Authentic Pizza Ovens BBQ Grill Rack for Wood Fired Ovens

Description

The Authentic Pizza Ovens BBQ grill rack is the piece that turns a brick pizza oven into a grill without changing anything about the oven. It is a stainless rod grate, 15.7 by 12.6 inches, standing on its own 2.4 inch legs with a pull handle on one end. Set it over the ceramic dish that ships with every APO brick oven, slide it in beside the coals, and the drippings fall into the dish while the meat takes radiant heat from the dome above, the floor below, and the flame beside it. That three sided heat is the difference between a steak from a wood fired oven and a steak from a grill.

APO's own instructions for the pizza oven grill rack run to one line: place the rack over the ceramic dish or any oven safe pan to catch the drippings. That is all the setup there is for this bbq rack for pizza oven cooking. What the rack opens up is the rest of the evening after the pizzas come out. A brick dome that has done six pizzas is sitting at 300°C with a bed of coals, and that is a grill that needs no lighting, no lid, and no charcoal. Steak, burgers, sausage, chicken thighs, a whole fish, a tray of peppers on the grate, all on the heat the oven was already holding.

The wood fired oven grill rack fits every Authentic Pizza Ovens model, brick or steel. It goes through the Lisboa's door end first, sits on the Pizzaioli floor with room around it, and clears the Maximus Mobile's 9.5 inch ceiling with 7 inches to spare over the grate. Cooking temperatures for meat are the same on a rack as anywhere else: FoodSafety.gov puts poultry at 165°F, ground meat at 160°F, and whole cuts of beef, pork and lamb at 145°F with a rest, and a probe thermometer is the only way to know a piece of meat over a wood fire is there.

The rack ships free with an oven on the same order. On its own it is a 7 pound parcel at the standard rate, no freight and no liftgate. It is stainless throughout, made in Portugal for Authentic Pizza Ovens, and it is the accessory most brick oven owners tell us they wish they had bought with the oven instead of a year later.

The rest of this page covers how the rack sits in the oven, running the fire for grilling, what to cook on it, the fit by oven, care, and buying it from Crustify.

How It Sits in the Oven

The pizza oven grill grate stands on four wire legs bent from the same rod, so it never rests on the dish. The dish goes on the floor first, the rack straddles it with the legs outside the rim, and the food goes on top. The handle points at the door. The rack is 15.7 inches on the long side and 12.6 on the short, and it goes through the door of every APO brick dome on either side; on the Maximus Mobile it goes in on the narrow side through the 15.5 inch door.

Position is the whole technique. Rake the coals to the back and one side, and put the rack on the opposite side with the dish under it and a few inches of clear tile between the rack and the coals. Closer to the fire is a harder sear; further away is gentler. The dome radiates from above no matter where the rack sits, so the top of the food browns at the same time as the bottom, which is the part a grill cannot do.

The pull handle is the reason you can do that without gloves on the grate itself. Hook it, slide the rack toward the mouth to turn the food or check it, slide it back. With the door off and the fire to one side, the grill rack and the ceramic dish come in and out together as many times as the cook needs.

Running the Fire for Grilling

Grilling in a pizza oven happens on retained heat, not on a pizza fire. Bring the oven up as usual, cook the pizzas, then let it fall back to about 250 to 350°C on the dial with a bed of coals and a small live flame. That window is where a steak sears without scorching and a chicken thigh cooks through before the skin burns. Feed one small split at a time if the flame dies; you want a low flame beside the rack, never one licking across it.

Keep the damper open and the door off while the rack is in, the same as for pizza. The draft pulls the smoke off the meat and up the flue, and the open mouth is how you see what is happening on the grate. If the oven is too hot for what you are cooking, pull the rack toward the mouth where the floor is cooler; if it is too cool, push it back toward the coals. Nothing on the rack needs a lid.

The Maximus ovens grill the same way at the same temperatures. The photo above is the rack on the floor of a Maximus with the handle toward the door. On the Mobile keep the rack to the side away from the fire, because the chamber is small and the flame is close; on the Prime there is room to set it a foot from the coals.

What to Cook

Steak is the first thing to put on the pizza oven grill rack, and a steak in a wood fired oven is the case for wood fired grilling in one bite. A one inch strip or ribeye, salted an hour ahead, takes 2 to 3 minutes a side with the rack a few inches from the coals, and the dome browns the top while the grate marks the bottom. Pull it at 125°F for medium rare and rest it five minutes on the side shelf. Two large steaks fit at once; cook in rounds for more, since the oven holds its heat between batches.

Burgers take 3 to 4 minutes a side and drip more than anything else, which is why the dish is under the rack; ground meat goes to 160°F. Sausages take about 10 minutes turned twice, away from the flame so the casings do not split. A whole fish or two fillets, oiled and on the grate skin side down, take 4 to 6 minutes and do not need turning if the dome is doing its work. Chicken thighs, bone in and skin on, take 15 to 20 minutes turned once, to 165°F in the thickest part.

Vegetables are the cook nobody expects to be the best one: peppers, onions in thick rounds, zucchini planks, asparagus, and corn in the husk all take a wood fire on the grate in a few minutes a side. Bread on the rack, brushed with oil, is grilled in a minute. For a dry cook like these the rack can stand straight on the floor with no dish under it.

Which Ovens It Fits

Authentic Pizza Ovens lists the BBQ rack for every oven they make. The grate is small enough for the Maximus Mobile and the brick domes all have more floor than it needs.

The Maximus ovens do not ship with the ceramic dish, so an oven safe pan that fits under the rack, about 14 by 10 inches or smaller, goes under it for fatty cooks. If you have a brick oven from another maker, contact us with the door width and we will tell you straight whether the rack goes through.

Care

The rack is stainless rod, welded, with no plating and nothing to flake. Brush the grate with a grill brush while it is still hot, the way you would a grill, then let it cool and soak it if anything baked on. Dry it before it goes back in the box or the stand drawer. The dishwasher is not needed and the handle is long for most racks; hand washing takes a minute.

The rod nearest the fire will take on heat tint after a few cooks, straw and blue settling to grey, which is cosmetic and normal on any stainless in a wood fire. Check the welds at the legs once a season; they are the only joints on the piece, and a leg that has taken a knock in the crate can be bent back by hand.

Buying the BBQ Grill Rack From Crustify

APO's drawing for the BBQ grill rack: 40 cm (15.7 in) long, 32 cm (12.6 in) wide, 6 cm (2.4 in) tall on the legs, with the pull handle on one end. About 156 square inches of grate. Handmade, so expect small variations.

Order the pizza oven grill rack on the same order as the oven and it ships free with it from the brand's Texas warehouse. Ordered on its own, it is a 7 pound parcel at the standard shipping rate from the same warehouse; no liftgate fee, no freight. APO makes these in batches and stock runs short between them, so lead times are confirmed when you order, and we will tell you the honest date before your card is charged rather than after.

The rack is covered by APO's accessory warranty against defects in the grate, legs, handle and welds; heat tint on the stainless is normal and not a defect. Unused racks in the box can be returned within 14 days, with return postage paid by the buyer.

With the grill rack in the cart, the other pieces a brick oven wants for the after pizza cook are the starter pack, whose 32 inch turner is what moves food on a hot grate, and the traditional spit for a whole chicken in the Lisboa; the Maximus ovens take the Mobile spit or the Prime spit. A probe thermometer is in our pizza oven accessories collection with everything else for the brick domes and the Maximus, and every oven this rack fits is on the Authentic Pizza Ovens brand page. Chat and email go straight to the owner and are usually answered the same day.

Best way to buy: add this to your pizza oven order. Orders over $750 ship free.

KEY FEATURES

• Authentic Pizza Ovens BBQ grill rack, the stainless pizza oven grill rack made for every APO brick and Maximus oven
• 15.7 x 12.6 in grate on 2.4 in legs, about 156 square inches of cooking surface: two large steaks, four burgers, a dozen sausages, or two fish fillets at a time
• Stands on its own legs over the ceramic dish that ships with every APO brick oven, or over any oven safe pan, so drippings are caught and never hit the floor tiles
• Pull handle on one end: slide the rack to the mouth to turn the food, slide it back, no gloves on the grate
• Three sided heat: radiant from the dome above, the floor below, and the flame beside it, which browns the top while the grate marks the bottom
• Grills on retained heat after the pizzas, about 250 to 350°C, no lighting, no lid, no charcoal
• Fits through every APO brick oven door and the Maximus Mobile's 15.5 in door, with 7 in of headroom on the Mobile
• Stainless rod throughout, welded, no plating; brush hot, soak cold, hand wash
• 7 lb; ships free with an oven order, standard parcel rate on its own
• Made in Portugal for Authentic Pizza Ovens; the ceramic dish is not included with the rack

SPECIFICATIONS

INSTALLATION GUIDE & USER MANUAL

Setting up. Cook the pizzas first, then let the oven fall back to about 250 to 350°C. Rake the coals to the back and one side. Put the ceramic dish or an oven safe pan on the floor on the other side, a few inches from the coals, and stand the rack over it with the legs outside the rim and the handle toward the door.

Cooking. Oil the food, not the grate. Lay it on the rack, leave the door off and the damper open, and let the dome do the top while the grate does the bottom. Hook the handle to slide the rack to the mouth for turning. Steak 2 to 3 minutes a side, burgers 3 to 4, sausages about 10 turned twice, fish 4 to 6, chicken thighs 15 to 20 turned once. Check with a probe thermometer: 125°F for medium rare beef, 145°F for pork and whole cuts, 160°F for ground meat, 165°F for poultry.

Dry cooks. Vegetables, bread, and well trimmed cuts can go on the rack straight on the floor with no dish under it. Anything that drips gets the dish.

Unloading. Hook the handle and pull the rack to the mouth, lift the food off with tongs, and lift the rack and dish out together with gloves. Pour the drippings off the dish while they are hot.

Care. Brush the grate hot, soak it cold, hand wash, dry. Check the leg welds once a season. Store in the box or the stand drawer.

WARRANTY INFORMATION

Term. Authentic Pizza Ovens covers the BBQ grill rack against defects in the grate, legs, handle and welds under its accessory warranty, from the date of delivery, to the original purchaser.

Exclusions. Heat tint and discoloration of the stainless steel are normal and not defects. Damage from bending the legs, from overloading the grate, from wire brushes that are not stainless, or from misuse is excluded.

Claims. Contact us first with photos and your order number and we handle the claim with APO on your behalf. Shipping damage is separate: note it on the delivery receipt or report it within five days for concealed damage.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - FAQ'S

Your Questions Answered Before You Buy

These are the questions we get most often about the Authentic Pizza Ovens BBQ grill rack, answered straight. If yours is not here, chat or email goes to the owner and you will usually hear back the same day.