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Thought on home oven for pizza..

2K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  chefbillyb 
#1 ·
I'm thinking aloud here.. this is probably a really bad idea and maybe dangerous but hell that has never stopped me.

For most pizza, calzone, etc. baking we know we have limitations in our home ovens in the fact that they cannot reach the temperatures that commercial pizza ovens typically operate at.

So.. they make pizza steels.. basically a big heavy steel plate that acts like cast iron for heat retention. What if we heated a pizza steel either on a propane grill.. or even with a high BTU propane burner like you might use for a turkey fryer.. up to say.. 700 degrees F.. then moved that to the lower rack in the oven.. could we get that extra burst in temp?

Would the oven break down from the high heat? Would the house catch on fire?
 
#2 ·
Transporting a hot steel like that could be rather dangerous.

I use a thick stone in my home oven. Wall oven that’s set in wood cabinet. Stone is over 1 inch thick. Takes a long time to heat up. Max temp on oven is 550. That’s what I shoot for. Been doing this for years. Door hinges now shot. Door insulation gaskets now shot. Cabinets scorched at vents. Scorching appears to be mostly finish and superficially some of the veneer. It’s not a pretty sight.

Check your oven manual. There may be a thermal shutdown safety device to prevent ivertemp situation. I experienced that once. It’s not a pretty sight.

Until I get the time to build (or hit a jackpot so I can buy) a real brick oven I cook my pizza at 550 and don’t worry about the slight lack of authenticity.
 
#3 ·
BTW, I had a lot less concern and problems with this when I had a Chambers model C oven. I had mine WAY before Rachel did and I actually used mine. Standalone and heavily insulated. But it still had a 550 thermostat limit. It had no safety over-rides though. Heck, it didn’t even have a pilot light on the oven or broiler! Gawdddd, I miss that stove.
 
#4 ·
Hmm yea mine is inset in wood cabinets.. my oven maxes out at 500. To move the steel I was thinking welding clamps.. like I said it's probably dangerous. I would love to build a proper clay oven but where I live now I have a pool that takes up all but a 10 foot strip of yard that wraps around my back area.
 
#5 ·
I’m in opposite situation... plenty of space for a pizza oven but no time to build and not enough money to buy. I kills me to see neighbors and “friends” who have them but won’t use them because of the “hassle”?

Have you thought about experimenting with the steel on your burner and a cloche to trap the heat and simulate an oven?
 
#6 ·
I always thought something like this would work. It may be a good idea to use charcoal and wood chips for smoke. This guy put a flat pizza stone on top. I think maybe a steel tray that could also hold hot coals could help generate more heat and even help cook the top better.

 
#7 ·
I haven't done the dome yet.. I did try a direct heat approach from my smoker.. loaded up coals and wondered how it would turn out close to the heat.. as you can see it had no top heat:



I've come a LONG way from then.. I can do this in my oven now:



It still isn't right..
 
#8 ·
Your right your getting closer. Being a perfectionist is a good thing when it comes to perfecting this. When you look at a wood burning dome pizza oven I wonder how hot the deck is ??? the real heat is in the dome. If you watch them finish the pie they always bring the pie up to the top to finish under high heat. We all worry about the bottom deck heat, maybe we should be worrying about the top heat.
 
#11 ·
In a well built oven that has been fully heated the floor and dome temps are about the same. The reason for “doming” the pizza is because the relative effect of the floor and dome on the item being cooked is different because of the difference in distance.
 
#14 ·
What if we heated a pizza steel either on a propane grill.. or even with a high BTU propane burner like you might use for a turkey fryer.. up to say.. 700 degrees F.. then moved that to the lower rack in the oven.. could we get that extra burst in temp?
I do something along your line of thought when I make pizza. I just heat a skillet on the stove, then pop it into the oven on broil. You don't need/want to heat your pan to 700°F though or the pizza will just burn. The resulting pizza is just like the one coming out of a wood fired oven.
 
#15 ·
CHEFBILLYB ... I was going to post that same pizza oven. You found it faster than me. I was a bit scared however, because I have NO idea if it's any good. I does look pretty though.

Have you got any experience with it or opinion of it? ... TIA.
 
#16 ·
A friend of mine stopped over for pizza the other night and thought it was some of the best he'd had. I use a blue steel pan, let my dough rise, sauce from scratch and oven at 450F with the rack up top. Comes out perfect every time. Once it's cut in half I put the leftover half on a bakers rack so it doesn't get soggy.
 
#17 ·
I use a blue steel pan, let my dough rise, sauce from scratch and oven at 450F with the rack up top. Comes out perfect every time. Once it's cut in half I put the leftover half on a bakers rack so it doesn't get soggy.
I think made from scratch dough and sauce are more important than getting the pizza stone above 450*F.
 
#18 ·
iceman, The reviews on Amazon looked good. I haven't tried it, but, looked at it and thought about buying one. Someone posted these pictures on the reviews and the pictures tell a good story of what we look for in a woodfired pizza. As you said it looks pretty. We both know looking pretty, handsome in our case, was never a problem. Take care my friend and have a good Thankgiving...ChefBillyB

 
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