I stand to be corrected on this, but I think the UL certification has a cut off at a lower temperature than 650F, I want to say that it might be only 550 or 600F. Why do you want to go to 650F when most deck ovens are only operated at 500 to 550F? It isn’t so much the temperature of the oven as it is the recovery rate and the crown height of the oven that distinguishes it as a “pizza” oven. Most home/residential ovens have pretty slow heat recovery rates as a cost saving feature, while heat recovery is a crucial part of any commercial oven, this is why their gas burners put out as many BTU or more than most home furnaces. Here is an idea that I’ve been tossing around in my mind lately; Get two large pieces of unglazed floor tile, the thicker the better (within reason). I’m thinking that 1/2-thick would be near ideal, place these on your oven racks, with one rack set about a third of the way up, and the other about 6-inches above it. Preheat the oven for an hour, or so. Those stones have got to be at full oven temperature, then place your pizza on the bottom stone and see if that doesn’t give you a pretty decent quality of bake from a home oven.
Note: Try to size the stones so they nearly completely fill the rack space, use multiple stones if necessary. I’ve been thinking about this for some time now, but I’ve not had a chance to try it yet, please let me know how it works if you decide to give it a try.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
