Dough stickage and burning on new corderite decks...

[perezoso]

I just made another attempt to cook without screens... aggressively rotating the pies (at 90 sec and 2.5 minutes) worked well for the first two... but it was the same old story by the third. Despite desperate rotating around 2.5 min, I couldn't get the top to fully cook before the bottom fried.  This is with the oven on 400.

I'm still of the theory, which Bob's info seems to support, that when I open the oven - especially with that small cavity - that the thermostat is jacking the elements because the air temperature drops. With two of the three elements right below the decks, I suspect that this is causing the cordierite to rise to temperatures way beyond the temperature that the oven is set to.

In the meantime I've ordered an IR thermometer and am about to try an improvised screen with my last two doughs... I'm 2 hours away from anywhere I can buy a screen... after this it's going to be next weekend before I can come back to the problem.  But then I'll have proper screens and the thermometer.

[buceriasdon]

Sounds like a good plan. Knowing what your oven is really doing will be very helpful in solving the problem.
Don

[Bob1]

perezoso,

I have a Bakers pride similar to yours and had the same problem. God forbid you spill sauce or cheese on the stone.  The whole house will be filled with dense smoke.  The stones are too conductive and become closer to coil temp than desired oven temp when they cycle.  I ordered a stone kit from fibraMent that they sell for the Bakers pride.  I got two 17" x 17" x 1/2" stones for about $80.  I just lay the fibraMent on top of the existing stone and have never had an issue after that, with the exception of having to rotate.  I only use it for 600 deg+.  Because of the extra mass it does take longer to heat up.

Good luck,

Bob

[perezoso]

Bob -

That's really interesting to hear.  It's great that you were able to solve it fairly easily and affordably.

My only worry relates to my own limitations. If I add another half inch to the deck height, my clearance will be reduced to 2.5 inches, and that means my peel skills are going to be sorely tested.  I already toss the odd onion or olive to the back of the oven. 

Then again, maybe I can get away with using more semolina "grease" if I'm not trying to place a pizza on a overly conductive deck.