Author Topic: Little Black Egg (Read 267123 times)

xxxtracheese · « **Reply #1780 on:** September 08, 2012, 11:54:55 AM »

I have been reading this forum for over a year and I love it. My quest to make amazing pizza at home brought me here and things I have learned from all of you (along with loads of trial and error) have allowed me to achieve that goal!

My LBE started out as a 18.5" one touch gold. For my burner I went to Harbor Freight and bought a $13.99 500,000 btu weed burner. I removed the bottom vent assembly and cut a 4" hole in the bottom of the kettle,just a little bigger than the diameter of the weed burner. I made a metal L bracket to fasten the burner in position just inside the cut-out. I made longer "legs" to raise the kettle height to accommodate the length of my burner.

I took a piece of 12"x12" 16 ga. sheet metal and cut a circle out of it. I pounded that circle into a shallow dome shape and made several U shaped cuts around the dome. It looks kinda like a flower lol. This is my deflector. I mounted it using the tabs inside the kettle that normally support the charcoal grate. I bent them upward drilled a hole in each one and used screws to attach my deflector. This puts the deflector about 4 inches above the burner.

I welded 4 V shaped supports around the top of the kettle to support my pizza stone. I use a round 15" stone that was made from a kiln shelf, I "plinked" at least 10 of those bad bath and beyond stones before I finally ponied up for a good one!

The lid. I cut a 10" x 2" opening just above the lip. I closed up the top vent and bolted a big chunk of Arizona flag stone up in the lid. I also put several large pieces of that stone onto the deflector.

That's pretty much it.

I don't know what kind of temps I am getting yet but the oven but it is ready to go about 5 minutes after I light it. I can cook a pizza in about 4 minutes.
As soon as i resize my photos i will post them!

Tampa · « **Reply #1781 on:** September 08, 2012, 12:26:08 PM »

xxx - I've had my eye on that weedburner for a long time now. Pls do post pictures of your setup and pie photos.

That BTU number is 10x the rating on some Turkey Fryers. I get the 5 minute warm up, but am a little surprised by the 4 minute cook time. Am I missing something?

Thanks for sharing.

Dave

pizzaneer · « **Reply #1782 on:** September 08, 2012, 02:11:52 PM »

Yeah, something sounds off. Do you have an IR gun? What's it read? Maybe it takes the stone longer than 5 minutes to fully heat up.

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #1783 on:** September 08, 2012, 02:17:24 PM »

He may only be trying to make a 4 min. type of pie.

pizzaneer · « **Reply #1784 on:** September 08, 2012, 03:07:27 PM »

Quote from: Chicago Bob on September 08, 2012, 02:17:24 PM

He may only be trying to make a 4 min. type of pie.

Maybe, but I doubt it... He must have had a reason to shove that weed burner up there. Took some effort.

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #1785 on:** September 08, 2012, 03:28:11 PM »

Quote from: pizzaneer on September 08, 2012, 03:07:27 PM

Maybe, but I doubt it... He must have had a reason to shove that weed burner up there. Took some effort.

Thought that too Brian but stranger things have happened (as you well know

) His "deflector sounds a 'lil suspect possibly though don't you think? (assuming he wants to go hotter)

pizzaneer · « **Reply #1786 on:** September 08, 2012, 04:36:48 PM »

Kind of sounds like its capping the flame. I'd have to see a picture of it and see the weed burner in action, both dismounted and held next to each other at the same relative height they are inside the kettle. Side by side, if thats not clear. I want to know how far the flame goes at his "normal use" setting.
It's a 500K flamethrower, so I think pretty far. My concern is that theres a lot of unburnt propane going into the chamber and only igniting when it hits the turbulence around the deflector. I don't think theres any possible way with the described setup that he's getting decent airflow because of the lack of bottom intake area. So you have some potential for an cascading explosive event, in effect turning the bottom kettle into a large bomb.

Theres a big difference between the burner for a weed burner and the burner for a propane cooker. The structure is different, for an obvious reason. For a cooker, you want to disperse the gas evenly, but for a weed burner, you want the central jet to shoot the gas as far as possible before it is ignited by the flames from the smaller jets.

xxxtracheese · « **Reply #1787 on:** September 09, 2012, 03:51:18 PM »

I should have known better than to post heat-up and cook times that were not exact,for that I apologize,next pizza night I will use a timer. My IR thermometer goes from the mid 400's then just reads "Hi" I need a better one or actually one made for this. The one I have has never failed to give me accurate head temps on my r/c heli moments before I crash it.

The weed burner is most definitely different than a cooking burner I agree with that! This thing can shoot a flame about 5' feet when you use the turbo handle. It is pretty loud and scary. In cooking mode you barely open the valve. The gas ignites right at the end of the burner,mounted or not. The way I have it mounted the end of the burner is just inside the bottom of the kettle (about 5" inches from the deflector). No unburned propane enters the kettle.

http://i48.tinypic.com/2ilzplt.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/jaf47d.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/348t1me.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/1zqbnno.jpg

Tampa · « **Reply #1788 on:** September 09, 2012, 04:59:38 PM »

xxx – Thanks for the pictures. I’m liking your handiwork on that kettle – esp the long legs and heat shield on the upper lid. I also like the inside frame under that slab of cordierite, especially if it is rebar (can’t quite tell). Your shop/work area isn’t quite as messy as mine, but I won’t hold it against you.

I’ve seen the IR Thermometers on sale at harborfreight.com for $25 recently. Owning one would make your pizza life much easier (IMO).

A five foot flame? What’s not to like about that! I don’t know how you manage to evenly heat the stone, but maybe the diffuser does a good job.

The pizza pictures look good. The bottom crust looks like your stone temp is in the ballpark. The good news about that slab of stone is that once you get the stone temperature where you like it, the underside should be consistent and reproducible time after time.

Hopefully you live in the greater Chicago area, otherwise I think it is illegal to cut a good pie into squares and rectangles.

If you get more results, pls share.

Dave

xxxtracheese · « **Reply #1789 on:** September 10, 2012, 10:30:23 AM »

Thank you very much for the kind words, Tampa. I actually live in SoCal. Apparently I am incapable of making a round pizza so the pieces tend to be random lol. My diffuser does great after all the tweaking done to it. Cranking up the heat really does the trick too.

here is the frankenfuser http://i46.tinypic.com/29ftklc.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/2ueka37.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/2mczjvk.jpg

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #1790 on:** September 10, 2012, 10:48:06 AM »

Triple X,
Any chance you could put up a video of your rig in action? This is a new addition/technique heat source on this thread and I'm sure there are many who would like to see just how your flame acts on this sweet 'lil unit. Thanks.

pizzaneer · « **Reply #1791 on:** September 10, 2012, 10:58:42 AM »

3xC, I likey.

Looks (a) effin NUTS
and (b) way cool metalwork

You've taken this concept to another plateau. I take back my doubts about your air intake, looks like you have plenty of incoming air to get the furnace roaring. How do you light this thing?

PLEASE post a video! Get a friend to do the recording as you light it and turn it up. I've got to see this in action!

enchant · « **Reply #1792 on:** September 11, 2012, 09:42:05 AM »

Can someone post a link to that Harbor Freight weed burner? I can't find it.

Tampa · « **Reply #1793 on:** September 11, 2012, 11:55:54 AM »

Here's the HF torch link: http://www.harborfreight.com/propane-torch-91033.html (on sale for $19).

You've got to see the video w/ Pat! At the midpoint, I thought they cutaway to an Apollo liftoff. A good diffuser may be a good idea.

dave

enchant · « **Reply #1794 on:** September 12, 2012, 04:03:26 PM »

Thanks, Dave!

kickz28 · « **Reply #1795 on:** September 18, 2012, 07:11:33 PM »

Hey guys,

I just fired up my new LBE for the first time tonight. Let me know what you think of my first pizzas! I know these things take practice, but I'm pretty damn satisfies with my results on the first try.

Complete album: http://imgur.com/a/tCcwy

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #1796 on:** September 18, 2012, 08:01:13 PM »

Heck yeah man....those look fantastic! You look like an old pro on just your first time out. Please keep 'em coming and good luck.

MrP · « **Reply #1797 on:** September 18, 2012, 08:02:28 PM »

Nice job. I like the red burner. How long is your cook time?

kickz28 · « **Reply #1798 on:** September 18, 2012, 08:19:01 PM »

Quote from: MrP on September 18, 2012, 08:02:28 PM

Nice job. I like the red burner. How long is your cook time?

I was worried that the square red burner wouldn't work. I think it's 65,000 btu. I already had it for brewing though so I figured I would try it. Works fine.

I didn't have my watch for the first pizza, so I counted in my head. Second and third pizzas were pretty much exactly 2 minutes. First and second pizzas I turned once after about 1 minute, 3rd one I turned twice.

FacciaPizza · « **Reply #1799 on:** September 19, 2012, 07:46:54 PM »

Kick, Very nice looking pies. What is mounted on the lid?