Tuscan Chef GX-B1 Two Chamber Wood Fired Pizza Oven, Side Shelves

Description

The Tuscan Chef GX-B1 is the GX-C2 with a work surface on each side: the same two chamber wood fired oven, fire brick lined firebox below, cooking chamber above on a ceramic stone with a second shelf, smoke vented up through both sides so the flavor reaches the food and the flames and ash do not, in a 34 inch wide body with a stainless shelf built onto each side of the cart. It is welded from 6 mm steel, wrapped in two inches of insulation and 304 stainless, and it rolls on four casters with a wood rack below. Tuscan Chef calls it the Medium Family Oven, and it is the one for the cook who has stood at a cart oven with a loaded peel and nowhere to set it. Crustify is an authorized Tuscan Chef dealer, and every GX-B1 ships free by freight.

Inside, nothing changes from the GX-C2: the chamber is the same 18 1/4 by 18 1/2 inches by 10 tall, the firebox is an inch wider, the temperatures and the wood schedule are the same, and so is the 485 lb total weight. What changes is everything that happens at your hands. A shelf at hearth height on the left for the peel and the dough, a shelf on the right for the pan coming out, and the oven in between; the whole station rolls as one piece. This page covers the two chambers, the shelves and the body, how the oven is built, cooking and curing, where it sits, how it compares to the other Tuscan Chef sizes and the other wood ovens on wheels we carry, and what to order with it.

Two Chambers: the Fire Below, the Food Above

Tuscan Chef's whole idea is the stacked layout, what some dealers call a dual chamber oven. The firebox is the bottom chamber, lined with an inch of refractory fire brick, with its own door and a sliding damper. The cooking chamber is the top one, with the ceramic stone as its floor and the firebox roof as the stone's heat source. Vents on each side carry the smoke from the firebox up and across the cooking chamber on its way to the chimney, which is where the wood flavor comes from. The flames stay downstairs, the stone gets its heat from below like a hearth, and you work the fire and the food through two separate doors. The one habit the manual asks for: when you open the firebox to feed it, have the chamber above empty or the food covered, because fly ash can rise through the vents. Feed between pizzas, not during one.

The firebox

Twenty one inches wide, 16 deep and 7 tall, an inch wider than the GX-C2's, behind a steel door with a spiral heat deflecting handle and the sliding damper that is the oven's thermostat: open for more air and a hotter chamber, closed down to hold a lower temperature on less wood. Both doors hinge down onto steel stops, so the firebox door becomes a lip to work the fire over.

The cooking chamber

Eighteen and a quarter inches wide, 18 1/2 deep and 10 tall, which is one large pizza on the stone, or two small ones, with the removable stainless wire shelf above for a second tray. That shelf is why Tuscan Chef says the oven has two to four times the cooking space of similarly priced freestanding wood ovens: pizza on the stone and a pan of vegetables on the shelf, or bread below and a roast above. The stone is about an inch and a half of ceramic and holds heat the way a hearth does. The gauge sits in the body just above the oven door and reads the chamber without opening it.

The Side Shelves and the 34 Inch Body

The GX-B1 is 34 inches wide to the GX-C2's 27 1/2, and the difference is the two stainless shelves that are welded into the cart frame at hearth height, one on each side of the oven. They are not clip on trays: they carry a loaded peel, a cast iron pan straight out of the chamber, the dough tray, the brush and the cutter, and they are there every time you roll the oven out. On a cart oven without them you are walking to a table with a 700°F pan; on the GX-B1 you set it down at your hip. The oven body and chambers are otherwise the GX-C2's, so the shelves are what you are buying, and for a cook who runs the oven for a whole evening they are the difference between a pizza oven and a kitchen.

How the GX-B1 Is Built

The body is 6 mm welded steel, a quarter inch, in high heat flat black paint, which is why it weighs 430 lb without the cart and why it holds heat for hours. Two inches of insulation surround both chambers and the sides and top are wrapped in 304 stainless; Tuscan Chef's own readings on a 700°F oven put the stainless sides at about 100°F and the top at 150, with the doors at 360 and the back at 450. A 39 inch stainless chimney with a spark guard cap slips over the collar on top, two round stainless side handles bolt to the body for lifting, and the cart is a welded steel frame with the two shelves, a heavy steel rack for the wood supply and four 4 inch casters, two locking, which go at the front. The oven's four corner tabs seat inside the cart frame. Chimney on, the top of the cap is 92 inches up.

Cooking on the GX-B1

Start the fire with kindling on crumpled newspaper, add small pieces as it catches, then larger splits, and give it about 40 minutes to mature into hot coals with little flame; Tuscan Chef's figure for reaching temperature is 30 to 45 minutes. Tuscan Chef says most cooking happens between 450 and 700°F, that bread, pizza, fish and steak want 600 to 800, and that ribs, roasts, poultry and lamb want 250 to 350 with the damper closed down. Thin crust pizza is four minutes at 650°F on the stone; at 700°F and up a piece of wood every 20 to 30 minutes holds it, and at 350°F one or two pieces an hour hold it for as long as you like. Our pizza oven temperature guide covers what each reading is good for.

With the shelves the routine settles into a rhythm: build the pizza on the left shelf, launch, turn, land it on the right shelf and cut it there while the next one goes in. The wire shelf above the stone is the second habit, a tray of vegetables over the pizza or a bird over the bread. Seasoned hardwood only, split to the 21 inch firebox: no accelerants, no treated wood, and the drier the better; our pizza oven wood guide covers the species. Wood grade, moisture, altitude and weather all move the numbers, so the first few cooks are for learning your oven.

Curing, Wood and Care

Before the first cook the oven is cured: a fire in the firebox to 450 to 500°F with both doors open for at least an hour, which sets the high temperature paint and drives off its fumes. Tuscan Chef's line is that its ovens cure in an hour where clay ovens take days, and you can cook the same evening. After that, clean the ash out of the firebox before each fire, wipe the stone, shelf and door with a damp cloth, wire brush any buildup, and wipe the outside and the side shelves down. The black steel is painted, not stainless, so surface rust can show in time; the manual's fix is fine steel wool and a coat of high heat flat black, and it is excluded from the warranty, which is why Tuscan Chef makes a fitted cover for the GX-B1 and why our pizza oven maintenance guide puts a cover first.

Where It Sits

Outdoors only, on a level surface that carries 485 lb, with 36 inches from the oven to anything combustible at the front, back and sides and 18 inches from the chimney; with the shelves the oven is 34 inches wide, so allow about nine feet of clear width for oven and clearances together. Lock the front casters once it is placed. The cart is built to roll on smooth, level, unobstructed ground, so plan its home before the pallet arrives, and keep gasoline, propane and anything flammable away from it. Nothing to plumb or wire. The GX-B1 is sold as a cart oven; for a masonry opening, Tuscan Chef's built in models are the GX-CM in this size and the GX-DL in the large.

How the GX-B1 Compares

Tuscan Chef makes four sizes of the same two chamber oven, and we carry two other wood ovens on wheels. The GX-B1 is the medium with the side shelves.

Between the two mediums the question is the shelves: the GX-C2 if the oven lives next to a counter or the patio is tight, the GX-B1 if the oven is the counter. The GX-D1 is the step up in chamber size rather than workspace. Against a dome oven on wheels the question is whether you want to tend a fire next to the pizza or under it; if a fire under the food with gas to light it is the goal, the HPC Forno is the hybrid on a cart. All four Tuscan Chefs are in the Tuscan Chef collection, every wood oven we carry is in the Wood Fired collection, every oven on wheels is in the Freestanding and Cart collection, and our best wood fired pizza ovens post ranks them against each other.

Who Should Buy the GX-B1, and Who Should Not

Buy the GX-B1 if you want the Tuscan Chef two chamber oven and the oven is going to be the whole outdoor kitchen: no counter beside it, nowhere else to set a peel or land a pan, and a cook who runs it for an evening at a time. It is the oven for the patio or deck with room for a 34 inch cart, for the cook who roasts and bakes outdoors as much as makes pizza, and for anyone who wants steel and stainless rather than a dome to cure for days.

Do not buy the GX-B1 if the oven will sit next to a counter that already does the shelves' job; the GX-C2 is the same oven for less and a narrower spot. Do not buy it if you want a gas burner for weeknights, it is wood only, or if you want to see the flame licking over the pizza through the mouth of a dome. Do not buy it for a masonry opening; the GX-CM and GX-DL are the built in Tuscan Chefs. Do not buy it for a spot closer than 36 inches to a wall, fence or overhang, or for a deck that cannot carry 485 lb on four casters. Our pizza oven buying guide walks the whole decision.

What to Order With It

The oven comes with its wire shelf, side handles, chimney and gauge, and you supply the wood and the peel. Tuscan Chef makes a 35 inch aluminum peel, a 10 inch brass bristle brush with scraper and a fitted cover for the GX-B1 that goes over the shelves; we do not list the Tuscan Chef accessories, so ask us and we will quote the cover with the oven, since a fitted cover is the one add that protects the painted steel. Any long handled peel and a brush from our accessories collection work with the 18 inch chamber. Accessories ordered with the oven ride on the same freight at no added charge.

Buying the GX-B1 From Crustify

Crustify is an authorized Tuscan Chef dealer, so the two year parts warranty applies. The oven and cart ship by freight on a pallet from Inmar Industries, Tuscan Chef's distributor in Ontario, shrink wrapped and crated, and arrive curbside with a $95 residential liftgate fee at checkout; a business address with a dock pays no liftgate. Shipping is free in the contiguous 48 states; Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico are quoted before you order. Inspect the pallet before you sign and write "damaged" on the bill or refuse delivery if there is any; Tuscan Chef treats damage reported more than three days after delivery as having happened after delivery, so unpack it when it lands. Returns on an unused oven in its original packaging follow our return policy, with return freight paid by the buyer. Chat and email go straight to the owner and are usually answered the same day; if you are measuring a deck or a patio for it, send the photo through our contact page and we will check the clearances before you order.

KEY FEATURES

• Tuscan Chef GX-B1 Medium Family Oven: two chamber wood fired oven, fire brick lined firebox below, cooking chamber above, smoke vented through both sides for flavor without flame or ash on the food
• Two stainless steel side shelves welded into the cart at hearth height, one each side of the oven; 34 in overall width
• 6 mm welded steel body in high heat flat black, two inches of insulation around both chambers, 304 stainless wrap on sides and top
• Cooking chamber 18 1/4 in wide by 18 1/2 deep by 10 tall over a 1 1/2 in ceramic stone, with a removable stainless wire shelf for a second level
• Firebox 21 by 16 by 7 in, lined with 1 in refractory fire brick, steel door with sliding damper and spiral heat deflecting handle
• Rated to 950°F; most cooking between 450 and 700°F; thin crust pizza in 4 minutes at 650°F; 30 to 45 minutes to temperature
• Holds 700°F on a piece of wood every 20 to 30 minutes and 350°F for hours on one or two pieces an hour
• Stainless gauge above the oven door, 39 in stainless chimney with spark guard, round stainless side handles
• Welded steel cart with wood rack and four 4 in casters, two locking; oven tabs seat inside the cart frame
• Oven 28 1/2 in H by 34 W by 19 D with shelves; 92 in to the chimney cap on the cart; 430 lb oven, 55 lb cart
• Assembles in about 30 minutes, cures in an hour at 450 to 500°F with both doors open; all season outdoor use
• Two year parts warranty, normal consumer use; surface rust and abuse excluded
• Ships free by freight on a pallet; $95 residential liftgate

SPECIFICATIONS

Documents: Tuscan Chef GX-B1 spec sheet (PDF) and the Tuscan Chef product brochure (PDF).

VIDEO

INSTALLATION GUIDE & USER MANUAL

Delivery. The oven and cart arrive on a pallet, shrink wrapped. Inspect before you sign; mark the bill "damaged" or refuse delivery if there is any, and report concealed damage within three days. Unpack on a moving pad or cardboard so the steel and stainless do not scratch; cut the plastic wrapped ties holding the doors, pull the nylon hinge inserts, the tube support inside the oven and the box with the chimney cap and thermometer.

Cart. Turn the cart on its edge and bolt the four casters on with a 14 mm socket and 13 mm wrench, the two locking casters on the long side where the front of the oven will be. Set it on its wheels and lock them.

Oven. Bolt the round stainless side handles to the oven body with a 17 mm wrench. Push the thermometer through the hole above the oven chamber and snug the nut and washer from inside. With two or more people, lift the oven onto the cart so its four corner tabs seat inside the frame between the shelves. Fit the cap to the chimney and slide the chimney down over the collar on top of the oven.

Curing. Light a fire in the firebox, open both doors, and run the oven at 450 to 500°F for at least an hour to cure the paint before any food goes in.

Firing. Kindling on crumpled newspaper, small wood as it catches, then splits; about 40 minutes to mature coals. Set the heat with the firebox damper and the amount of wood; a piece every 20 to 30 minutes at 700°F, one or two an hour at 350°F. Empty the oven chamber or cover the food before opening the firebox. Gloves or mitts on both doors; lift each door slightly to swing it and lower it onto its stop.

Care. Clean the ash from the firebox and wipe the chamber, stone, shelf and door with a damp cloth before each use; wire brush any buildup. Wipe the outside and the side shelves down; touch up surface rust with fine steel wool and high heat flat black paint. Cover the oven between cooks.

Documents: Tuscan Chef GX series owner's manual (PDF), Tuscan Chef GX-B1 spec sheet (PDF).

WARRANTY INFORMATION

Term. Tuscan Chef outdoor wood fired ovens are warranted for two years, parts only, subject to normal consumer use. Curing the oven before use as the manual describes is a condition of the warranty.

Not covered. Surface rust on the painted steel, and damage caused by abuse or neglect, including improper installation or use contrary to the manual; Inmar Industries accepts no liability for damage from improper use or installation.

Claims. Contact us first with photos and your order number and we handle the claim with Tuscan Chef. Shipping damage is separate: note it on the bill at delivery or report it within three days.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - FAQ'S

Your Questions Answered Before You Buy

These are the questions we get most often about the Tuscan Chef GX-B1, answered from Tuscan Chef's manual, spec sheet and brochure. If yours is not here, chat or email goes to the owner and you will usually hear back the same day.