Single Pizza, Test Oven, Propane Powered.

[JoeyVelderrain]

So I sometimes have one or two left over dough balls from a get together and hate throwing them away. I also sometimes like to experiment with different dough kneading techniques but hate to use up the firewood, wait an hour for one or two pizas, seems wasteful. So for those reasons I have decided to build my own quick heat up, table top, single pizza propane powered oven. The best example of this I've found is the 2stone oven, here is a picture of the victim. I will proceed to reverse engineer this baby because I don't think there is $1,200 worth of materials in that thing so I will see how much I can copy cat it for....(and it will be fun)

the victim:


the victim dissected:


here are a couple videos of it:
YouTube - 2stone pizza pro oven


YouTube - New 2Stone Inferno Pro

any thoughts?
does anyone own one of these guys?
seen one up close?

I think I have it figured out but I welcome any input.

Thanks.

[james]

Excellent. I can't wait to see how this goes.

James

[JoeyVelderrain]

Ok, I have started gathering materials and equipment so when I finally get finished with this little BP uh...mistake? I can get started right away.

I found this rotisserie on ebay for under $20 shipped.



Does anyone know how hot I can get the FB round pizza stone before it explodes?
Pizza Stone | Pizza Baking Stone

[david s]

Maybe you could use some of that BP oil washed up on the beach for oven fuel. On second thoughts no- yuk!

[EADavis]

Originally Posted by JoeyVelderrain

Does anyone know how hot I can get the FB round pizza stone before it explodes?

With indirect heat from the bottom from my propane burner, I have had the FB Stone up to at least 950F (not intentionally!). I have found that a cheapo pizza stone will also get up to that temp, but they tend to crack (sometimes with a POP) even around 600F when you put the pizza on the stone - they just can't handle the thermal shock, but the FB Stone has held up very well.

By the way, I had the same philosophy when I put together my Forno Clamshell. I just did it in the opposite order! WFO next!
Ed

[mako]

Another single-pizza oven supporter here. I don't really know what direction I came at it from (not WFO->little thing or little thing->WFO... the arrow points a different direction entirely).

As far as the stone, I'm not sure what the FB stone is made of (it says it's the same thing used for commercial deck ovens, but I don't know what that is). Some other high end stones are made of cordierite (the Old Stone Oven and American Metalcraft brands, I believe, among others). the cordierite kiln shelf I'm using in my oven is rated to Cone 10 (i.e. ~2300F). I've had it up to 900F+ (...semi-intentionally) and put a pizza onto it, and it didn't begin to complain. (though the crust did. Yikes.) I think a good quality stone will handle pizza temps quite easily.

Looking at the video, it seems clear that the burner is right behind the ???? markings on your diagram (I can see the flames licking up from there). Sticking all the rotisserie motor and gears below the burner is clever -- no moving parts under the stress of all that heat. Where you have marked insulation in the top is where the 2nd stone of their moniker goes -- I'm sure there's insulation around it, but I have no idea what. They mention their 'Turbo Top' on their website -- something about sandwiched metal and stone layers for better heat distribution (this is intriguing to me, as I've been unable to get sufficient top heat on my pizza grill without adding wood chunks).

I love the idea of the 2stone, but the price and the small pizza size restriction turned me off.

Good luck with your project (hope you can get to it soon). More DIY projects always add more ideas to the landscape.

[Jet_deck]

Any updates on the Two Stone clone? I just decided to do one also. What do you guys use to check temps with? I haven't seen an IR thermometer that will read above 650*. Thanks for the help.

[mako]

I grabbed an IR thermometer from Harbor Freight Tools for $24 ($30 on special - 20% coupon) that reads to 932F. Cen-Tech brand. My tool-knowing friend laughed at me for being such a cheapskate (as he often does), but it has worked spectacularly so far.

[JoeyVelderrain]

I haven't made it home from this BP project yet but I am steady ordering all the parts and pieces. I found a 12" diameter soapstone disk for it for $60 shipped, now I am getting ready to order the castable refractory for the top, back and the sides.
I also am thinking of buying the harbor freight thermometer.

[mako]

How'd you decide on castable refractory? It seems like the 2stone guys are relying on direct convective heating, mostly, plus that Turbo Top thing to throw some heat down from above (they talk about sucking the heat over the pizza and out the front, I think; and, again, those flames licking up).

I'm not really sure whether adding a bunch of thermal mass around the back and sides will do you a lot of good. It might be more fuel-efficient to just see if you can find a small quantity of ceramic blanket to insulate around the sides.

I haven't actually worked with either, so it's pure speculation on my part.