oven mod for pizza

Canugghead

will it work? cold stones brought in from backyard, steel temp about 20 minutes later ... may try it tomorrow.

northGAcock

Don't see why not. Kind of the equivalent of a commercial pizza oven....

thetrim

That's basically exactly the same as @SciAggie outdoor oven.

Carolina Q

Looking forward to the results! Gonna take a while for the bricks to heat up all the way through. I just use a 1/4" steel plate in the center rack. 550° and 2-3 minutes before I launch the pie, I switch to broiler mode. Pizza done in 2-3 minutes. Usually looks something like this...

Canugghead

@Carolina Q I have the 1/4" steel sitting on the stone. Just experimenting, figure for large volume cook the stone below the steel helps with heat recovery.  I've cooked with the same setup sans surround-stone, preheated in bake mode, then switched to broil for the actual cook.  For this test I did the preheat in broil mode which probably took longer, also the stones started out quite cold.  For small cooks I may yank out the stone under the steel.

blasting

If I did that all the stuff I store in my oven would catch on fire.

Canugghead

@blasting
what you don't have a gasser to store stuff? easy for me since two woks and a small fry pan fill up the whole oven

Canugghead

fired it up tonight. worked well but not significantly faster than previous attempts with same steel+stone base sans surround stones.  mind you, I think I rushed and messed up the dough in more than one way ...
1) formed balls and refrigerated before the dough doubled in size as in previous attempts
2) rested one night instead of two or three
3) 60% hydration for 00 flour is on the dry side
3) didn't allow enough time for dough to come to room temp, it was about 65F surface temp even after three hours, kind of hard to stretch

Cooked in 2-3 minutes, pretty 'flat' overall and no 'spots', hope to do better next time  some pics...








can't wait for warmer weather, to complete my Maximus WFO, bought for a song but missing chimney and floor. 

Focker

Canugghead said:

fired it up tonight. worked well but not significantly faster than previous attempts with same steel+stone base sans surround stones.  mind you, I think I rushed and messed up the dough in more than one way ...
1) formed balls and refrigerated before the dough doubled in size as in previous attempts
2) rested one night instead of two or three
3) 60% hydration for 00 flour is on the dry side
3) didn't allow enough time for dough to come to room temp, it was about 65F surface temp even after three hours, kind of hard to stretch

Cooked in 2-3 minutes, pretty 'flat' overall and no 'spots', hope to do better next time  some pics...








can't wait for warmer weather, to complete my Maximus WFO, bought for a song but missing chimney and floor. 

They look good from all angles here Gary.  Dialing things in, is part of the fun.

Canugghead

Thanks @Brandon , it's indeed fun experimenting ... I think hydration and final dough rest time need to be bumped up this time of year.

caliking

Gary - if that's your worst effort, I'll happily dispose of it! Send it over

One would think that more insulation/heat retention on the sides doesn't matter as much as the top and bottom (in the context of pizza). 

That profile pic of a slice looks spot on!

Canugghead

@caliking you are too kind. You're right, the stone fence didn't help much, perhaps it could trap heat better if built to ceiling height, but that's too much work and no guarantee. Must confess that was a 'selected' slice from four pies, hence the disappointment... the dough was too cold and overworked 

danv23

This is my setup. 2 stones, pizza goes between.  Works fantastic.  Do not do convection as it doesn't work well at all.  I let the oven heat to 500 for about an hour and 15 min.

Canugghead

@danv23 I agree, no convection. I preheat (bake) at 550 for 40 min, then on broil 550 for about 10 min before 'broiling' pizza at 550 ... omitting the top stone exposes pizza to naked fire, kind of simulating a WFO/Roccbox/Uuni.

danv23

Canugghead said:

@danv23 I agree, no convection. I preheat (bake) at 550 for 40 min, then on broil 550 for about 10 min before 'broiling' pizza at 550 ... omitting the top stone exposes pizza to naked fire, kind of simulating a WFO/Roccbox/Uuni.

I get it. Thanks!!!

Sammi

@Canugghead Nicely done Gary. Can't believe you won't cook out doors in these temps.

Canugghead

@Sammi Thanks. Gave up cooking pizza in egg long time ago. Had an uuni for a while but sold it.  Waiting to refurbish a WFO when it's warmer