Petroni North
TVWBB Member
Since ditching the water bowl on my 22½” from the outset in favour of 5kgs of playpit sand, I have had good results albeit with some rapid vent tweaking learning thrown in.
However, I want to find a better/heavier/more effective heat sink with something of greater density and heat holding. I am aiming for something around 30lbs in weight. Research so far has led me to explore
- California Pizza Stone but its too expensive to buy and ship from USA and I cannot find one in Europe
- Terracotta saucers (flower pot stands) but again cannot find the sizes needed yet but I am still trying
- Unglazed tiles (600mm x 600mm cut to rounds) – this is a cheap option but would need two or three stacked to get the mass needed to compete so haven’t cut anything yet (but have a test tile awaiting me in the garage) but I have my doubts about this route
- Sheet steel (6 or 7mm or ¼” or 5/16”) – readily available and any number of people able to cut to size. I have a local forge pricing 480mm and 525mm rounds for me at the moment
- Granite – again, local firm I know has a granite worktop company and is happy to experiment with ¾” or 2cm rounds made from off cuts or breakages but once again still trying to get a handle on how granite might compare to steel/terracotta
I read a really good piece on Serious Eats (Labs) about the effectiveness of steel plate on pizza (good read if you are into pizza) and although this isn’t my application, it did lead me to realise that the conductive nature, dense mass and heat retention/convection qualities of steel might be the way to go, and I am heading that way first
Three questions :
- has anyone experimented with any of the above, or anything else, with any degree of success?
- if the depth of the heat sink object used is ¾”, which it is likely to be, do you put it in the lower area of the water bowl brackets (the bit that measures 480mm across) or in the location of the lower grill which measures 525mm
- if the lower grill space is used; do you then place the lower grill directly on the heat sink and cook on it, or do you put an air spacer between the heat sink and the lower grill and cook on it (to stop the direct conducted heat and aim for radiated/convection instead) or do you just not use the lower grill at all.
I will go ahead with a few dummy runs of my own but if you have anything useful to guide me while I am experimenting I would be keen to share your knowledge and hopefully short circuit the results. Thanks
However, I want to find a better/heavier/more effective heat sink with something of greater density and heat holding. I am aiming for something around 30lbs in weight. Research so far has led me to explore
- California Pizza Stone but its too expensive to buy and ship from USA and I cannot find one in Europe
- Terracotta saucers (flower pot stands) but again cannot find the sizes needed yet but I am still trying
- Unglazed tiles (600mm x 600mm cut to rounds) – this is a cheap option but would need two or three stacked to get the mass needed to compete so haven’t cut anything yet (but have a test tile awaiting me in the garage) but I have my doubts about this route
- Sheet steel (6 or 7mm or ¼” or 5/16”) – readily available and any number of people able to cut to size. I have a local forge pricing 480mm and 525mm rounds for me at the moment
- Granite – again, local firm I know has a granite worktop company and is happy to experiment with ¾” or 2cm rounds made from off cuts or breakages but once again still trying to get a handle on how granite might compare to steel/terracotta
I read a really good piece on Serious Eats (Labs) about the effectiveness of steel plate on pizza (good read if you are into pizza) and although this isn’t my application, it did lead me to realise that the conductive nature, dense mass and heat retention/convection qualities of steel might be the way to go, and I am heading that way first
Three questions :
- has anyone experimented with any of the above, or anything else, with any degree of success?
- if the depth of the heat sink object used is ¾”, which it is likely to be, do you put it in the lower area of the water bowl brackets (the bit that measures 480mm across) or in the location of the lower grill which measures 525mm
- if the lower grill space is used; do you then place the lower grill directly on the heat sink and cook on it, or do you put an air spacer between the heat sink and the lower grill and cook on it (to stop the direct conducted heat and aim for radiated/convection instead) or do you just not use the lower grill at all.
I will go ahead with a few dummy runs of my own but if you have anything useful to guide me while I am experimenting I would be keen to share your knowledge and hopefully short circuit the results. Thanks