Author Topic: Reverse engineered coal fired brick oven (Read 165289 times)

2stone · « **on:** September 12, 2007, 10:29:53 AM »

Hi

About two weeks ago I stumbled onto this forum from the Slice site. I was intrigued by the reverse engineering that many of you are doing. If you had all the resources in the world you would buy all the right equipment, $25,000.00 ovens etc. etc. (and of course the dough, the toppings and the process is another story.) But the reverse engineering you are talking about is getting the same high quality authenticity with the means available to a common person who doesn't want to or can't afford all the fancy equipment.
   I got the authentic pizza bug many years ago when my dad would bring home Neapolitan or New York style pizza from an Italian pizzeria in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (I believe the Italians occupied Ethiopia for a while) That pizza with its simple tomato sauce / mozzarella / Basel toppings along with a perfectly charred crust became my bench mark, ”The Holy Grail” of pizza if you will.
   I have a small metal working shop and 5-6 years ago I decided to make a makeshift wood fired oven / grill using steel and bricks to see if I could recapture that elusive pizza. Since I am not a baker I decided to get my pizza from the local Italian Pizzeria raw and bake it myself in my own high temp oven. They would put it on a screen for me and I would rush it home and bake it. It was the best pizza I had had in a long time (much better than when they baked it themselves.) Along the way, I was ordering so many raw pizzas that I decided to try to figure out how to make the pizza myself. (still trying) My oven was temperamental and sometimes took a long time to heat up. The Baking was erratic, from raw to burnt to a crisp. I couldn't afford one of those fancy wood fired ovens, so that is where my journey to design an affordable oven that would reproduce authentic results began.
   To make a long story short, I have never prototyped something so many times, in so many ways, in my life. Until about eight weeks ago, all I had to show for all my hard work was piles of scrap material. In my case it has been 99.9 % sweat.
   I am now happy to tell you that I have finally achieved my goal of creating an inexpensive, small, outdoor coal / gas fired open flame oven that produces fantastic result on par with the expensive brick ovens.
   I am not in production yet so if you are willing to bend your spam rules a little. I will be happy to give this forum a sneak peak of my preproduction oven

below are some pics of pizzas done in the oven

canadianbacon · « **Reply #1 on:** September 12, 2007, 10:40:07 AM »

Welcome to the group !

I'm sure many members will be happy to see your new oven and chat with you, this is what the
forum is all about, chatting about pizza, and everyone is very welcome.

Quote from: 2stone on September 12, 2007, 10:29:53 AM

I am not in production yet so if you are willing to bend your spam rules a little. I will be happy to give this forum a sneak peak of my preproduction oven

below are some pics of pizzas done in the oven

Flagpull · « **Reply #2 on:** September 12, 2007, 10:56:39 AM »

Indeed. Those pizzas look wonderful, do show your oven!

2stone · « **Reply #3 on:** September 12, 2007, 05:21:22 PM »

thanks for the interest

here are some points I tried to achieve
along with some pictures

1.   Quick fire up time.
2.   For use with charcoal or gas.
3.   High temperature in close proximity to the open flame.
4.   Open door baking for maximum control.
5.   Rotating mechanism for even baking.
6.   A draft type heat that sucks the hot air in through the back and expels it through
the front opening.
7.   A top surface suitable for placing finished pizzas or to preheat pizza and toppings.
8.   Light weight construction for maximum portability.
9.   Low cost.
10.   Especially designed to fit the Iconic Webber 22 ½“kettle grill.
11.   Designed to most closely duplicate an authentic wood fired hearth oven.

I will try to answere any questions you might have

klown · « **Reply #4 on:** September 12, 2007, 06:13:47 PM »

Nice!! Very impressive!! How hot can you get that stone on a weber kettle using good lump charcoal?

2stone · « **Reply #5 on:** September 12, 2007, 06:28:33 PM »

thanks,

I have had it up to 750 in the front so the back must be at least 100 hotter.
I think lump coal burns at around 1200 so it depends on how much charcoal
you want to put in. I can usually get a good firing from $1.50 worth of lump coal
and that will do 3 pies

willard

Flagpull · « **Reply #6 on:** September 12, 2007, 06:44:45 PM »

Wow.

Very...very...very nice.

I want one.

Though, I am confused as how the pizza actually gets on to the stone? Is the bottom stone seperate from the rest of the device?

2stone · « **Reply #7 on:** September 12, 2007, 07:08:35 PM »

thanks,

you slide the pie in the door with a peel ( I learned from this forum that a wooden peel
holds the flower better and I can now do it without cornmeal or semolina) and take it out with a aluminum peel. its easy once you get the hang
of it.

I just made this pie 20 min ago

willard

Flagpull · « **Reply #8 on:** September 12, 2007, 07:18:09 PM »

Beautiful, really beautiful.

It just looked like a small amount of cleareance to get the pie in, but I see a little better now.

Im excited.

2stone · « **Reply #9 on:** September 12, 2007, 07:35:59 PM »

thanks,

Yeah, its a little tight, but thats how you get an even bake on the top and the bottom
between the two stones.

willard

sourdough girl · « **Reply #10 on:** September 12, 2007, 07:59:00 PM »

willard,
Welcome and thanks for the great pics!

I have a 22 1/2" Weber, so you really got my attention! I have a few questions, too...

I'm guessing that your oven makes about a 9" pie? And, you mentioned a rotating mechanism... so does the bottom stone spin?
Also, are you baking those pies with the webber lid closed? In one pic, it appears that you have it propped open, but that could be just for pie-in, pie-out.
Sure is a nice-looking unit... and NICE pies!

Thanks in advance!
~sd

canadianbacon · « **Reply #11 on:** September 12, 2007, 08:07:28 PM »

Hi Willard,

I'm really glad you posted your images. This is a really beautiful pizza oven you built there,
and looks like it could be a fun project.

Where did you get the little metal "stand, and the chromed top there ?

I guess if somebody wanted to build that, the stand would be a must.

Glad you dropped by, and again, welcome to the group

2stone · « **Reply #12 on:** September 12, 2007, 08:27:01 PM »

thanks so much,

reply to sourdough girl

I have a 22 1/2" Weber, so you really got my attention! I have a few questions, too...

I'm guessing that your oven makes about a 9" pie? And, you mentioned a rotating mechanism... so does the bottom stone spin?
Also, are you baking those pies with the webber lid closed? In one pic, it appears that you have it propped open, but that could be just for pie-in, pie-out.
Sure is a nice-looking unit... and NICE pies!

Yes I chose the webber kettle grill because it is an incredible grill for the money! and it happens to be the first grill my wife and I bought 20 some years ago.

You can do a 12 inch pie but usually mine are about 10-11 inches. yest the bottom hearth stone spins like a lazy susan so you can rotate it while it is baking.

No on the Webber you do it with no lid or half open as pictured. When you flip open the two half moons on the grill the lid catches on the grill handle and stays open half open. This is the optimal way to bake because it catches the air comming out of the oven and puts it on top helping to hold the heat longer. Its odd but the Webber bakes hotter with the lid half open.

by the way I have some sourdough questions for you I seem to remember you had a thread on capturing wild yeast somewhere I will thy to find it and ask you

thanks,
Willard

abatardi · « **Reply #13 on:** September 12, 2007, 08:33:46 PM »

The anti-spam rule he was referring to was for posting links, not pictures. Here is the link to the site:

http://www.2stonepizzagrill.com/

- aba

2stone · « **Reply #14 on:** September 12, 2007, 08:47:07 PM »

Thanks,

reply to canadianbacon

Where did you get the little metal "stand, and the chromed top there ?

I guess if somebody wanted to build that, the stand would be a must.

As I stated I have a metal fabricating shop and all the steel and aluminum parts are fabricated in our shop.
I am fabricating a decent size run to keep the price down shortly.

regards,

Willard

sourdough girl · « **Reply #15 on:** September 12, 2007, 09:46:41 PM »

Willard,
Thanks for the enlightenment... I wasn't aware that I could stand the lid up like that! I'll have to go play with my little half-moons and see what I can do with my pizzas on the grill!

The thread you are after is this one:
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5352.msg45267.html#msg45267
and I will be happy to chat with you about wild yeast!

~sd

klown · « **Reply #16 on:** September 12, 2007, 11:02:58 PM »

I still thoroughly impressed by this, excellent job you did. Do you have a ballpark price for this? Also do you have a time frame for when this will be available? Oh yeah, welcome to the forum, I'm new here there is a lot of wisdom in this forum it's absolutely great!

Villa Roma · « **Reply #17 on:** September 13, 2007, 12:48:32 AM »

Welcome Willard.....Those are some of the best looking pizzas I've seen, nice work! How long did they take to cook? Also have you tried using regular firewood? I've used apple wood and it burns really hot and would be less expensive than the lump charcoal.

Villa Roma

canadianbacon · « **Reply #18 on:** September 13, 2007, 08:25:47 AM »

hey, maybe there will be a special deal for pizzamaking.com members

I love the concept, it looks clean looking, and very easy to maintain, and could be a very
big seller. I see you have patent pending, that's very smart in this day and age.

Quote from: klown on September 12, 2007, 11:02:58 PM

I still thoroughly impressed by this, excellent job you did. Do you have a ballpark price for this? Also do you have a time frame for when this will be available? Oh yeah, welcome to the forum, I'm new here there is a lot of wisdom in this forum it's absolutely great!

2stone · « **Reply #19 on:** September 13, 2007, 10:19:37 AM »

Quote from: klown on September 12, 2007, 11:02:58 PM

I still thoroughly impressed by this, excellent job you did. Do you have a ballpark price for this? Also do you have a time frame for when this will be available? Oh yeah, welcome to the forum, I'm new here there is a lot of wisdom in this forum it's absolutely great!

I was hoping to keep it under $200 unfortunately I am going to incur tooling costs associated with the steel platter that holds the bottom stone. I need a special shape so the temperature on the bottom doesn't exceed the top too much, it will be under $250
Yes there is allot of wisdom here, Great place to learn.

thanks
willard