Pizza "stone" or tile for 36" oven

[BDM]

I'm kind of new to this site but thought this was the best place to pose this question.

Growing up in CT and having great NY style pizza (Pepe's and Sally's in New Haven, Ray's Original in NYC, and other local brick oven style places) I'm constantly disappointed witht the pizza in Charlotte, NC (Portofino's is pretty good IMHO but it's 1/2 hour away and not often convenient)

What I'm looking for is a large rectangular tile or "pizza stone" that I can put into a 36" Viking oven. I'd like the luxury of being able to cook a few 12-14" pies at the same time. When I cooked in CT we did them at almost 600 degrees but I figure I can adapt my recipes and cool them at the 500 degree level in the Viking.

Does anyone know of someone selling such a product? If feel that having the entire shelf covered will allow me to use a peel and make a better pie than the individual stones you find in the "gourmet" stores.

ANy help would be appreciated and if I should post this in another area of this forum please let me know.

Brian

[Dave the Cook]

Welcome, BDM.

We've discussed pizza stones a bit. If I recall correctly, soapstone is the material of choice. If you've got the bucks, you can have one cut to your dimensions. Here's one source: Vermont Soapstone; I'm sure there are others.

There's a pretty good thread here.

[foodie3]

for an inexpensive solution (mine cost $1.14 ea) try fire bricks from your local stone supplier, they measure 9" by 4.5", get the ones that are 1" thick. this will also give you some flexibility as to how much of the area you want covered.

[phaelon56]

The fire brick solution was discussed at lenght in the

Pizza Peel Thread

Should be helpful and there's info on using ceramic kiln supports also. The racks on most home ranges won't support the weight of multipel pieces of firebrick but these supports should solve that dilemma.

[scott123]

I've heard quite a few people speak very highly of soapstone, here and elsewhere, but I haven't come across a lot of pizzerias with soapstone ovens. If you want to match their product, I highly recommend attempting to match their oven. From your description it sounds like you're trying to recreate a Vulcan oven style pizza (as opposed to wood burning oven pizza). My quest is the same :)

This discussion contains the configuration I've come up with for myself:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=38384&hl=

The only thing I would add for your situation is this. 500 degrees might be cutting it close, temp wise. To compensate, I recommend getting as much thermal mass as you can on your hearth, walls and ceiling (minimum 2" thick).

Although 2" fire brick might be the least costly of your options, if you've got the money to spare, bakingstone.com will be able to make you a custom stone out of a cordierite type of material. Cordierite is what vulcan style ovens use. You'll need two large stones for your hearth and ceiling and smaller stones for your walls. Make sure you have an inch clearance all the way around for proper air flow.

[SiseFromm]

This thread inspired me to fire up my Weber and make some pizzas tonight. I use a couple of old 14" round stones, though I can't even remember where I originally purchased them. I'd like to have something custom cut to fit the inside of my grill, but these work just dandy. Tonght's pizzas of shallots, chives, whole milk cheeses, prosciutto, basil, and parmesan were divine. They were all the more sweet with that murdering of the Kings by the Lakers. The whole thing was washed down with a few Boddingtons. Umm . . . victory.

[BDM]

Thanks all for the feedback - SiseFromm you're making me hungery and it only 8:15am (never too early for pizza huh?)

Dave, thanks for the previous pizza stone, etc. thread. Lots of good info there. I should have look deeper before starting an additional conversation.

Brian

[marie-louise]

Dave,  thanks for the previous pizza stone, etc. thread.  Lots of good info there.  I should have look deeper before starting an additional conversation.

Brian

Brian-Thank YOU for asking the question. There are lots of vintage threads that a lot of us have missed. Sure, one person can search and find the answer to their question, but by posting the question, now lots of us have a great thread pointed out to us! BTW, I am referring to the 2002 Pizza Stone thread, which contains a LOT of good advice about making pizza.

Edited March 25, 2004 by marie-louise (log)