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So I've bought a gas-powered pizza oven reminiscent of the Ooni Koda 12. It gets the crust done alright, but as I expected earlier it is quite difficult to rotate the dough using a peel without ending up with some parts burned and without an overall unevenness of baking level.

I've looked anywhere but couldn't find enough information on how to construct a (non-motorized) rotation mechanism into a pizza stone which could healthily withstand temperatures of 500 Celsius and perhaps a bit more.

Possible issues I suspect: pizza stones are cordierite — I don't think it can hold screws; so you consider gluing — is there any chemical glue which doesn't release toxic fumes at such degrees? And then considering the types of bearings available — most don't mention it but aren't they likely oiled with stuff that, again, might prove unhealthy within a gas oven?

I suppose this question isn't exactly food related, but I haven't found a definite SE category for this.

TLSO
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    On the last point of bearings - first, there are bearings which don't need lubrication, especially for such a situation where perfect smoothness of movement isn't required. Second, if you do want lubrication, many lubricants are made to withstand high temperature (they are by definition exposed to lots of friction heat) and they don't have to be toxic in any way, chemically they can be quite inert, think for example of graphite. – rumtscho Feb 15 '22 at 09:30
  • @rumtscho Well, I talked in respect to what materials are available for me to construct with relative ease. So I need an existing form of high-temperature, food-safe bearing that will then be connected to the regular square stone on one side and to a circular stone on the other, and that connection probably wouldn't work without gluing (as I think you may drill into cordierite, but screws probably wouldn't work) so I also need some sort of glue which is safe in this situation. – TLSO Feb 15 '22 at 10:12
  • I don't have a full design for you, else I would have written an answer :) I just shared an idea to show you your options are maybe more plentiful than you think. Another idea to throw out: why do the two pieces have to be connected/glued? You can surely make a design where one stone sits on top of another, and is only inserted onto some kind of wide "axle". Maybe you can get some inspiration by going into a specialized store and examining the designs of cake turntables, and see what you can adapt. – rumtscho Feb 15 '22 at 10:19
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    Looking at your problem from another angle: Could you explain *why* you need to turn the pizza or the stone? – Stephie Feb 15 '22 at 10:34
  • @Stephie It is a small gas oven with a burner only at its innermost wall. As the heat is not uniform, and also because the oven itself and the stone won't hold enough heat to just cook the pizza through the leftover heat, the only way to get an even baking pattern is by leaving the fire on and rotating the pizza every 20 seconds or less. – TLSO Feb 15 '22 at 11:47
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    You may be using the wrong kind of peel -- for turning a pizza while it cooks, you want a small round peel, ideally with holes in it. I guarantee you, learning to turn a pizza will be easier and more effective than modding your oven. – Sneftel Feb 15 '22 at 12:07
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    @Sneftel having though up a solution involving some serious metalwork, I agree – Chris H Feb 15 '22 at 12:12
  • Rather than glue, you'd need to think of something more like cement or clay, but they're not very adhesive – Chris H Feb 15 '22 at 12:13
  • @ChrisH I thought about something like that but I'm not sure what would actually work as an adhesive and in such conditions. – TLSO Feb 15 '22 at 12:26
  • I did a search for "ooni rotating pizza" and got a ton of results on YouTube, Reddit and so on. If none of those are what you are looking for I think you are out of luck – eps Feb 15 '22 at 18:25
  • @eps I've seen a video about a flimsy gadget which isn't sold anymore and a couple of motorized stuff. – TLSO Feb 15 '22 at 18:39

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Yes, I can recommend a method because I did this*. Per my blog post, the secret is to buy a round corderite stone of the correct size, glue that to a stainless steel turntable, and bolt that to a thin metal sheet. The steel turntable works because it's not sealed and there is no grease in it, so it won't boil off.

Since I published that blog post, I've learned that there are other high-temperature adhesives that might be better than the one I used, so you might try one of those.

As an alternative to an adhesive, you could get flat steel bars and screw them to the holes on the top of the turntable, and then bend the ends to firmly hold the round corderite stone. In my particular case, I didn't have enough clearance for those, hence the adhesive.

(*link to my own blog because it's the best source of information on this particular task)

FuzzyChef
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  • I'm not familiar with the product you've linked to here, but the issue with but epoxy for example is said not to be usable in cooking oven environments. Regarding the turntable option, perhaps I need to look further. Most don't give information regarding all materials used and whether they're high temperature-food safe. – TLSO Feb 15 '22 at 20:34
  • The epoxy is not in contact with the food, so it doesn't need to be food-safe, unless you're operating a commercial restaurant. And any initial outgassing is also not an issue because the pizza oven is open. I've been using mine with the JBWeld for at least 12 batches of pizza now. – FuzzyChef Feb 15 '22 at 21:19
  • It wouldn't necessarily make you feel any ailment, but I still don't know if it's advisable. – TLSO Feb 15 '22 at 21:56
  • You're talking about approximately 100g of epoxy or caulk. Even if it incinerated (which hopefully it won't, that's why you use high temp) that's not going to release enough gasses to affect you, out doors, in the open air. And adhesives don't contain lead, cadmium, arsenic, or other mineral poisons that could taint the food. – FuzzyChef Feb 15 '22 at 23:03
  • Perhaps. But I'm thinking maybe due to the stone being relatively heavy, if I'll just find some appropriate bearing that will sit on the lower stone the upper stock could keep it in place even when rotating. – TLSO Feb 16 '22 at 07:58
  • @FuzzyChef, may i suggest an idea instead of high temp glue: position the lazy susan turntable in the middle of the round stone (make it balanced) then use a stone drill on low speed to drill some shallow divots where the screw holes are, then put in some bolts that will "locate" into the divots. then bolt the bottom of the turntable to your plate steel. now the round stone can be lifted on and off after use. :) – Mr Shane Feb 17 '22 at 11:04
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    @MrShane bolts as pins is a nice idea. With adhesives I'd certainly want to give the assembly a very good bake before first use, though I'd be more worried about off flavours and unpleasant smells than any harm given that it's well within the temperature rating and not in direct contact with the food – Chris H Feb 17 '22 at 11:46
  • Note that many of the Deacon products at the 2nd link are sealants rather than adhesives, so won't hold things together well. Choose wisely or you may get a nasty surprise if you lift by the wrong part – Chris H Feb 17 '22 at 11:48
  • @ChrisH i kinda got the idea from my days of mould making where (especially for items that geometric so difficult to see which is top/bottom/left/right) you put location "keys" that help to detect the correct placement of the top half of the mould because the location keys should interlock, which also prevents shearing. This same technique (key holes for something to locate into) can prevent the pizza stone platter from sliding out of position. :) – Mr Shane Feb 17 '22 at 13:48
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    @MrShane I've used precision alignment pins in engineering, but your suggestion here is a nice appropriate DIYable version – Chris H Feb 17 '22 at 13:50
  • @MrShane I haven't had good luck with masonry drills and corderite. It's fairly prone to cracking. I think the crossbars with crimped ends is a better design if you want to avoid adhesives. – FuzzyChef Feb 17 '22 at 14:44
  • @FuzzyChef, when i have drilled glass i apply tape, and start from thinnest drillbit, then increasing size to enlarge the hole, it is a super slow process. another alternative may be to use a dremel tool. perhaps you can test with a scrap piece (from a supplier scrap offcut). but before jumping in, check some videos how to drill glass without shattering. – Mr Shane Feb 17 '22 at 16:43
  • @MrShane Do you think one can carefully hammer two nails into cordierite? I've been thinking of perhaps the most simple solution which might work. I want to find a thin stainless steel disc that could easily be rotated directly on the cordierite without any mechanism due to low weight and friction, on which I will place the pizza. I want to create some inner boundary far enough from the oven's burner so it won't accidentally get pushed into the fire when rotating the disc, and for that I thought two nails in the stone would suffice (if possible). – TLSO Feb 18 '22 at 09:26
  • @TLSO since FuzzyChef has experience with drilling coderite and the results were not satisfactory, i definitely doubt hammering nails would work because the material is solid and inflexible so where will the material that is displaced by the nail end up?. If the disc is rotated around its axis then it wont hit anything. if it is not then it would seem that the whole disc is being shifted which defeats the initial purpose which is to find a way to rotate a pizza more easily, and from the videos ive seen the spinning peel serves that purpose well enough. – Mr Shane Feb 18 '22 at 13:35
  • @MrShane I did find some posts of people saying they managed to drill in cordierite, but I don't know if nails would inherently be more difficult. Regarding the purposed disc — it won't have any actual axis because it won't be attached to anything. I thought of adding the nails simply as a block so the disc won't accidentally slip too much forward and get the pizza to catch fire. I think I would still have problematic results with a spinning peel because I try to maximize pizza size and then even slight forward-slip causes it to catch fire. – TLSO Feb 18 '22 at 15:25
  • @TLSO, what about making a U-shaped frame, with small angled braces in the corners, that sits around the perimeter of the interior of the oven. this would prevent the round pizza disk from hitting too close to the sides and then you wont need to put nails into anything. – Mr Shane Feb 19 '22 at 05:52
  • @MrShane I think that too close would be anything closer than ~8 centimeters (about 3") to the burner, so I need something that would enable enough distance-keeping. – TLSO Feb 19 '22 at 06:25
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I suggest something much simpler - make your pizza stone with feet including a large one in the centre and quite a lot around the rim. Then have a tool, probably looking a bit like an oversize carving fork so much narrower than a pizza peel, that goes underneath, engages the centre foot and one outer one, and allows you to turn the stone, taking a little weight if necessary.

If you used a steel instead of a stone, this could be fairly easily made: I'd use bolts but the feet could be welded or brazed on. If you're set on a stone, a steel or brass (bolted/welded) frame could hold it.

Fabricating from metal, you could also make a top turntable (either a pizza steel or a stand for a stone) with a central cylindrical boss on the underside, and a bottom plate that fits the floor of the oven, with a hole to match the boss on the upper plate. Then drill into the perimeter of the top plate every few degrees, so you can insert a bar and turn in like a windlass. This sort of plain bearing would be adequate for the loads and speeds involved, with a little clearance especially if you use two different metals. It could even be lubricated - put a little flour in there and the resulting carbonised dust will act as a lubricant. Actually this looks better in 3 parts, and doesn't need any fasteners.

Here's a sketch (note that I haven't included the holes needed to put a bar in to rotate it, and their spacing depends on the size of the oven opening) sketch of rotating pizza stone base

A steel should have more thermal conductivity and require less rotation than a stone anyway.

Chris H
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  • I don't plan to fabricate the stone itself, I intend to take an available round pizza stone and find the best way to attach to it what's required to make it rotatable. – TLSO Feb 15 '22 at 12:32
  • I suspected that, hence my references to a frame or stand. My stone is granite but when I bought that I looked into steels and some people like them, so that's why I considered making the whole thing. Brass is quite easy to work – Chris H Feb 15 '22 at 12:35
  • Regarding brass, it seems it might release zinc oxide at high temperatures, but I couldn't find consistent numbers. – TLSO Feb 15 '22 at 13:01
  • My reading on brass safety is that the zinc isn't an issue unless you melt it. You do want to avoid getting acidic foods on brass, which is why I don't suggest it as a cooking surface, just as a stand – Chris H Feb 15 '22 at 13:25