Made from felt, this little pizza pouch can hold your slice stash. Six by four inches, with a zippered side. From fredflare.com, $12 plus shipping. Wait! With the way prices are going on slices these days, I don't know if this little pouch is big enough.
Editor's note: A short time ago, homeslice Philip G. got in touch, telling me there was a post on pizzamaking.com that was making quite a stir: Reverse-Engineered Coal-Fired Brick Oven. Apparently, a Michigan man had invented a grill insert that he claimed simulated a coal- or wood-fired oven. I clicked over and became fascinated by the metal-and-stone device (pictured below). Could something so simple-looking achieve the holy grail of at-home pizza-making—hot enough and consistent enough temperatures to perfectly cook a pie? I don't know yet, because my 2stone Pizza Grill has only today begun its UPS journey to my home in Brooklyn. Anyway, Philip has been in on the 2stone discussion thread on pizzamaking.com since the beginning, so he offered to do a Q &A with the inventor, Willard Gustavsen. Here 'tis. Many thanks to Philip! —Adam
Name: Willard Gustavsen
Location: Southwest Michigan
Occupation: Designer, manufacturer, builder
URL: 2stonepizzagrill.com
Tell us a little bit about where this project came from—where did you initially get the idea to make a pizza-oven insert for grills?
Most of the design work I have done has been related to specialty tools for the building industry. I have either sold the patent rights or have manufactured products and private-labeled them for companies. I have always liked good pizza and thought it would be a fun project; to see if I could design a simple oven or tool that could duplicate the results of an authentic wood-fired hearth oven. Essentially the 2stone Pizza Grill is just another tool of sorts.
At first, all of my prototypes were wood-burning and were a combination of steel and fire bricks. I tried many different styles, mostly looking for a way to reduce the number of bricks it took and also trying to find ways to shorten the fire-up time. Since I genuinely like pizza and pizza-making, it was more interesting than some of the other projects I've worked on. I kind of had my doubts about making something saleable, because it could be really expensive to ship a lot of bricks around the country.
I guess that's where I started thinking about a grill insert. I already had a grill "the heat source" and I figured most people do, so why bother reinventing "the heat part"? I also got tired of having to burn all that slab wood just for two pizzas.
How long has it taken to get all the kinks out of the system, from start to finish?
I started 5 or 6 years ago. I didn't work on it all the time but kept thinking about it in the back of my mind. I would scrap the last prototype and build a new one, always looking for a way to do more with less—fewer firebricks and shorter fire-up times, for example. Once the final concept was down, it did boil down to ironing out the kinks, as you say.
If you've been sitting on the fence about purchasing a Slice T-shirt, you're too late. I've placed the order for the first batch of Slice T-shirts. If you want one and didn't order, email me and I'll put you on the list for the second printing. you better make up your mind soon. I've hit the minimum number of "pre-orders" I need and will be sending the job off to the screenprinter tonight.
Only those who have ordered will get shirts. I'm not having surplus stock made. So order now or forever hold your peace.
If you've already ordered, you should have been contacted earlier this morning with confirmation info. If you ordered and didn't get a confirmation from me, get in touch and we'll sort things out: adam@sliceny.com
Last chance ... $14, shipping is included, sauce stains aren't!
I've been wanting to make Slice T-shirts for, like, forever. I've finally put rubber to road and have sourced a printer and blah blah blah. Here they are.
I'm taking orders on these up to May 9, at which point I'll give the printer the go-ahead to make the batch of shirts. After May 9, they'll be unavailable. For those who do order, figure 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. Delayed gratification, people—it's underrated. Anyway, the deets are below.
UPDATE: No longer taking orders. If you want one, you'll have to wait until I order more. Send me an email if you'd like to be in the next batch of orders.
Price: $14, shipping included. Priced low (only pennies above cost) to move!
T-Shirt Styles
The Official Slice T-Shirt will be printed on American Apparel T's in the following styles, your choice. Please make sure you know your AA size, as they seem to have changed recently.
Mens #2001 (XS, S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL)
Ladies #2102 (S, M, L, XL, 2XL)
Ladies #4305 (XS, S, M, L, XL, 2XL)
(Ladies #2102 or Ladies #4305? Here's an argument for the #2102.)
Colors
Available in Heather Grey or White. Your choice.
Ordering
No longer taking orders.
I'm taking orders via PayPal only. Please indicate quantity, style, size, and color in the field below, and press the button. You don't need a PayPal account to order. (Note: If you want more than one shirt, be sure to specify your style/size/color info for each shirt in the "Optional Instructions" field on the order page.)
Friend of Slice Janelle was listening to this story on NPR this morning and heard passing reference to a new Tickle Me Elmo Extreme doll. From a CNNMoney story late last month:
... get ready for Pizza Elmo. According to [toy industry analyst Chris] Byrne, it's an Elmo doll holding a pizza, and the pizza talks and sings along with Elmo. The toy is expected to retail for $19.99.
Toy Fair: Big-Ticket High Tech [NPR.org]
Following T.M.X. Elmo, here come his friends [money.cnn.com]
Neat set of pizza plates from Fred Flare. $15 for a set of four. "... grab these ingenious pizza plates that can fit exactly one slice of pizza!!" the site says.
One slice? A perfect item for lightweights.
Pizza Slice Plate, Set of 4 [fredflare.com, via Lia]
Welcome back from the long weekend. I trust that those of you who celebrate Christmas have chosen, chopped, and lugged home your trees or have dragged the artificial Tannenbaum up from the basement.
No? Well, get a move on, folks. Where else are you going to hang these awesome pizza ornaments? The one at left is from bronners.com ($7.99, plus S&H), and the one at right is available from Urban Outfitters ($10, in stores or from website).
Pizza Christmas Ornament [bronners.com]
Pizza Slice Glass Ornament [Urban Outfitters]
Ornament tip via Friend of Slice Joe S. Thanks, Joe!
Dear Slice,
My girlfriend is a native of Brooklyn, although she now resides in Oxford, England, getting her master's degree. She often complains about the lack of a good NYC-quality pizza (a complaint she has about any city outside of NYC). I was looking into mail-order NYC pizza that I could send her and that she could pop into the oven. Any thoughts?
Cheers,
Andrew E.
Dear Andrew,
This is one we get a lot, but luckily, the answer is easy enough. Slice did a bit on this last year. I'll rerun it here and hope that it'll be of use to you. Of the following three pizza shippers, Flying Pizza reports that it can do overseas but that the FedEx costs on that will run $65 to $75. Still waiting on the other two outfits to get back to me ...
Hasta la pizza,
Adam
Rocco's Pizza: Bay Ridge–based Rocco's offers four 12-inch pies (left) delivered overnight. The pizzas are "plain" (translation for non–New Yorkers: no toppings, just cheese), shipped via UPS in a package equipped with leakproof refrigerant gel packs. The pies will be frozen on arrival, with reheat instructions included, so recipients can either pop them into a preheated oven or deep-six them for enjoyment later. Cost: $74.25 — $39 for four pies plus $35.25 shipping.
FlyingPizza.com: Eddie's New York City Pizza, based in Brooklyn's Sunset Park, offers 18-inch plain pies. According to its website, "The pies are sealed in special packaging that allows you to remove individual slices from your refrigerator or freezer as you need them." You can order as few as one pie or packages of four, eight, or 12 pies. Shipping (FedEx 2nd Day Air) is included in the price. Order online or by phone: 800-969-NYPIES Cost: One pie, $19.95; four pies, $64.92; eight pies, $124.96; 12 pies, $179.40
IWantNYPizza.com: This site offers pizza from a network of New York state–based pizzerias. You order a pie, and your order is "routed to a participating pizzeria" and shipped via second-day delivery on iced gel packs. IWantNYPizza.com delivers Sicilian pies in addition to the regular round pies. It also offers a "Pizza of the Month" option and a "Make Your Own NY Pizza" four-pie pack comprising dough, sauce, cheese, and seasonings. Cost: One regular pie, $17.98 plus $31 shipping; One Sicilian pie, $19.99 plus $31 shipping; Make Your Own NY Pizza, $49.99 plus $31 shipping.
Slice is part of the Foodblog Ad Network. To advertise on this site or across a network of food-related weblogs, click here.
Slice is also part of the New York City Blogad Network, which allows advertisers to target an audience of smart and savvy Gothamites. To place an ad on Slice or on the NYC Blogad Network, click here.
