Any ideas if this pizza oven would work?

[norma427]

scott123,

I don’t know what kind of decks I have at market.  It is just the decks that came with the oven.  I am now using 500-525 degrees F at market after playing around with the temperatures for awhile.  I also found there that if I try to use too high of temperatures, my bottom of the crust gets too much char.  Most customers only want the bottom brown and not too much char.  It also could be the dough formula I am now using and the hydration. Right now I find the lower bake temperatures seem to work better.

I am anxious to see if I can get higher bake temperatures in the BBQ grill, how all this will turn out.  I would like to see good results, but I don’t know what will happen, until I try it out.

Thanks,

Norma

[pcampbell]

i think but am not positive they would be corderite if they came with the baker's pride, unless they were replaced with aftermarket ones.

[norma427]

i think but am not positive they would be corderite if they came with the baker's pride, unless they were replaced with aftermarket ones.

pcampbell,

I don't know if they were replaced or not.  The oven was supposed to be used at an Olive Garden Restaurant before I bought it.  I sure am not good at knowing what kinds of decks they used or if at one time they needed replaced.

Thanks for your ideas,

Norma

[flyboy4ual]

I used firebricks on my grill for this set up.  It works really good.  The rear mounted rotissorie burner is the trick also with turning the pizza's every 30 seconds.  I put the pizza on when the bricks are around 750 degrees.

Scott

[norma427]

I used firebricks on my grill for this set up.  It works really good.  The rear mounted rotissorie burner is the trick also with turning the pizza's every 30 seconds.  I put the pizza on when the bricks are around 750 degrees.

Scott

Scott,

Your grill setup looks great!     Is your rear mounted rotisserie burner electric?  Thanks for telling what temperature you use for baking the pizza.  Don’t you close the lid? 

Maybe I will have to look on Craigslist to see if there are any rotisserie burners there.

Thanks for your help,

Norma

[flyboy4ual]

Norma,
I do close the lid.  I open it just to turn the pizza.  The stone has gotten as high as 880 degrees, but that is too hot to put the pizza on.   750 is the sweet spot.

Scott

[norma427]

Norma,
I do close the lid.  I open it just to turn the pizza.  The stone has gotten as high as 880 degrees, but that is too hot to put the pizza on.   750 is the sweet spot.

Scott

Scott,

Thanks for telling me 750 degrees F is the "sweet spot". 

Norma

[pcampbell]

I think that rear rotisserie burner helps a lot.  Norma I don't have a picture right now but mine is the same as yours, except I used splits on the sides also (instead of full firebricks) and then I just took my rectangle pizza stone to bridge the gap.

I have read if you put aluminum foil shiny side down underneath the stone it will reflect some heat so it absorbs less.

I wonder if I made something out of steel that covers up the rest of the grill to force all of the air from the grill through the back of the rectangle "channel", and exit through the front, making all of that hot air go over the pizza....?

Maybe instead of using firebricks for the sides, steel that is a few inches wider than the deck, so that the hot air comes in contact with the pizza might work better (like Tranman's setup).  Then cover up the rest of the grill surface so all of the hot air has to escape through that area???  I know that 2stone makesa "grill skirt" for that purpose.

I noticed also that the heat is designed to escape through the rear of the lid (when closed)... so I slid the entire thing as far back on the grill as possible to try to take advantage of the flow of the heat.

Here is a quick picture.

[norma427]

pcampbell,

I am going to take the full firebricks back and exchange then for splits.  Your set-up looks great.  I wonder how the aluminum foil placed shiny side down would work. 

How do your pizzas turn out, when you use your set-up?

Thanks for your ideas,

Norma

[pcampbell]

I haven't tried this as is.    But similar to this , the bottom baked and the top did not.  I think we need to try to cover up the rest of the unused grill space to redirect more gas over the pizza?

[norma427]

I think we need to try to cover up the rest of the unused grill space to redirect more gas over the pizza?

pcampbell,

Interesting comment.  I will post my results when I get to try the firebricks in my BBQ grill.

Norma

[pcampbell]

I cut some steel to cover the unused portion of the grill (on the sides).  It made a huge difference i think.  The hope was that all the gas heat would go through the only open part of the grill (the front) and flow towards the back of the grill (where the slit is for the heat to escape). 

There is also aluminum foil reflective side down underneath the splits on the floor.  And I moved the side splits holding the top stone up outwards a little to try to let heat in through the sides.   I'd like to do a few other things still...

I have an idea that the top stone does not really do much for radiant heat, that is more the heat from the grill that bakes the top so the idea is to channel the heat over the pizza?  the other thing is, if the top stone doesn't do anything (same with the sides) it is just taking up energy to heat up  which also means longer preheat.  What I'd like to try to do is make the sides flat plate steel instead of brick and the top also flat plate steel, maybe with a piece of insulation sitting on top of the top plate to keep the heat in    Finally!  I also read the Willard from 2 stone had better results with the grill cover propped open.  I haven't had a chance to test that yet.

This was done in 4 minutes - the bottom stone was maybe 600F? and preheat took about 40 minutes I think. It was  a 300gram ball (which is a bit heavy I think for 12") also with 4 full oz of mozzarella (a bit much also maybe).  The top could still be done a little more.

[norma427]

pcampbell,

That is interesting you used steel on the part of the grill that wasn’t being used.  I see your idea of using aluminum foil reflective side down, did also work. 

I will keep all your ideas in mind, when I get my BBQ grill set-up started.  This week and last week are Graduation week in my area, so I am a little slow in getting my project started.  I am anxious to try your ideas out. 

Your pizza looks delicious in your set-up.    Keep as all informed on your progress.  Your ideas are great!

Thanks for your help,

Norma

[Jackie Tran]

Pcambell, decent looking pie there. I do believe that the top stone does radiate heat b/c of the leoparding of the cheese.  I think you'll want to land the pie closer to the edge to brown the crust more and then rotate to get even browning all the way around.   You may also want to erect a wall for the back but keep the gap b/t hearth and wall to direct the hot air flow.

Or just up our temp to 700 and see what happens

[pcampbell]

I am not sure that the top stone really helps that much.

I think? with radiant heat is that it needs to be either really hot or really close or both to work well.   

The top stones are always colder than the bottom stone in this sort of setup (from what I have measured at least).

I have tried a slightly different experiment, changing way too many variables.  My new setup uses steel walls and a steel ceiling, although I messed up the measurements and made the deck to ceiling too low.  The floor is now a regular stone, instead of bricks.

The result with a 25 minute preheat (about 675F? on the stone), the bottom is burning in < 2 minutes.  The top is not even with the bottom, but it is close.  I think with a shorter pre-heat I'd see a perfectly done 2.5-3 minute pizza. 

Another issue is this stone may have a higher conductivity than the bricks (I don't know what kind it is...)

I don't like the very low deck height though, its hard to see and hard to get the pizza in and out.

[Tampa]

A few comments.

- I don't think you'll find any difference between shiny side up or down on aluminum foil.  Reflecting heat isn't the dominant factor, it is more about creating an insulating barrier between the heat source and the stone.

-  pccampbell, please do share your temperature results when available.  If I am understanding your strategy and results so far, the result is what I would anticipate.  Firebricks take a while to heat up and don't conduct as well as cordierite.  A top stone isn't that important with that big IR burner in the back, sheet metal works fine.  Side plates do make a difference.

- I understand the issues with a low deck height.  A while back I saw someone used the warming rack as a "self-leveling" upper cover.  Perhaps you would have success if you mounted the upper surface of the pizza hardware to the warming rack.  Sure you would loose the volume of hot air when you lift the lid, but with an abundant source below, and in the IR burner, you may quickly make up the difference.

Let us know.  Pls correct me if I'm mistaken.

Dave

[Jackie Tran]

Patrick, I have notice the same when switching out the bricks for a pizza stone. The bricks take longer to burn so it buys me more time. I prefer using the bricks for the floor both in the home oven and cooking outdoors.

[pcampbell]

I do not have an IR burner on mine, what I am doing is keeping the hood propped up when baking and sliding the stone forward so the gas hopefully flows from the rear to the front. The latest attempt did not have any aluminum foil underneath.  I might try adding that back.

I'll try with the bricks instead of the stone, and also a shorter preheat (colder stone temperature).    This is the current setup with a way-too-low ceiling. I want to try to keep the mass down if possible, for the shortest pre-heat times possible.

[carbon]

What I used to do with my gas and Weber charcoal grills were to elevate the pizza stone on firebricks high enough so the pizza sat very close to the top of the lid where the temps were highest.   I did not use any thermal mass above the pizza.

[norma427]

pcampbell,

I am just starting to play around with my BBQ oven, and I can’t really comment on how mine will work, until I do more tests.  Right now my hearth gets hotter and maybe I can try the aluminum foil under the firebricks to see if that helps.  Mine takes awhile to heat up.  I liked the results of yesterday, but don’t want my bottom crust any darker.  Do you always keep your lid open now, or is that just an experiment.   All these things are a lot to take into consideration.

Thanks for sharing your experiences,

Norma

Tampa,

Thanks for your ideas on the side plates.  That is also something I will have to try. 

Norma

carbon,

Your ideas are interesting, also.  What temperature was your stone when you baked your pizza.

This was my pie made in my BBQ grill, yesterday.

Norma