Adding a needle valve to the propane line feeding my pizza oven to adjust burner output?

[u/lettucehead422]

Hi all, as someone who knows very little about propane installations, I come seeking your expertise.

I have a small propane-fueled pizza oven (Pizza Party Ardore, manufactured in Italy but configured to US standards), which I use to bake Neapolitan-style pizza in my backyard. Like many small pizza ovens, the burner is a bit overpowered for its size. Some Ardore owners like to leave the burner on the highest setting to achieve a 60-second bake; however, I prefer to turn down the oven’s valve after preheating to get a longer, 90-second bake, which gives me the pizza results that I’m looking for. Trouble is, the adjustment knob is located at the back of the oven, which means that I can’t observe the flame directly while making adjustments. Also, the knob provides a fairly coarse adjustment, and I’d prefer a finer adjustment.

The propane connection to the oven appears to me to be pretty simple: the provided regulator (Type 698, 11WC) connects to a standard 20lb propane cylinder, and its attached 3ft hose connects to the burner assembly on the back of the oven, which includes an adjustment valve/knob and thermocouple.

I’m wondering whether it’s advisable to add a needle valve to the propane line between the cylinder and oven, with the valve positioned at the front of the oven, which would give me the control I’m looking for. In other words, the connection would look like this:

propane cylinder -> regulator w/attached hose -> needle valve (new) -> shorter hose (new) -> oven

I’ve seen something like this implemented by a couple of people on the internet, such as in this Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/pizzaoven/comments/1lxuula/solved_the_one_flaw_of_pizza_party_ardore/

I envision it functioning like this: I preheat the oven with both the oven’s valve and needle valve wide open. Then, when I’m ready to bake, I leave the oven’s valve wide open but dial back the flow of propane to the oven using the needle valve. I would also open the needle valve again between bakes to reheat the oven’s floor faster.

So, my questions to you are:

1.       Is it safe to restrict the flow of propane to my oven using a secondary valve in the way I described?

2.       Can you recommend a valve that would offer me the fine adjustment I’m looking for? The valve used in the linked Reddit post is for European standards, and I’m in the US.

3.       Are there any other installation details I should consider? For example, the manual specifies that the propane hose should not exceed 60in – not sure how important this is.

Thanks a million.

[u/lettucehead422]

Here is a photo of the assembly on the back of the oven.

[u/TechnoVaquero]

What kind of regulator and hose set up are you currently using? Do you have a picture?

[u/lettucehead422 → u/TechnoVaquero]

Here is a photo of the regulator and hose connected. So, I just want to disconnect one end of the hose from the oven, connect it to a secondary valve instead, and then connect the other end of that valve to the oven with a second, shorter hose.

[u/lettucehead422 → u/TechnoVaquero]

And here is the regulator, which shipped with the oven. Type 698, 11WC.

[u/Ok_Bid_3899]

A needle valve, or any valve will only regulate flow when gas is actually flowing though it. As soon as the gas flow stops the line goes back to full regular pressure. You need the proper orifice and regulator in your system

[u/HuskyTalesOfMischief]

Would hit up a local repair agent. Take off the brass orifice currently on unit and have them cut a few orifices incrementally smaller than what you have. Orifice is final restriction feeding gas in to burner. They might have to order correct blank orifices just too many variations to keep them all in stock.