Hi!
Another LBE (blue in this case) has landed in Maryland! Not including propane, the out-of-pocket build cost is $8.75.
A neighbor was throwing out the weber platinum - it had been sitting unused for years after the side table got smashed. Yeah, I made a new deck for it. Purty, huh? Next mod for that will be work shelves that fold flat- something to hold toppings, dough and my all-important clamp-on work light. I HATE cooking in the dark.
I already had the Morone (with a name like this, it has to be smart, riiight?) turkey fryer since 2001, used it twice. 170K BTUS.
From a previous occupation, I had the 1/8" stainless steel sheets. I had been using them as impromptu baking "stones" in the oven. Didn't work too bad- with a layer of tile between them, they were ok, but still nowhere near as good as an actual stone. Maybe too thin to really get the heat retention in an oven that is needed. In an LBE, I think ("theorize" would be both more accurate & more pompous) that the continual rush of superheated air removes most of the need for heat retention, and changes it into a tricky problem of heat balancing and buffering. (me <= overthinker
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In the woods behind my property, I found this huge piece of... marble? Quartz? I'm not sure what it is. Some kind of countertop? Whatever it is, it was 28x16x1" until I cut it in half, to 16x14x1". One piece is in the kitchen oven now (made pizzas on it last night, works great) and the other is in the LBE. Don't even ask how I cut it. Me and my kid had to jump up and down on it to break it after the top scoring was done.
Some differences in my build compared to others (yes, I have read the entire 68 page thread
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1. My bottom opening is about 7.5" - because I wanted to retain the original legs that the ashcatcher mounts on, so I could install the burner inside the ashcatcher, or even use the grill as a charcoal grill if I want to.
2. You'll note my "side vent" is not really a side vent as such. It's the oven door, and is big enough to launch and unload pizzas through. I went by the WFO dome and door calculation to figure sizing. It is 16" by 4", but after figuring in the height of the pizza hearth, the target position is still optimal. Oh, and I retained the cutout piece and installed a handle and mounting clips so the opening can be closed if needed.
3. The deflector in the back channels the burn over the target. Its a steel piece I made originally for toasting bagels while camping. We'll have to see about the shape of it. May need some tweaking. I've got a lot more metal pieces just laying around, and hmm, theres also an old car next to the shed that is scrap...
4. The rotating target hearth. Stainless steel disc, 16" diameter. Sits up off the stone by 1/8". You would not believe how tough this stuff is. I cut the disc with a jigsaw and metal-cutting blades over a period of three days, then found I could not drill the center hole. Had to bang it out with a wire (masonry) nail and a hand sledge. That leaves a projection on the lower surface so it sits up off the stone. It doesn't have a screw in it yet, but once I find my masonry bits for the drill, that will change. Or I could just keep spinning the disc on the stone and let the jagged edges of the hole drill itself a rest spot. Right now it sits up about 1/8" off the stone, with occasional contact. With a post, I can change that, depending on bottom char. Originally I had planned to fabricate an underside shaft-mounted propeller that would be moved by the hot air coming up from the burner, that would spin the hearth disc without having to poke it. That plan ran into some snags (stainless is too frickin hard to work with). Maybe I could use an already- made propeller of some kind- just haven't run into one yet. The point was to get even edge char. With the top deflector, I think the side nearest the back vent is going to get cremated without constant movement. So I'll load the za, give the disc a spin and watch it like a hawk. Well, thats the plan anyway.
Now I just need some propane, possibly some lava rocks for diffusion and/or air direction. And I need to find a place nearby that will refill these %$#%!-ripoff Blue Rhino tanks.
(pics next post, with captions)
