trick your oven to higher temps

[communist]

I really enjoy this forum, and now am logged in.  It has helped me in my pursuit of the New York pizza.  I went to John's in New York City years ago, and would like to return again.  With ideas from this forum, I tweaked my cheap Kenmore electric oven by placing a folded magic cake strip ( for baking level cakes ) around the thermostat probe.  I think I got around 650 to 675 in the oven, and had my Pizza Gourmet Stone bought 20 years ago pre-heated for over an hour.  Anybody else have one of these stones? Lehman dough from All Trumps.  Wow.  Great crust with some char, homemade sauce from Wegmans San Marzanos , and Grande whole milk mozzarella.  Family loved the pizza.  I think my thin crust had a thickness factor of .08 or .O9.  Anybody been to John's lately and have some tips?

[artellan]

I wonder if just putting a pan of water on the top rack of my oven, directly beneath the temperature probe, might fool it into higher temps?  The water might act like a local heat sink?

Not sure how long it would last before boiling off, but I could always add more water prior to adding a pizza. Although I'd prefer not to be touching it while the oven is on actually, for the risk of cracking the door glass from a spilled drop or two.

I know that when I bake bread and a have a steam pan in the bottom rack, a loaf baked directly above the steam pan will not bake as fast. Not sure if this would translate to the temp probe giving a lower reading though.

Maybe I'll try it next time I bake...

Cheers
Mike

[matermark]

I haven't done any tweaks yet. I have a 2-year old Frigidaire gas oven with convection. I have a rectangular stone that I used on the bottom of the 3 racks but have since moved it to the oven floor instead. Using a Harbor Freight Laser digital thermal gun, after about 30 minutes of preheating at 550, the gun consistently registers 570-590 on much of the stone and as high as 770  on many spots of the oven floor.

I have noticed when I turn the Convection on that the toppings go into a "molten" state--that is, they start bubbling like a molten pot brewing on the fire. A loaded pizza usually takes around 5 minutes.

"Baking" with the convection lowers the temp 25 degrees because of it's efficiency (set the digital touchpad to 550 and it says/runs 525) but "roasting" with the convection feature turns on the upper heater and the convection fan at the actual temp you key in. So the highest I can get without any mods is 550 convection "roasting." I will play around and try it different ways and take temp readings when I get a chance.

[scott r]

  Anybody been to John's lately and have some tips?

Yes, make sure to use a decent amount of sauce.    Also I believe Johns was one of the first east coast pizzerias to switch over to giusto's flour, although you might still prefer all trumps if it is the bromated variety.   

Good luck!   

[apizza]

Kind of a trick. We replaced our 1969 stove a while back. It's matching refer was dead, but I moved the stove to the basement. I defeated the lock by tyeing off a switch. To me it's a pain to heat in the clean cycle because the heat is top element only. Always have to be watching. Finally my old brain remembered a calibrate adjustment under the oven control. One is for clean, one for bake.

I ran a test on the bake. It's a multi turn adjustment. Long story short, with 1 1/2 turns I was able to easily get my stone to 700 deg by setting the temp dial to about 400 deg. Bottom element only and thermostat control. What a joy not to have to worry about burning the house down while I converse upstairs. It's all labeled in case I fall down the stairs carrying a pizza.

[communist]

Thanks Scott!  Do you think their sauce was cooked at all?  Mark

[scott r]

No, I believe 99% of pizzerias do not cook their sauce.   

[Tampa]

Tannerwooden - I love the TurboSwitch idea.  Thanks for sharing.
Dave

[Tannerwooden]

Thanks Tampa, but I think props go to Dimarem (http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,8730.0.html)

I can't be sure, but I believe he is the first to post an oven mod like the Turbo Switch (c).  LOL, I guess I'll have to pay him a shilling every time I use the term, Turbo Switch (c).

[dimarem]

Thanks guys -
been sleeping for a (long) while. Just make sure you put the resistor in parallel with the temperature sensor. If it is used alone, the oven will never know when to turn off. The dynamic resistance characteristics of the sensor allow the control circuitry to recognize that it has kept the elements on long enough. The switch is also cool, so you can have a normal oven f you need it.