Little Black Egg

[R2-Bayou]

Nice call on the bbq mat. I did LBE pies on my brothers deck years ago and kept measuring the wood deck's temperature thinking, "wood can't combust yet!" ... Fired up the LBE myself for half a dozen pies tonight. Posted a pic in the central milling 00 section..

[R2-Bayou]

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=13473.msg257683.msg#257683

[robcurtis2]

UGH!  OK!  I gotta be easy on myself so for a first bake in this LBE at 600deg deck I cant complain.  You gotta remember that I aint got not lowered ceilin mod and no other mods in the lid.  I hope when I put some mods in will help.  Charing is tooooo much on the crust so need some even heat.  Ugh!  Just fer info, I used some 1.5 (could be up to 2.5 weeks but not sure) week cold ferment dough so just was to fill the hunger.  I am starting some starter so startn my hunt.   
Cheers fer now,
RC

[chaspie]

That's a good looking pie, in my opinion, RC.  I wouldn't put it in the "Ugh" category at all.  Good work there on your LBE, and congrats on your baking success. 

BTW, I notice you are only posting one photo per post, but you can actually post up to 8 images per post.  There's a "more attachments" link just below the Attach box.

[scott123]

Yup, that's not a bad looking pie for your first LBE outing. Any shots of the undercrust?

Hot air rises, but infrared radiation (a broiler) is line of sight.  I'm pretty sure you'll be okay with those tiles, but, bear in mind that tiles conduct heat. You might want to put something between the carpet and the tile.  Wood is good to 500 and an excellent insulator.  Cotton should take you up to 400.  I don't think you're going to go above 300 on the tiles.

[robcurtis2]

I will probably cut and put down a  a piece of plywood between the tiles and deck.  Thanks for the heads up.     I think I took one so I will post an under the skirt photo later.  Didnt get a crumb pic though.  Forgot. 

Im looking at the mods for the ceiling and air flow and dont want to use Aluminum due to ANY possiblility of melting, as we've seen, so im thinking Carbon steel or Stainless?  For the ones not using Aluminum, is that what yall are goin with? And any links for the best ceiling/airflow mods that you would use?
Thanks and Cheers fer now,
RC

[robcurtis2]

K so here is the under side......and sorry but I took leftovers to work and didnt have a crumb pic so remembered just as I was finishing the last piece.  Its not the same reheated in the microwave. I will be whippin up some dough fer round 2 bake this weekend.   
Cheers fer now,
RC

[pizzaneer]

I'll post a link from this very thread:
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4753.msg216708.html#msg216708

Boatman2's work is a great example of how to do the LBE mechanical setup right.  He drew from all current thinking when he built it.

[robcurtis2]

Well I tried another attempt without the mods just for fun.  I did raise the baking stone up toward the lid ceiling with 2" kiln stilts.  Ended up being 5.5 minute pies.....Not getn the tiny bubble charring Im looking for such as those pies such as JT, Mmmmph, and many others.  Altho still not what Im looking for with this experiment  twas still delish.   
Cheers fer now
RC

[toddster63]

Rob, those look great! Right on the money for me—I';; come chow down on those! Very, very nice rise on that crust.
Can't believe they cooked for over 5 minutes though! They would be black and incinerated in my LBE for that long...! What temp was your stone?

[robcurtis2]

Rob, those look great! Right on the money for me—I';; come chow down on those! Very, very nice rise on that crust.
Can't believe they cooked for over 5 minutes though! They would be black and incinerated in my LBE for that long...! What temp was your stone?

 

Thanks Toddster.  Yip!  5.5min.  Stone measured 600deg when I put the first one in...I baked another 2 tonight but reduced the amount of time between when I took out of the fridge and bake and Im starting to get what I picture.  Again not there yet. I wanna git away for the larger bubbles.  I like the lighter one with the small bubble charring....2nd pic down..Hmmmm!

[Serpentelli]

UGH!  OK!  I gotta be easy on myself so for a first bake in this LBE at 600deg deck I cant complain.  You gotta remember that I aint got not lowered ceilin mod and no other mods in the lid.  I hope when I put some mods in will help.  Charing is tooooo much on the crust so need some even heat.  Ugh!  Just fer info, I used some 1.5 (could be up to 2.5 weeks but not sure) week cold ferment dough so just was to fill the hunger.  I am starting some starter so startn my hunt.   
Cheers fer now,
RC

I think that pie looks good and definitely NOT too charred! Keep up the good work and keep th epics coming!

John K

[toddster63]

 

...I like the lighter one with the small bubble charring....2nd pic down..Hmmmm!

I agree with the favored smalled charred bubbles! Looks fan-TASTC! Those bubbles have been my favorite and is a hallmark to me of a good dough batch and rising time...

[chaspie]

I finished my basic LBE build.  Based on results, I need some air-flow mods to further tune it.  All the same, my first bake on it came out pretty good. 

I didn't do anything new or innovative, just followed in the footsteps of numerous others in this thread.  I used my 22 inch Weber for the build.  I cut out an 11.5 inch diameter hole in the bottom.  The side opening is 10.75 x 2.25 inches, and not the smoothest cutting job I've ever done.   

I drilled holes in the sides about 1.75 inches down from the rim and hammered in a couple of pieces of 1/2 inch rebar.  On top of that I put a 19 inch diameter sheet of 1/4 inch thick steel that a local metal shop cut for me.  Then the charcoal grate for an air spacer, and a cheap 15 inch diameter pizza stone on top of that.  I'll replace that stone with a thicker and larger diameter piece of cordierite (kiln shelf) eventually. 

I attached a 16 inch steel pizza pan plus the inverted ash pan into the dome with three stainless steel bolts (2 inch x #8). 

The last picture is the LBE sitting on top of my brew stand.  It's fired by a 23 jet natural gas burner fed by a 1/2 inch line.   On the first trial firing, it hit 610°F in 20 minutes with the gas supply at about 2/3rds open.  On the second firing, it hit 650°F at 20 minutes. 

[chaspie]

My first two pies came out pretty good, but there is room for improvement. 

The first one was 4.5 minutes with a stone temp of 650°F in the center of the stone.  I turned it twice during the bake, but I waited too long for the first turn.  The edges on the back side where all the heat comes up got pretty badly burnt.  I had left the gas on at the same setting that I used to heat up the oven.   I think my results show it should be backed off a bit during the bake.

In an attempt to avoid excessive charring, I started the second pie with a stone temp of 610°F.  I also backed off the gas to half throttle right after I loaded the pie.  The bake took 5.5 minutes.  The edges look much better, but if you look carefully, you can see a blob of totally raw sausage right in the middle of the pie.  All of the sausage blobs near the perimeter of the pie cooked fully, but the ones nearest the center did not. 

Clearly I need some air flow mods to direct more hot air and heat down onto the center of the pie.  Ultimately, I'd like to get my bake times down to sub 3 minutes without burning, but I'll be happy if I can get the time down to around 4.

[robcurtis2]

My first two pies came out pretty good, but there is room for improvement. 

The first one was 4.5 minutes with a stone temp of 650°F in the center of the stone.  I turned it twice during the bake, but I waited too long for the first turn.  The edges on the back side where all the heat comes up got pretty badly burnt.  I had left the gas on at the same setting that I used to heat up the oven.   I think my results show it should be backed off a bit during the bake.

In an attempt to avoid excessive charring, I started the second pie with a stone temp of 610°F.  I also backed off the gas to half throttle right after I loaded the pie.  The bake took 5.5 minutes.  The edges look much better, but if you look carefully, you can see a blob of totally raw sausage right in the middle of the pie.  All of the sausage blobs near the perimeter of the pie cooked fully, but the ones nearest the center did not. 

Clearly I need some air flow mods to direct more hot air and heat down onto the center of the pie.  Ultimately, I'd like to get my bake times down to sub 3 minutes without burning, but I'll be happy if I can get the time down to around 4.

NICE! Pies    I am always concerned with raw stuff so I always like to cook things like sausage before I put on and bake the pies.

Looks like we are both newbies to these LBEs.  Hope you're havn as much.  Im also trying to get to the 3 minute mark but currently at 5.5 minutes.  It was suggested to start at lower temps then as we get to know our LBE(I think resulting with us finally naming them.  Ha!) then we can start to raise the temps.  The pies currently being turn out, if not burned or are not what we picture we want to eventually create....they are still delish.   
Cheers fer now.
RC

[chaspie]

Thanks RC.  Yep, it is fun alright.  I'll give it another go this coming weekend after I fashion some sort of air dam in the lid.  I agree that a bake in the 5 minute range will help to build familiarity and experience with minimal risk (to the pie).    

Raw sausage hasn't been a problem for me in my regular indoor gas oven.  The heat is evenly distributed throughout the stone and the air in the oven, and I turn on the gas broiler flame above the pie about halfway through the bake.  The LBE is a totally different animal though, so I'm going to keep raw sausage away from the center of the pie until I can manage a more uniform bake.

[robcurtis2]

Oh My!  We're gitn thar with shaping and timing with the pies.  Delish crumb but need consistency. 
Cheers fer now,
RC