Author Topic: Little Black Egg (Read 268148 times)

Boatman2 · « **Reply #1800 on:** September 21, 2012, 11:29:29 PM »

Villa Roma... I'm new here, but i would to know how you cut the stone.

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #1801 on:** September 22, 2012, 09:24:01 AM »

Put a $5 diamond tip cutting wheel on one of these....very handy for many things. Harbor Freight, $20.00

Boatman2 · « **Reply #1802 on:** September 22, 2012, 08:00:51 PM »

Thank you, I already have the grinder.

kickz28 · « **Reply #1803 on:** September 23, 2012, 06:27:39 PM »

Quote from: FacciaPizza on September 19, 2012, 07:46:54 PM

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

I copied Jackie Tran's design. So the ash catcher in the middle and a deflector on the side opposite to the vent hole.

zaafreak · « **Reply #1804 on:** September 27, 2012, 10:40:59 AM »

Would it be feasible to insulate a LBE so that Neapolitan temps and times could be achieved? I'm thinking that a 22" Weber could be insulated by placing perlite or ceramic blanket insulation between an inner liner fabricated from sheet metal.

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #1805 on:** September 27, 2012, 10:53:17 AM »

Search "Frankenweber", a sheet metal liner won't hold the mass you're looking for...Franken uses castable refractory cement. You can get close with ceramic blankets...see TXCraig's grill mods.

Kast~O~LITE© is a castable refractory cement manufactured by A.P. Green / Harbison-Walker. It is used as the insulation material in foundry furnaces and forges. Its maximum temperature is 2600 Degree Fahrenheit . You'll need 86 lbs of material per cubic foot, not counting mixing losses.

Refractory cement is unlike regular cement in that regular cement has water bound up in the compound. Heating regular cement will cause the water to flash to steam and destroy the structure. Refractory cement allows the water to be driven off during curing and in the initial heating. Refractory cement has elements that trap many microscopic air pockets in the mix that provide a high degree of insulation.

kickz28 · « **Reply #1806 on:** October 02, 2012, 07:40:38 PM »

Second attempt:

http://imgur.com/a/FZRGr

I altered the recipe for these. No sugar or oil in the dough, just
flour water yeast and salt. They were delicious.

Burn my finger a little bit, gotta be careful with this 700-800 degree oven!

matheus · « **Reply #1807 on:** October 10, 2012, 11:33:55 AM »

I'm getting ready to assemble my LBE after reading all 91 pages of this thread. I'll be using mine on my wood deck. Any good ideas on what to put beneath the burner to protect the wood? Is anything necessary?

pizzaneer · « **Reply #1808 on:** October 10, 2012, 12:32:53 PM »

If you've really read through this thread (wow!) then you know how important it is to have plenty of top vent. As long as you have LOTS of air moving up through the oven, you will not see much heat coming back down. If, on the other hand, you stifle the firing chamber by not giving it intake or exit space, you could be looking at a potential explosion.

See this thread for more safety discussion: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,16863.msg211619.html#msg211619

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #1809 on:** October 10, 2012, 01:02:03 PM »

Quote from: kickz28 on October 02, 2012, 07:40:38 PM

Second attempt:

http://imgur.com/a/FZRGr

I altered the recipe for these. No sugar or oil in the dough, just
flour water yeast and salt. They were delicious.

Burn my finger a little bit, gotta be careful with this 700-800 degree oven!

Joey,
For just a second attempt you have done amazing progress. Those pies look awesome man..good job!
Would like to file your dough recipe if you would please post it...thanks.

Trestrey · « **Reply #1810 on:** October 10, 2012, 01:36:39 PM »

Hi folks,
I have read through this ENTIRE thread, and am in the process of building an 18.5" LBE. Thanks Villa! While I have been able to arrive at most of my design choices by reading previous posts, I guess I still have two questions to clear up. These have probably been covered at some point, but I skimmed a bit when topics like Brian May came up; )

1. Where is optimum placement of the lid side-vent, relative to the existing Weber factory lid-vent? Should I cut the side-vent so it is on the lid-edge closest to the factory vent, to pull all oven air to the same side of the lid? Or, cut the lid side-vent on the opposite side from the Weber factory lid-vent to potentially allow for some adjustment of air running over the kiln shelf, if the top is getting too much heat. From everything I have gathered, adequate top-heat is the name of the game with the LBE, so I don't anticipate this being an issue, but "dialability" in a design is always nice to have. Either way, I want to preserve the ability to use the Weber factory lid-vent in my design.

2. While aluminum foil seems to do a good job of heat reflection, I have been considering the idea of lining the egg with aluminum flashing, or possiblly copper flashing. I have access to a MIG welder, and like the idea of tack-welding in thicker guage aluminum/copper flashing instead of using foil. It would look cleaner, as foil wouldn't overlap onto the outside the of the oven, and the thicker guage metal would probably last longer. I am also attracted to the idea of opening the LBE and seeing it lined with copper, partly for asthetics, but also for it's metal properties. If I went this route, I would also fashion an air deflector for the lid out of copper as well. Does this sound like a good idea? Can you think of any drawbacks with the idea or either metal, in particular? I am not on a super tight budget, everything has gone great so far, so at this point, I want my LBE to be a Ferrari. I am a believer in the conductive benefit of lining the inside with Aluminum or some other conductive surface liner, so I will be including this design feature either way.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks to all for your contributions to this thread. You have provided hours of incredibly inspiring reading. I can't wait to get cooking. I've felt handcuffed by my crappy kitchen oven for long enough!

Trestrey

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #1811 on:** October 10, 2012, 02:35:20 PM »

Quote from: Trestrey on October 10, 2012, 01:36:39 PM

Hi folks,
I have read through this ENTIRE thread, and am in the process of building an 18.5" LBE. Thanks Villa! While I have been able to arrive at most of my design choices by reading previous posts, I guess I still have two questions to clear up. These have probably been covered at some point, but I skimmed a bit when topics like Brian May came up; )

1. Where is optimum placement of the lid side-vent, relative to the existing Weber factory lid-vent? Should I cut the side-vent so it is on the lid-edge closest to the factory vent, to pull all oven air to the same side of the lid? Or, cut the lid side-vent on the opposite side from the Weber factory lid-vent to potentially allow for some adjustment of air running over the kiln shelf, if the top is getting too much heat. From everything I have gathered, adequate top-heat is the name of the game with the LBE, so I don't anticipate this being an issue, but "dialability" in a design is always nice to have. Either way, I want to preserve the ability to use the Weber factory lid-vent in my design.

2. While aluminum foil seems to do a good job of heat reflection, I have been considering the idea of lining the egg with aluminum flashing, or possiblly copper flashing. I have access to a MIG welder, and like the idea of tack-welding in thicker guage aluminum/copper flashing instead of using foil. It would look cleaner, as foil wouldn't overlap onto the outside the of the oven, and the thicker guage metal would probably last longer. I am also attracted to the idea of opening the LBE and seeing it lined with copper, partly for asthetics, but also for it's metal properties. If I went this route, I would also fashion an air deflector for the lid out of copper as well. Does this sound like a good idea? Can you think of any drawbacks with the idea or either metal, in particular? I am not on a super tight budget, everything has gone great so far, so at this point, I want my LBE to be a Ferrari. I am a believer in the conductive benefit of lining the inside with Aluminum or some other conductive surface liner, so I will be including this design feature either way.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks to all for your contributions to this thread. You have provided hours of incredibly inspiring reading. I can't wait to get cooking. I've felt handcuffed by my crappy kitchen oven for long enough!

Trestrey

1) Making your cut furthest away (opposite) the factory vent would mainain the most rigidity. But I doubt it really matters in this application.

2) You can't mig weld alum. to steel. You can mig copper but it's pricey and not for begginers;$pecial wire
and gas. You can braze copper but the silver alloy used in that process melts at around 1150 degrees.

Tampa · « **Reply #1812 on:** October 10, 2012, 02:46:47 PM »

Trestrey - I'm a big fan of prototyping first, eating a good pie, then welding (or whatever). I've fiddled with AL flashing quite a bit. It's cheap and available at home depot. I like rivets with flashing for prototyping. I'm not sure what other's have experienced, but for me, Aluminum melts at ~1200F and I can get there in locations near the infrared burner. So right now, I prefer thin sheet steel near the really hot stuff and am looking to source SS flashing.

Dave

Trestrey · « **Reply #1813 on:** October 10, 2012, 03:56:38 PM »

Hi Guys,
Thanks for the replies. I hear your point on the MIG welding. Tampa, I have a rivet gun. I might try to make a shell, riveting the pieces together to sit snug in the bottom. On the top, I would try the same thing, but secure it to the lid by screwing it under my center-mounted top stone. In my head, these shells would resemble one of those metal veggie steamers that you use in a pot on the stove...sans all the steamer holes. In the end, I might just use foil. Stay tuned. I'll post something when I'm done. Thanks again!

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #1814 on:** October 10, 2012, 04:03:46 PM »

I don't think that copper will stay pretty very long...

$$$$ up in smoke!!

Trestrey · « **Reply #1815 on:** October 11, 2012, 11:29:14 AM »

Yeah Bob,
I am pretty much ruling out the Copper at this point. Maybe a small piece for a hot air deflector attached to my lid stone.

Jim

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #1816 on:** October 11, 2012, 01:15:44 PM »

Quote from: Trestrey on October 11, 2012, 11:29:14 AM

Yeah Bob,
I am pretty much ruling out the Copper at this point. Maybe a small piece for a hot air deflector attached to my lid stone.

Jim

There ya go...or maybe a deflector riveted on the base protruding just above the bottom stone. Not sure what your setup is but on the rigs that use a cut out on the stone I'm picturing an airfoil coming out of the side of the base and formed/hovering over that cutout to move hot air over top of pizza. Picture a banana laid over the cutout on the stone....now hollow out the banana leaving just the top skin. Maybe I'm thinking crazy....or jus hungry for a banana.

pizzaneer · « **Reply #1817 on:** October 11, 2012, 03:26:12 PM »

I tried something like that Bob, but got near-instant char on the side of the skin closest to it. IMO, the hot air needs to go up to the dome and spread out as evenly as possible over the top of the pizza. A dome-within-a-dome kind of thing.

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #1818 on:** October 11, 2012, 04:00:49 PM »

Quote from: pizzaneer on October 11, 2012, 03:26:12 PM

I tried something like that Bob, but got near-instant char on the side of the skin closest to it. IMO, the hot air needs to go up to the dome and spread out as evenly as possible over the top of the pizza. A dome-within-a-dome kind of thing.

Yeah, that sounds about right...forgot we're work'in with a freak'in blast furnace here.....!!

Maybe on a lower temp Nearly - Pol...?

Boatman2 · « **Reply #1819 on:** October 12, 2012, 12:44:08 PM »

I want to thank everyone for the info on making a LBE. Made my first pizza's and they came out GREAT. I tried to post photo's, But I'm loss!!!