Author Topic: Halo Pizza Oven (Read 10550 times)

jake14mw · « **Reply #40 on:** January 20, 2022, 06:21:51 PM »

Quote from: Bill/SFNM on January 20, 2022, 04:16:35 PM

In practice, it is easier to change the top heat than the bottom heat due to the thermal mass of the deck. If you overshoot the temp of the deck or let it cool too much between pizzas, it can take some time to get it back to the ideal temp. This is further complicated by the contribution of the side or overhead burner to the deck temp. In my experience with the Carbon oven with separate burners above and below the deck, I need to adjust the upper flame as follows: low setting while preheating, high setting while baking, low setting between pizzas. All of these small ovens probably will require some fiddling like this to get the best results.

Yes, that's my point, I think you need to able to control them separately like the Carbon does. How has the Carbon been for you? Would you recommend it?

Bill/SFNM · « **Reply #41 on:** January 20, 2022, 06:32:01 PM »

Quote from: jake14mw on January 20, 2022, 06:21:51 PM

Yes, that's my point, I think you need to able to control them separately like the Carbon does. How has the Carbon been for you? Would you recommend it?

Take a look at the Carbon threads to see the beautiful pizzas members like thezaman and jackie tran are able to turn out. I really enjoy mine and rarely fire up the WFO anymore. It isn't perfect - Carbon needs to upgrade the quality and location of the control valves. I'd like to think they are working on an improved model (I have no inside info on this), which I would buy in an instant. And their support is superb.

rascali · « **Reply #42 on:** January 29, 2022, 12:41:13 PM »

Quote from: jstabb on January 15, 2022, 07:34:46 PM

They finally released a demo video. I wish it was a real-time bake video, but it at least gives a better sense of the oven's operation than the teaser/marketing stuff they've released prior to this.

https://fb.watch/az81pKknux/
(facebook link)

Interesting tidbits in the comments alongside that video, especially that the owner of this company was the founder of Blackstone?

I'm reading a novel in that one factoid.

barryvabeach · « **Reply #43 on:** January 29, 2022, 03:42:20 PM »

I didn't see that comment, but may have missed it, it is certainly not a Blackstone. BTW, when I watched it again, it looks like that pie may be 10 or 11 inches. I did get an email from them saying that that mine is part of the first shipment, but they are now thinking 8 to 10 weeks from order date.

Bill/SFNM · « **Reply #44 on:** February 01, 2022, 10:23:23 AM »

Does the battery-powered turntable on this have an adjustable speed? And can it be manually rotated? In my Carbon, I've been using a Fiesoli stone on a Chau-inspired lazy Susan to manually rotate the stone. The Carbon cooks perfectly evenly side-to-side, so the turntable serves mostly to quickly spin the back of the pizza to the front so I can see its progress and quickly spin back around and position the pie so that the least-baked edge is in the back where the radiant heat is the hottest. Can I do this with the Halo?

donstavely · « **Reply #45 on:** February 01, 2022, 11:52:15 AM »

Quote from: TXCraig1 on January 20, 2022, 09:50:16 AM

No way that oven is anywhere near 900F. I'd say closer to 600F.

Craig, I see on their Facebook page and in one of the videos that it "preheats to 950* in 12 minutes". Some of their pizzas do look nicely leoparded. It is weird that they say "fully cook a 16” pizza in less than 5 minutes", which would be consistent your 600F guess. A demo video claimed to demonstrate a 3-minute pizza. At 950F they should be able to do a sub-2-minute Neapolitan, no?

If so, the single gas control is the only thing that makes it less than perfect for me. No more functional than my Koda 16 with the rotating stone hack. But at $100 less than the Koda, it is damn impressive! It would be my top pick if I didn't have a rig already.

Longs · « **Reply #46 on:** February 01, 2022, 01:21:43 PM »

This oven had got me interested but I can wait until some owner reviews get posted. I procrastinated too long on getting a Blackstone and next thing I knew they were no longer being made. I was hoping for someone else to make an even better version of the Blackstone but haven't noticed anything on the horizon. I am a bit surprised that Weber, Charbroil or some other grill manufacturers have not jumped on the pizza oven bandwagon.

I just recently swapped over from a pizza stone to a steel (NerdChef lighter weight one) and I am making some really good pizzas in my 550 deg home oven. But, I live in South Carolina and summers are too danged hot to be running a 550 deg oven so I want something to use outdoors to give my air conditioning system less of a workout. As it is now, I only make pizza at home for maybe 8 months out of the year when it is either cold outside or just warm enough to open windows when I use my home oven.

barryvabeach · « **Reply #47 on:** February 02, 2022, 07:23:04 AM »

Quote from: Bill/SFNM on February 01, 2022, 10:23:23 AM

Does the battery-powered turntable on this have an adjustable speed? And can it be manually rotated? In my Carbon, I've been using a Fiesoli stone on a Chau-inspired lazy Susan to manually rotate the stone. The Carbon cooks perfectly evenly side-to-side, so the turntable serves mostly to quickly spin the back of the pizza to the front so I can see its progress and quickly spin back around and position the pie so that the least-baked edge is in the back where the radiant heat is the hottest. Can I do this with the Halo?

Bill, I am pretty sure the speed is not adjustable, just an on off switch. The label on the switch is to indicate that it is the turntable, not the volume of the flame or the ignitor. In my BS, I have used different motors at different speeds, and have not noticed any difference. By spining, you get a very even heat distribution along the rim, regardless of speed.

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #48 on:** February 02, 2022, 09:11:10 AM »

Quote from: donstavely on February 01, 2022, 11:52:15 AM

Craig, I see on their Facebook page and in one of the videos that it "preheats to 950* in 12 minutes". Some of their pizzas do look nicely leoparded. It is weird that they say "fully cook a 16” pizza in less than 5 minutes", which would be consistent your 600F guess. A demo video claimed to demonstrate a 3-minute pizza. At 950F they should be able to do a sub-2-minute Neapolitan, no?

If so, the single gas control is the only thing that makes it less than perfect for me. No more functional than my Koda 16 with the rotating stone hack. But at $100 less than the Koda, it is damn impressive! It would be my top pick if I didn't have a rig already.

It's not just 950F that matters. It's also the design of the oven and where you measure the temp. You might not need 950F for NP with the right oven design, and just because you can hit 950F doesn't guarantee NP. Far from it. I haven't seen any pictures that show any NP-type leoparding. I'd be curious to see some posted if I've missed them. Technically 90 seconds is the threshold for NP.

donstavely · « **Reply #49 on:** February 02, 2022, 12:48:34 PM »

Craig, I saw this pic on their Facebook page, and thought it looked pretty good to me. You are an expert in Neapolitan style and and I am most certainly not. After posting my previous comment about leoparding, I found some of the threads on the subject that you participated in. I learned a lot form your comments, and I certainly defer to your judgement.

I am sure others will want to hear your opinion about this oven as it starts shipping and forum members start posting pictures of their own.

Bill/SFNM · « **Reply #50 on:** February 02, 2022, 01:58:43 PM »

I don't think there is any way to tell much from that photo. If I had to guess, I'd say that pizza is overbaked. Regardless, I'd like to see an uncut video from start to finish that also shows the bottom.

rascali · « **Reply #51 on:** February 02, 2022, 11:56:10 PM »

Quote from: Bill/SFNM on February 01, 2022, 10:23:23 AM

Does the battery-powered turntable on this have an adjustable speed? And can it be manually rotated? In my Carbon, I've been using a Fiesoli stone on a Chau-inspired lazy Susan to manually rotate the stone. The Carbon cooks perfectly evenly side-to-side, so the turntable serves mostly to quickly spin the back of the pizza to the front so I can see its progress and quickly spin back around and position the pie so that the least-baked edge is in the back where the radiant heat is the hottest. Can I do this with the Halo?

From support comments in the Facebook video it was mentioned that the turntable rotates 2 2/3 revolutions per minute.

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #52 on:** February 04, 2022, 01:52:50 AM »

It's closer than anything else I've seen. Still, a start-to-finish video is the best evidence.

barryvabeach · « **Reply #53 on:** February 04, 2022, 07:21:36 AM »

Just checked the FB comments and Halo says there is no insulation, just an air gap, and the upper back burner is 9,600 btu and the infrared lower burner is 11,500, and after a 12 to 15 minute preheat, the stone will be around 650 to 700 F.

rascali · « **Reply #54 on:** February 07, 2022, 02:31:51 PM »

So, 21Kbtu for the Halo, the Karu is 25kbtu, and wasn't the Blackstone 60kbtu?
Does anyone have comparative figures for the Carbon or the Dome?

jstabb · « **Reply #55 on:** February 07, 2022, 06:27:49 PM »

I got an email from Halo today saying they're expecting their containers to arrive on March 4th, so we're about a month out from real user reviews.

barryvabeach · « **Reply #56 on:** February 07, 2022, 08:37:33 PM »

Quote from: rascali on February 07, 2022, 02:31:51 PM

So, 21Kbtu for the Halo, the Karu is 25kbtu, and wasn't the Blackstone 60kbtu?

Not only is the Blackstone 60 K, it sounds like a jet engine when you first fire it off.

BTW, kudos to the Halo group, they linked this gif https://tenor.com/view/fail-hurricane-ocean-funny-boat-gif-13941464 with the email about the delay ( though without the wording on the Gif ) which suggests they have a sense of humor.

rascali · « **Reply #57 on:** February 10, 2022, 03:21:37 PM »

I found this video of Urban Slicer playing with a demo model. Seems to show good top heat, nice bottom char, and a 2min NNYS finish? lol

Essen1 · « **Reply #58 on:** February 20, 2022, 01:09:20 PM »

Looks promising but more in-depth reviews are needed.

The first thing I'd install is a Biscotto stone.

https://www.biscottostones.com/products/biscotto-di-sorrento-stone-o16-inch-40-5-cm-for-big-joe-kamado-oven

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #59 on:** February 20, 2022, 03:14:08 PM »

I would definitely bake with before spending money on a saputo stone. The 2-minute pies in the video definitely were not overdone on the bottom.