A GOON PROJECT YOU SAY?! The pizza/baking steel group discussion/buy thread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > A GOON PROJECT YOU SAY?! The pizza/baking steel group discussion/buy thread

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GrAviTy84: Nov 25, 2004

What goon doesn't love pizza? none, I say! You may think your homemade pizza game is legit but unless you have a wood burning oven or one of these here pizza steels, I'mma venture to say your pizzas are pretty good, but are nowhere near what a proper pizza restaurant can turn out. The problem? until recently the go to method for pizza-ing was the baking stone. The idea is that the porous stone absorbed water and made it so that the pizza could form a nice crisp crust. Well, that is true to some extent, however, because of the thermal properties of stone/clay/etc, it takes forever to preheat and doesn't transfer the heat to the pizza well, exacerbated by the fact that most home ovens cannot go above 550F (if that)(the average proper pizzeria wood burning oven can exceed 850F). The end result is a bake time of around 10 minutes. In an ideal pizza baking situation you are in and out of the oven in 1 minute. This factor of 10 in increased bake time takes its toll on the pizza. Though still edible, and quite good in most circumstances, ingredients are overcooked, crust crumb dries out more than it should, and you still never really get the great charred edges that really fantastic pizza gets.

Solution? Change the material of the baking stone to one with better conduction. Better conduction means that you transfer the heat faster into the pizza shortening the cook time dramatically. more spergwords here: http://modernistcuisine.com/baking-steel/

I've done some tests with the back of a cast iron skillet and I can vouch for it working very very well. I've even managed a few 1.5 minute cook times. Problem with a cast iron skillet is that because of the geometry, it's kind of finnicky in actual use. space is at a premium, and you have to be pretty finessed with a pizza peel to make sure your beautiful pizza doesnt end up upside down on the bottom of your oven. As shown in the previous link, pizza steels with MODERNIST CUISINE emblazoned across them are quite pricey.

Enter goonproject. Thanks to this thread brought to my attention by deimos, and some discussions, its looking like we might be able to bring the price down considerably from the modernist cuisine offical steel. Official dimensions of the MODERNISTCUISINE one are 14"x16"x3/8". I was thinking these dimensions would be good considering the dudes are super duper way spergier than me but it is up for discussion

Some relevant :words:

from online and pm conversations re: pizza steel

sifutoast posted:

RE: Original pizza steel request
This is funny because we've actually cut some of these for a client once. We can also etch anything you want on it like the link you posted. I've drawn up a simple rounded rectangle of those dimensions, and I'm getting back $22.23 for 1. And as jeomk mentioned, our website does price:volume (it's actually price to volume for whole order) so for let's say, 10 of them it drops to $21 a piece. If you want the drawing so you can modify it or order it, let me know and I'll send it to you.

re: thickness
Also, we've found you can take them down to 1/4" and they still hold heat enough for good crust. 1/4" is cheaper than 3/8"

My only concern with taking it down to 1/4" is rebound time. while one pizza might be fine, idk what the rebound is like for, like, make-your-own-pizza parties and stuff.

sifutoast also mentioned maybe etching designs onto the steel. any interest in this? What should it be? A grenade? :goonsay:

A frog?

Goatse?

GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Dec 31, 2013

# ? Dec 31, 2013 00:51

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# ? Apr 25, 2024 15:55

GrAviTy84: Nov 25, 2004

tl;dr thread summary:

bulk discount cannot be had at this time, however this is still a very good deal though for a custom etched baking steel with the coupon code, use the following links to order what you like for yourself:

GrAviTy84 posted:

http://www.robinsonlaser.com/?clid=1083

Coupon code: SAGOONS

Basic template: http://www.robinsonlaser.com/goons/GrAviTy84-2.dxf

I'd be down for a version with a small in the corner if someone wants to draft it up.

SifuToast posted:

https://www.robinsonlaser.com/goons/chefsmiley3.dxf

DFu4ever threw a chef smiley in the lower right.

bunnielab posted:

Would it be possible to get one made up as a circle? I want one mainly to use as a comel and one that is 18.5"dia would be small enough to heat on a single burner but would let me make 5 6' tortillas at a time. I am unsure what thickness, I would think to keep the heat even I should go as thick as reasonable, 3/8" seems the most reasonable.

SifuToast posted:

https://www.robinsonlaser.com/goons/bunnielab.dxf

Seasoning:

Steve Yun posted:

Take a paper towel and some vegetable oil. Rub a little oil all over the thing.

Take another paper towel and wipe off any excess oil.

Bake at 500�F for one hour.

Let it cool down completely before touching.

Optional: repeat maybe one or two times.

Product photos:

Nohearum posted:

Here's a pic of it after an hour seasoning. Still too hot to take out of the oven, so the lighting isn't that great.

I used the basic template that Gravity84 posted a few pages back (no logo). The material was black structural (A36). I wouldn't bother with the pickling process as the stock finish is pretty good.

GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Jan 8, 2014

# ? Dec 31, 2013 00:51

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Interested in a second pizza steel because my broiler is below my oven. Having a second hot slab overhead might be helpful in cooking the toppings. Or maybe not, but it's worth investigating.

GrAviTy84 posted:

sifutoast also mentioned maybe etching designs onto the steel. any interest in this? What should it be? A grenade? A frog? Goatse?

Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Dec 31, 2013

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:06

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

What am I missing that makes this different from a piece of 3/8 mild steel?

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:09

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Laser cut rounded corners. Possibly cheaper depending on shipping (mine was $45, sifutoast is offering half that subtotal, I imagine sifutoast gets his slabs in cheap large bulk)

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:11

angor: Nov 14, 2003; teen angst

Put me on that list!

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:15

Daerc: Sep 23, 2007; Look! A door! This must mean something!

I would also like to be added to that list.

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:20

krnhotwings: May 7, 2009; Grimey Drawer

Saw this from the steel thread and GWS recommendations thread. Count me in!

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:22

MrYenko: Jun 18, 2012; #2 isn't ALWAYS bad...

Mr. Wiggles posted:

What am I missing that makes this different from a piece of 3/8 mild steel?

Mine is 3/4 inch, because that's what I had, and has non-precision corners cut with an oxyacetylene torch.

Works great. :v:

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:23

Jerome Louis: Nov 5, 2002; p; College Slice

I'm interested but no goon poo poo on it plz

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:27

Hauki: May 11, 2010

I might be interested in one depending on thickness & price w/ shipping. No goatse and poo poo etched please.

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:31

geetee: Feb 2, 2004; >;[

If I can back out of my baking steel order, count me in.

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:31

But Not Tonight: May 22, 2006; I could show you around the sights.

EDIT: Damnit, nevermind.

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:32

oh rly: Feb 22, 2006; oh rly ya rly no wai

I'm interested as well. When SH/SC did the USB bottle opener group buy, they had a poll to determine what was written on it.

Would bread come out better on this too? I've never actually made bread or pizza before myself.

oh rly fucked around with this message at 01:36 on Dec 31, 2013

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:33

oh rly: Feb 22, 2006; oh rly ya rly no wai

Double post. Sorry.

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:36

Test Pattern: Dec 20, 2007; Keep scrolling, clod!

I'm in as long as the Goon poo poo is subtle.

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:41

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

As said before, I'm down for this. Don't particularly care for having any goon poo poo on it though.

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:41

thebigpicture: Nov 14, 2007

I'm interested depending on the final price with shipping. Not interested in any goon-y etching.

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:44

Five Spice: Nov 20, 2007; By your powers combined...

Steve Yun posted:

Interested in a second pizza steel because my broiler is below my oven. Having a second hot slab overhead might be helpful in cooking the toppings. Or maybe not, but it's worth investigating.

Definitely think :chef:

needs to get etched on dat stone. I think it'd be awesome. Maybe "GWS" underneath?

I wonder what the image parameters are. Do we have a vector of :chef:

floating out there somewhere?

edit: Looks like a lot of people aren't necessarily interested in etching, but I don't think that a simple emote would be too invasive. :shobon:

Ultimately I don't think anyone would be upset if we just went with blank.

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:44

Urk!: Sep 5, 2008; goobers

I'm very interested as well. I'd rather not have anything overly offensive like goatse either, but a cheap baking steel is a cheap baking steel.

Either way I'm in.

# ? Dec 31, 2013 01:46