather just "untypically warm rooms".

The experiments where at 73°C which is a lot hotter than most gym/hotel/spa saunas I’ve been in outside Finland

[tauntz]

As an Estonian, anything below 80°C is considered a "kids sauna". 80°C - 90°C is a cold-but-workable sauna and proper sauna starts from 90+°C. I'd assume it's the same in Finland as we share a lot of the sauna culture.

[omnimus]

This would be same in Germany and eastern european countries too. But it really depend on humidity. High humidity saunas don't have to be hot and get tough pretty quicky. 100c dry sauna is lot more manageable than 60c humid sauna (atleast to me).

[tauntz]

Indeed, humidity matters a lot. Most our saunas here are löyly (in Finnish) saunas, so you get a rollercoaster of dry - humid - dry cycles. Once you get to 100+c and throw a good amount of water on the stones, it can get quite challenging to endure :)

Everybody has their personal preference of course. For me, the sweet spot seems to be a moderately humid sauna at 93c. At that point, the löyly is not too harsh yet but is still hot enough to make you feel alive :)

[omnimus]

I also prefer around 90-100c with swings of humidity. I think it's most exciting exactly because you can make it temporarily more intensive with the "humid wave".

It's the most popular type of sauna - "the sauna" for a reason.

[PaulDavisThe1st]

My steam room (at home) at 116F/47C is close to the upper limit of bearable for me. But that's a lot more humidity than even a humid sauna.

[nextlevelwizard]

90+ sauna sounds painful. Are you actually throwing water? Because even with 80 the steam is pretty hot

[trhway]

Whether sauna is hot or not depends on whether you enjoy the cold water plunge afterwards :)

The typical preset on dry saunas in Bay Area is ~165 F (73 C). Which is cold. Waste of time and money :). Usually, by closing or pouring cold water on sensor, one can make it to 180-190 F (82-87 C) - this is where you start to feel like you are in sauna, though it takes prolong time to heat you up enough to enjoy the cold plunge. If you're lucky enough, you can get to 200, 210, 220 F (104 C) - this is where you start to feel relaxed like as if the heat is working inside you.

>Are you actually throwing water? Because even with 80 the steam is pretty hot

Of course those numbers would be impossible to enjoy in steam sauna. The only steam sauna that had a wall thermometer that i've visited in recent years was showing 55 C when it already felt pretty well and hot.

Note - steam sauna and "throwing water" are 2 different things. The steam sauna is a machine generating a lot of steam, so the room is close to 100% humidity.

The "throwing water" is like Russian "banya" - it is in-between of dry and steam, though frequently is more close to dry Finnish sauna - wooden walls, stove, etc. where in addition to the heated air, you'd throw a water on the heater/stones thus adding a hit of hot steam to that air (in some "banya" configurations if you happen to be close to and in the immediate path of that steam you can sometimes get light burns).

[distances]

Just a clarification as it may not be clear from your message. A Finnish ("dry") sauna always includes throwing water on the stove, which is called "löyly".

People have different preferences for the warmth of the sauna -- as low as 65°C for some elderly folks, all the way up to 120°C for more hardcore people -- but water is always thrown on the stove. You won't get burns, but it can have a real sting. It's enjoyable, but may feel uncomfortable as a new experience.

[euroderf]

When a swimhall has two saunas, a "hot" and a "hotter", I'd guess they are at about 70°C and 90°C.

[nextlevelwizard]

70-90 seems reasonable, 90 is already over my comfort which is around 80, but the post talked about >90 degrees which just seems stupidly hot

[nextlevelwizard]

Since when has Finnish sauna been dry? As a Finn I have never been in a dry sauna. We always throw water on the stones.

[KellyCriterion]

73° hot?

Here in mainland Europe, a "classic fin sauna" is usually at least 90°++

[yeahforsureman]

Would those be "dry saunas" or proper ones where you're allowed to throw water on the rocks? Adding humidity ('löyly') is kinda the point, and 73°C might be just fine for a small sauna, giving you a nice punchy löyly.

[KellyCriterion]

> hrow water on the rocks?

Depends on the location! Very often, at public locations there is a "saua master" taking care, in smaller locations I have seen people handling this on their own.

And in one location there was a sign: "no private watering due to electrical issues"

[mesrik]

I think I've heard US it's mostly no water at all on stove and Germany I've heard they have had these sauna-masters who come and cast water on stove.

Neither of these are practised anywhere in Finland at least. But there are at least one Finnish swimming bath where they had to limit steam competitions and made a button controlled mechanism to administer water instead of free usage. Not because electrical shock prevention but because bad human behaviour per se.

[euroderf]

The men's sauna at Harjutori in Helsinki has a pullchain (with a handle of wood, natch), by the entrance to the room. When you walk into the men's sauna (which is BIG), you can inquire whether löyly is needed, and affirmative answers dictate a tug or two or three on the chain, which releases bursts of steam.

And anyone on the highest bench really gets cooked.

[kakacik]

Yes every sauna I have ever been to in Europe (spas, various gyms) have electric heater with stones on top. Infra saunas are only for cheapest installs at home and usually dont generate enough heat.

Also, 80° celzius minimum for proper saunas, I have been to >100 celzius ones and its a struggle to remain for 15 mins inside.

Another point - I consider the after-part most crucial for health benefits to me - as-cold-as-possible long shower or even better a similar dip pool. Few days after that my cold resistance is significantly higher. Just the heating of body in sauna I can reach also ie with cardio workout or free weights, which brings tons of other benefits.

[mesrik]

That "electric heater stones on top" is usually called stove, "kiuas" in Finnish :)

When needing to define type of stove, it's electric stove, wood heated stove. Latter has two types, which continuous wood burning is still common (this stove you can add burning wood during bathing) and older not so much any more used before bathing heated type stove which you cannot add wood while bathing. Oldest type is smoke-sauna, which doesn't have chimney at all. Wood is burnt in stove when heating, then when burnt enough sauna is ventilated first and then bathing starts.

But all these different heating elements are commonly stoves, just adding electric-, wood-, or smoke- stove is added context requiring.

Infra saunas then have those lamps of course, no stove there.

[gehwartzen]

This is one of the primary reasons I use a sauna; the cardiovascular benefits. I hate doing cardio exercises at the gym or elsewhere.

[distances]

Alas, Finns are not particularly healthy in the cardiovascular department. I don't believe there are any major benefits.

[euroderf]

It's much improved tho. A campaign started years ago to wean the general population off the addiction to dairy products.

[ttiurani]

Also while 73°C is a proper sauna, there are plenty of hotter ones. 90°C is closer to what I'm used to at my apartment building's common sauna. I do take two breaks when I'm there for 30 mims though.

[mrgoldenbrown]

What percent humidity? That is just as important as temperature for understanding how tolerable a particular sauna is.

[ttiurani]

It's a sauna so humidity depends on how much water I feel like throwing on the stones ("kiuas"). I throw at about once per minute, but I have no idea what that would mean in humidity.

[kikimora]

Anything beyond 90 C is not a sauna :) Better to have 90+ and hot steam as in Russian sauna (banya) :)

[ludicrousdispla]

you can sous vide beef and pork at a lower temperature than that

[koolba]

I knew a guy that would bring a steak sealed in a vac seal bag to the gym and leave it in the sauna while he worked out. One hour later he was done working out and it was ready to eat too. Not sure I can actually recommend it to others but the novelty was interesting till they nearly kicked him out of the gym.

[walletdrainer]

On a recent visit to Finland I found out that basically all supermarkets sell aluminium foil bags for the purpose of cooking sausages on the sauna stove while you use the sauna.

[Towaway69]

Sounds a bit like using your dishwasher to cook your dinner - https://parallelplates.com/dishwashers-still-full-meals/

I won’t want to use my dishwasher as a sauna though /s

[rmcpherson]

I think you intended to link a different article. That one’s not about cooking with your dishwasher.