Steel or stone for WFO?

[awittyusername]

Hi all, first actual post since the intro

So I'm one of a wave of people that have no doubt bought portable WFOs off the back of lockdown since we can't get out to restaurants and just because, well, I wanted one dammit!

Mine arrived over 2 weeks after ordering with a broken 1cm stone After much to-ing and fro-ing with Amazon, I'm finally getting a replacement delivered - it's slightly too big for the oven though.

My first question on this point is how does one cut cordierite without breaking it? The second is, the old one had a 1cm gap around it to the inside wall of the oven and was raised 1cm from the base by standoffs. Was this for convection purposes or should I just get the new stone cut to fill it and make biggers pizzas?

My next bit and onto the title of the thread is this. In between trying to sort a replacement with Amazon, I got concerned that it was not going to end well for me so I started to look at replacing at personal expense. That's when I stumbled upon pizza steels, the ones I liked were 0.6mm or 0.8mm thickness. I mentioned this to my father who I'd completely forgotten worked for a steel plant so he's getting me one. So, now I have a new 1.5mm stone coming and a 0.6mm steel, which will perform best in a oven capable of getting to 400^oC (~750^oF)?

My thinking is that if the steel does the job, I can sell the stone or keep it for big pizzas on the BBQ. However, if stone is better then I can use that in the WFO and keep the steel as a hot plate for the BBQ.

Thanks in advance!

[Pizza_Not_War]

The general consensus seems to be that steel is too conductive for the task and will burn the bottom before top is done. No personal experience with the steel other than the home oven which works great.

[texmex]

You can cut cordierite with a tile wet-saw. 

Are you saying your stone had risers for an airgap?  if so, then use a couple pieces of that broken stone to raise the new stone.

[awittyusername]

The general consensus seems to be that steel is too conductive for the task and will burn the bottom before top is done. No personal experience with the steel other than the home oven which works great.

Hmmm, that's too bad. I mean, I could try cooking at a lower temperature by using less fuel but I was hoping it would be a straight swap but apparently not. It may well be destined for the grill after all! Thanks for the input though!

You can cut cordierite with a tile wet-saw. 

Are you saying your stone had risers for an airgap?  if so, then use a couple pieces of that broken stone to raise the new stone.

My father-in-law is in the building trade so he might be able to get access to one of those, was looking to give him a steer when I tasked him with it 

And the base of the oven has risers for an airgap, threaded standoffs with broad head screws in to raise and lower the stone as required I guess - the instructions were vague. I'm more wondering if the gap round the sides is needed. I can't imagine why it would matter and was probably just what they found cheapest when speccing parts and generating the BOM.

[eozen81]

I wonder also if pizza sheet (with holes) or stone give better results in the same oven? 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BGKF8WZ/?tag=pmak-20

[awittyusername]

Well, I'm happy to report that my pizza steel makes as good if not better pizzas than the stone base! I don't understand the reasoning or science behind it, but for the thickness of dough and quantity of toppings that I've been using, I've had a better rise and more uniform bake than with the stone and I don't need to pay too much heed to the temperature.

I'm still so unbelievably inexperienced though, which would probably explain why I can't perceive a difference. I imagine I'd do just as well with a floor tile!

[Pizzaonmymind]

Did you check the steel temperature before you put the pizza on it ?