New Blackstone Pizza Oven Changes

[buster84]

I'm new to the forum and received my blackstone oven today. I purchased it from overstock and nothing was damaged in shipping; however, there was 1 small quality control issue that was minor, but i had to modify the rack by drilling out the whole even more. I've attached some photos on what im talking about in the post. 

I read on the forum about using thrust bearings so i purchased a set from amazon and tried to install it on my Blackstone when i realized that it wasn't possible anymore. From what i can tell, there used to be a stop bolt that allowed you to adjust the height of the pizza stone, but now that is no longer possible since its now permanent from the factory; which is fine as long as the quality control standards stay high. 

Now i need to ship back the bearings since adding them lifts the stone up way to high and makes it so the bottom square metal piece doesnt fit in the motor and the rotisserie. At least it looks like blackstone is still trying to improve there product.

I just wanted to point this out for the people looking to buy one, and for the people who already own one that may want to buy another rotisseries piece. Here are the images of their new rotisserie rolling system.

[barryvabeach]

Thanks for the photo.  Does the manual mention a stop collar?  Assuming the things on either side are bearings, it does look like quite an upgrade from earlier models.  If you notice anything else, post a photo.  BTW,  how far is the bottom of the steel plate that the stone rests on to the top of the opening below it?  Just wondered what distance they chose.

[buster84]

I didnt notice any other changes other than that. I cooked some lasagna in the oven and walked away for a few mins to use the restroom and came back and it looked done so i used the pizza peel to get the lasagna out and i got my hand to close and heat made me react fast causing the lasagna to tip on its side creating a huge mess; now the stone is black in alot of places because of the souce.

Anytips on how to clean it? I figured that the stone probably obsorbed the liquid and it burned into the stone since i took it upto 850F and scraped away as much as possible with a metal scraper but it didnt improve much.

Since its night, ill take a few photos of it put together tomorrow afternoon, but if i had to guess it looks like its a inch to 1.5' above the opening. As for the manual i didnt see anything written in it about stop collar. I double checked and still didnt see any mention of it; either its removed or im totally overlooking it since i also looked up the digital manual  (this one appears to be for the older model) yet it still doesnt mention a stop collar.

http://www.blackstoneproducts.com/manuals/1575_PizzaOven_manual.pdf

[buster84]

I take that back there was one other thing that i noticed. The stickers came off all in once piece and i was able to remove every sticker within 30 seconds! I read that the stickers are the worst online.

I snapped a few pics to show you but they didn't come out to well since my backyard doesn't have much light, but it definitively looks like a 1in spacing. In the second photo you can see the big mess that i made LOL

[caymus]

A lot of people just flip the stone in order to clean it.

[Jon in Albany]

That's what I do. I flip the stone every few bakes even if I don't make a mess.

[buster84]

A lot of people just flip the stone in order to clean it.

That's what I do. I flip the stone every few bakes even if I don't make a mess.

Ahh ok ill give that a try. When I read both of your replies the first thing i was thinking is, "dam ill have to buy new stones often since i can only flip it once" lol. I'm guessing that once its flipped it bakes off the drippings. I'll give this a try, but knowing me already i bet when i throw my first pizza on it ill probably make the other side dirty lol.

Thanks for the tips.

[TXCraig1]

A darker stone will actually bake a bit better as it is more emissive.

[buster84]

A darker stone will actually bake a bit better as it is more emissive.

Thats good to know. I actually cooked my first pizza today! It came out so good. I love this oven! I even threw in some chicken wings (cooked at stone 700-800 degree for 8-9 mins) and the pizza took about 2 minutes at 800 degrees on the bottom stone. In case anyone is wondering, i made the pizza dough last week, waited 72 hours, froze it then defrosted it last night and made it for lunch 

[barryvabeach]

Buster,  if that really is your first pizza, you need to retire now while you are way ahead of the game.     Seriously though, that is a great looking pizza.

[buster84]

Buster,  if that really is your first pizza, you need to retire now while you are way ahead of the game.     Seriously though, that is a great looking pizza.

Thanks! its my first time cooking a pizza on my blackstone grill, and my 4th lifetime pizza. I tried to make homemade pizza about 4 years ago using a pizza stone but i always had problems with the dough, or the top cooking faster than the crust; on top of the pizza not tasting good. After my third attempt on the stone i washed it with soap (thinking i could) then read online it was bad now so i threw it away and never attempted to make a pizza again till today.

I've been cooking my whole life so its safe to say that experience has helped alot. I also learned that the tools make the difference so this time around i made sure to get a good oven (blackstone) and a kitchenaid to mix the dough. 

In case your wondering i used King Author bread flour since it was the best flour i could find locally. I actually ordered some Antimo Caputo 00 flour last night so when im done with my current dough, i plan to make some more with that flour. I'm really curious how different it'll taste since ive read online it makes pizza taste really good.

[TXCraig1]

I actually ordered some Antimo Caputo 00 flour last night so when im done with my current dough, i plan to make some more with that flour. I'm really curious how different it'll taste since ive read online it makes pizza taste really good.

You will need to run the oven a LOT hotter than you did with that KABF dough if you want Caputo dough to perform. In the BS, stone @ 750-775F and flame at near full blast during the bake else you will probably make better pies with KABF. There is nothing magic about Caputo. In most cases, simply changing to Caputo, all other things being equal, won't make your pizza better and very likely will make it worse. 

[buster84]

You will need to run the oven a LOT hotter than you did with that KABF dough if you want Caputo dough to perform. In the BS, stone @ 750-775F and flame at near full blast during the bake else you will probably make better pies with KABF. There is nothing magic about Caputo. In most cases, simply changing to Caputo, all other things being equal, won't make your pizza better and very likely will make it worse.

Ok good to know. I'll make sure to let the stone warm up to higher than 800 next time. I made the dough yesterday so ill probably make a pizza with the new dough this weekend.

[TXCraig1]

This thread is a must-read for using Caputo to it's fullest extent in the BS - https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=28721.0

[buster84]

This thread is a must-read for using Caputo to it's fullest extent in the BS - https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=28721.0

Oh wow, thats a huge read. I'll have have to spend some time reading it. Thanks again! 

[buster84]

Well i had a few friends over for dinner and they saw the over and wanted to have some pizza! Boy did this pizza suprise me. This is my third pizza on this oven since i used up the last of my king athor dough, i had to use my Caputo 00 Chef's dough that rested for 48 hours and it tasted really good. My friends were like "Dam this is good, im going to move in, and Dam lets make more!"

The Caputo 00 bread was at 57% hydration and completely flattened since i wanted to make the pizza bigger over a really thick crust and it turned out exactly how i wanted it to since i was aiming for small crust at the end. I'm also extremely shocked at the efficiency of this oven! I pre-heated it for 10 mins and threw in my chicken (Bottom stone was 800) The chicken was done in about 4-5mins. Once i took the chicken out the oven's thermomitor read 1200 degrees!!    I didn't believe my eyes, so i took my inferred thermometer and it couldn't get any reading what so ever in the oven other than "HI". I had the 5psi regulator about half open and the dial only 3/4th of the way to the max. I guess this oven is way more powerful than i thought 

So threw in the pizza and it was finished super fast. I left it on the pizza stone for about 1:45 seconds before i realized it was done and pulled it out fast. At that point i snapped some photos. Even with the bread at a 48hour rise instead of a 72 the results came out better than i had hoped. This dam oven is going to make me FAT!      I really need to step up my workouts now haha.

[hammettjr]

From what i can tell, there used to be a stop bolt that allowed you to adjust the height of the pizza stone, but now that is no longer possible since its now permanent from the factory; which is fine as long as the quality control standards stay high. 

Hi, are you saying that you cannot (easily) change the amount of space between the 2 stones?

This past week I started reading through the main Blackstone thread. I'm only up to page 36, which is July 2013. If I understood your comment, it seems there's a major plot twist coming.

Thanks,
Matt

[buster84]

Hi, are you saying that you cannot (easily) change the amount of space between the 2 stones?

This past week I started reading through the main Blackstone thread. I'm only up to page 36, which is July 2013. If I understood your comment, it seems there's a major plot twist coming.

Thanks,
Matt

That's correct. There used to be a stop bolt that allowed you to control the height of the bottom stone and with my unit at least they removed the stop bolt and drilled in a hole and put their own bearing system on the grill. So as long as the people doing the drilling and adding the new bearing system stay consistent with their height then its one less thing people have to worry about. I'm sure there are old stock units out there somewhere so their is a possibility that someone could still end up with the old unit.

I've attached some photos that i found on google of the old stop bolt. The first photo shows the bearings at the bottom and the second photo doesnt.

[TXCraig1]

That's correct. There used to be a stop bolt that allowed you to control the height of the bottom stone and with my unit at least they removed the stop bolt and drilled in a hole and put their own bearing system on the grill.

I suspect they are trying to address the motor-burn out problem.

I'd be surprised if 5% of the people who buy a BS would ever even think about adjusting the height.

[hammettjr]

Thanks guys. The new modifications certainly didn't stop Buster from making some fine looking pies!