EcoQue wood-fired pizza oven & smoker

[MollyB]

We are thinking of getting the EcoQue Wood-fired Pizza Oven & Smoker. Does anyone own one or have any experience cooking with it?

 

We'd be using it for pizza, bread, and occasional smoking. We like the fact that this is not built-in, so we can take it with us if we move, and it has a cover to protect it so we can leave it outside.

[radtek]

Looks pretty cool and versatile. Price on amazon is in line for this type of product and a 90% five star approval rating. No experience with it.

 

You might want to check out bbq-brethren.com which is a fairly obsessive and comprehensive bbq forum similar to eGullet. 

[scott123]

I can't speak to the smoking aspect, but, for pizza, the thermodynamics are off with this oven.

 

This is how the heat flows through this oven

 

 
The concept of redirecting heat around the bottom of the stone and up the sides is very sound, but... where the heat returns in this scenario is completely wrong.  In a traditional gas deck oven, the heat goes up the sides of the oven and then goes back into the baking chamber (towards the top).  Like this:

 

 

In the eco que, the heat returns in the chamber on the top- the smoking chamber, not the pizza baking chamber.

 

Since heat travels up, the top of the chamber where the heat comes in will get the hottest. In this instance, since the heat is coming in through the smoker, the top of that will be the hottest, while the top of the pizza oven will be considerably cooler- far too cooler for a balanced bake.

When you have these kinds of top/bottom heat imbalances, you can, to a point, even out the heat a bit if you dial the heat way down.  But baking pizza at really low temps completely defeats the purpose.  Generally speaking, the hotter the oven, the puffier the crust, the better the pizza.

 

Home Depot and Lowes both carry the Blackstone Pizza Oven.  It's $400 and it'll run circles around this (pizza-wise). Amazon has it as well, but this is one of those items that you want to purchase in person, as they can get really banged about during shipping.

Edited May 13, 2015 by scott123 (log)

[rotuts]

"""   

• Battery powered rotisserie motor to rotate the pizza stone for accurate and reliable brick oven results  """

[scott123]

 

"""   

• Battery powered rotisserie motor to rotate the pizza stone for accurate and reliable brick oven results  """

 

 

This is what the Blackstone can do:

 

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=28721.0

Edited May 13, 2015 by scott123 (log)

[Barrytm]

Not only is Scott right on the money about the problem with top heat based on the layout, his opinion is confirmed by  looking at the video showing them cook pizza - there is absolutely no browning on the top of the pies.