A Restonian is changing how pizza is made with a new Iron Dome Pizza Oven.
Mike Pilon, who has lived in Reston since 2007, has created an oven that he says transforms the way fresh pizza is made.
The dome is a portable pizza oven that uses two independent heat sources — a bottom baking steel and steel plate inside a carbon steel dome.
Pilon says he was inspired to create a product without the cost and hassles linked with traditional pizza ovens.
“My goal was to create a product that makes the art of pizza-making accessible to everyone , and I believe the Iron Dome Pizza does just that,” Pilon said.
According to Pilon, the dome can bake pizzas in under 90 seconds, heating up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit during that process.
Pilon’s traditional profession is far from the world of pizza-making. He has more than 15 years of experience in the management consulting industry and currently offers consulting services to PasteGroup LLC in support of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Pilon says he has been in and out of entrepreneurship throughout his career. He previously launched MapMuse.com, which provides interactive mapping services to real estate and destination marketing companies. He then created a general mapping website. The venture shut down in 2019.
He says he came up with the idea for the Iron Dome after heating a piece of metal with a high heat capacity to a high temperature and then allowing the heat to be released in a controlled way.
“I love to cook, and one day, while waiting for a pot of water for pasta to boil, I thought about how much energy is wasted through heat loss above the lid. I investigated and prototyped some ‘pot-toppers,'” Pilon said. “But even though there was some time/energy savings, I didn’t think it would interest many people. However, it led me to the idea of the Iron Dome Pizza Oven.”
The device is compatible with gas stoves, electric burners and outdoor cooking set ups.
So far, Pilon has been selling pizzas using the Iron Dome Pizza Oven on Wednesday afternoons at the FreshFarm Market in the St. John Neumann Catholic Church parking lot (11900 Lawyers Road). They’ve been selling out each week.
The patent for the pizza-making oven is pending, Pilon said. It’s available for purchase via Etsy for around $120.