Stones for Bakers Pride Countertop Oven

[scott123]

Franny, the Axner kiln shelf that I recommended earlier was before Bob chimed in that he had the P18 and seemed happy with Fibrament stones.  I've talked extensively with Bob about his oven, and the bottom line seems to be that the single thermostat makes it very difficult to find the stone material and thickness that will consistently give you great results.  3/4" cordierite kiln shelves are normally my go to pizza stones for NY style in any electric oven that exceeds 600 deg., but your oven is in a completely separate class   Just to complicate things a bit more, based on your profile listing Bobby G's as your favorite pizzeria, I think you and Bob are striving toward slightly different end products (he prefers more color). In words, not only can I not recommend the Axner, at this point, but I also might not recommend getting what Bob has.

Your P18 came with two stones, so one stone should still be intact, correct? Get a good recipe and a good flour, crank the oven up and see what that stone can do. Get an infrared thermometer and take plenty of temperature readings.  Do two pizzas back to back and see how it recovers. Based upon those results, you'll be able to see if the top is baking faster or slower, which, in turn, will help you narrow in on the best stone for your particular needs.

[frannyD]

Hi Scott, 
Yes I like Bobby G's, but that is not necessarily what I try and make.  I'm not even using the same flour.  I make all kinds though.  I use caputo when I make it on the grill.  Otherwise for my everyday I use a mix KABF & KAAP.  I've been making them in my 36" wolf with 2 old stone pizza stones in there and use the convection sometimes.  I like crispy.  This is just a toy I picked up.  I make sicilian a lot, so I figured it at least would be great for heating that up, ala "golden Boy" pizza.  I had a little dough and cranked out this in it last night. Just to make sure the thing worked, 'cause I could have taken it back... I have a place down the street that has the fire brick, I got the thicker ones for my grill, so will go see if they have some 3/4   

[scott123]

Franny, this oven, with the right stone, can make a NY style pie that will massacre Bobby G's, Caputo on the grill and the 2 old stone Wolf pies. Having it around just to 'warm up Sicilian,' is heresy, imo  It's like owning a Ferrari, but leaving it in the garage.  As far as deck ovens go, I think these are somewhat cheaply made, but any oven that can bake a 16" pizza at 650 deg is worth it's weight in gold.  Your Wolf can't hit 650, and, while the grill most likely can, I highly doubt it can handle a 16" pie.

It's your oven, so you can do with it as you please- I'm just telling you that you have a piece of equipment there that can do majestic things with, if you approach it the right way.

Fire brick, from what I understand, only comes in 2.25 inch bricks and 1.125 inch 'splits.' I'm not sure splits would be right for this oven.  Splits will take way too long to preheat and their weight will most likely stress those shelf supports. If you really do want to just 'play' with this oven, then go with the 3/4" kiln shelves- I would suggest that you find a ceramic supplier near you, so you don't have to pay exorbitant shipping. Axner's stone is $30, but I think the shipping comes to $20 more. Bear in mind, the 3/4" stone will give you completely different results than the existing 1/2" stone, so, if you do ever start using this oven for real entertaining, I don't think you'll be able to bake multiple pies at the same time using the two different stones.

[frannyD]

Thanks! Good to know, now I'm stoked!  As to an original question I had, Can these stones be cut to fit?
Also, for my original pie, I didn't have it up all the way.  Should I crank it up? My next pies will be bigger and thinner.  I usually start on a screen (for the bigger ones), then take it off right onto stone.  I guess I'm partial to a higher hydration and it makes it less stressful, as I'm not worrying about it sticking to the peel.

[scott123]

Franny, I can give you plenty of recommendations as to how to get the best possible pizza out of that oven, but, before I do, I want to make sure that you like NY style pizza. Do you get into San Francisco much? Try swinging by

Pizzeria Avellino
2769 Lombard Street
San Francisco, CA 94123-2411

It's not the best NY style slice in the country, but, for SF, it's a pretty solid product. With your oven you should be able to do better.  If you taste that and go 'wow, I want to make something like this but better,' then we go to work.  If, on the other hand, you go 'meh,' no harm, no foul and I've saved a few keystrokes 

And, to answer your original question, yes, cordierite can be cut.  Cutting cordierite, could, in theory, weaken the cut side and make it a bit more susceptible to the effects of thermal shock, but, cordierite is very sturdy stuff, so I think cutting it will be fine. Just make sure you (or whoever is cutting it) uses a diamond blade and goes slow.

[frannyD]

I am going to be there next weekend for the brews and bikes at GGP.  I will try to swing by there.  I looked at the pics and thought it looked a lot like Arinell's and somebody mentioned that as well in the posts   My husband is a contractor so he can cut it no problem.  Just need to find it.  For now I have the one deck to play with.

[Essen1]

I am going to be there next weekend for the brews and bikes at GGP.  I will try to swing by there.  I looked at the pics and thought it looked a lot like Arinell's and somebody mentioned that as well in the posts   My husband is a contractor so he can cut it no problem.  Just need to find it.  For now I have the one deck to play with.

Franny,

I had both, Arinell's and Avellino, and I would have to give the advantage to Avellino's. It's just a tad better in my opinion.

[Bob1]

 Bob chimed in that he had the P18 and seemed happy with Fibrament stones.  I've talked extensively with Bob about his oven

Wow Scott,
I do not recall talking to you extensively about this oven.  I personally do not like the P18 because of the heat up time but I am stuck with it.  I overcame the thermostat issue by adding the Fibrement on to of the cordierite.  It has so much thermal mass it works well.  I was just adding a comment from someone who actually owns the oven and has tried it.  Your comment sounds a tad sarcastic.  Keep in mind that I cook clean with out using bromated flour as a crutch.

Thanks,

Bob

[scott123]

I'm sorry, Bob, I thought you were someone else.  There's another Bob on the forum with a countertop oven, who I've talked to extensively (Bobino).  Absolutely no sarcasm here, just a case of mistaken identity.

[Bob1]

Thanks Scott, glad to hear

[patflynn]

I listed mine on craigslist, if anyone here wants it make me an offer.