1st pizza attempt on kettle-FAIL!! w/ pron

B

BlkJeep

Guest
Well after seeing lots of great pizza on here I thought "I can do that." Had some frozen pizzas at home so I fired up the kettle. I have a good stone but I didn't' want to put it directly on the grate so I laid some angle iron across the top. Then I thought, really I should cut those really quick but then maybe it won't matter? :confused: I should have researched this part a little more. So I tossed the stone and the pizza on and put the lid on. At this point the light went off in my head!!!! Well this won't be good! The fire is going to get too hot. Well it pegged my temp gage at over 600'. The pizza was done quickly, I grabbed it off but in the two seconds it took me to get it off it burned the crust! No prob, I have another one, right. I took the stone off so I could cut the angle shorter and calm the fire. This is were the trouble starts. As I was getting the cut off wheel out I hear a loud POP and then I saw it. One totally farked stone! :mad2::mad2: Well lessoned learn. So in the oven went the other pizza. I will add that the burnt pizza had some not burnt spots and they tasted so so good! I will conquer this! :grin: The pics are below just before everything went south!

MMS95Resized95Pix-1.jpg


03301829.jpg


MMS95Resized95Pix2.jpg


MMS95Resized95Pix3.jpg


Well Like I said lesson learned!!
 
What caused it? The super high temps or quality of stone?
 
stiffy said:
What caused it? The super high temps or quality of stone?
Click to expand...

I don't know but I would guess super high heat and then cooling it too quick by placing it on the concrete. I've cooked with it in the oven for years.
 
Stones will crack like that usually for one of two reasons.

1.) Thermo shock from the cold, or warm stone being put onto a very hot grate

2.) Temperature way to high

Next time, try warming the stone up as the grill is coming up to temp. Also let it cool inside the grill when you are done.

At any rate nice try and thanks for posting. Failues as well as success help all of us.
 
Blues- thanks for tips!! I did let warm up a little on the grate but the much much much colder concrete did it in.

Anyone have a stone they would reccomend?
 
Sorry to hear about that. I think it was the temp shock too, hot, then cold, then hot again...
 
Bluesman said:
Stones will crack like that usually for one of two reasons.

1.) Thermo shock from the cold, or warm stone being put onto a very hot grate

2.) Temperature way to high

Next time, try warming the stone up as the grill is coming up to temp. Also let it cool inside the grill when you are done.

At any rate nice try and thanks for posting. Failues as well as success help all of us.
Click to expand...
I agree about the failers, My fatty failed it was a little dry but there was 2 things against me.

1. The meat choice.
2. I over cooked it.

And nice attempt BlkJeep!
 
BlkJeep said:
I don't know but I would guess super high heat and then cooling it too quick by placing it on the concrete. I've cooked with it in the oven for years.
Click to expand...

Thermal shock will do it every time.
When I do pizza, the stone goes in when the fire gets lit and doesn't come out until the grill has cooled.
The high heat should not be a factor, ceramics are fired at a much higher temp than you'll ever get from charcoal.

OOPS! Bluesman already said it all.:redface:
Guess thats what I get for speed reading.:becky:
 
I think maybe two things: one would be not bringing the stone to temperature gradually and two - use of direct heat under it.

I have done pizzas on the BGE as has Rick and Ross and we all use a platesetter which makes it totally indirect heat - very similar to your conventional oven.

You could probably use firebricks on the grate in the kettle - then cut the angle iron to fit on top of the firebricks to support your new stone - this would allow heat to circulate under the stone. Would also be indirect - more like a wood burning pizza oven.

I think Rick has pics of using the firebricks - might do a search.

Hope this helps
 
Here is an excellent article from The Naked Whiz about cooking pizza on a Egg. A lot of it can be applied to any grill. There is a section in there about pizza stones and it shows a picture of a Pampered Chef stone that had a fate similar to Blkjeep's stone.

Personally i would buy a stone that is designed to be used in a grill like the BGE stone or this one...

http://www.bakingstone.com/grilling.php
 
Having broken not one but two stones recently in Bubba Ho-Keg, I can safely say that thermal shock and any hint of moisture on the stone is a deadly combination. I've finally resigned myself to learning to use a pizza peel to transfer the pizza to the warm stone rather than building the pizza on the stone and putting it right on the grill. The other option is to get a metal pizza pan, and after the crust firms up a bit transfer the pizza right to the stone.
 
Here's how I do it on my kettles. They always come out ok i try not to use too much charcoal so I won't burn them. I put the stone in as its heating up. If it gets too hot I usually burn the crust. Don't ask me how I know. Also I let my frozen pizzas thaw first that usually helps me.

pizza004.jpg

pizza009.jpg
 
I personally haven't tried it, but some people have had luck using unglazed quarry tiles from the hardware store instead of expensive designer pizza stones. You might need to ask at the store, because they can have various other names - like "terra cotta," "saltillo" or "mexican" tiles.
 
Like others have said but I'll say it again, at least you tried! Thanks for posting this. It's fun to see the successful cooks but there is a lot to be learned from seeing something go wrong. We can all learn from that so thanks again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

NCGrimbo
Question for the pizza oven guys and gals.
Replies
12
Views
687
NCGrimbo
NCGrimbo
Jason TQ
Ooni Koda 16 (Pizza things escalated quickly)
2 3 4
Replies
62
Views
4K
bowhnter
bowhnter
Moose
• The OTHER Chicago Style Pizza – The Pizza Locals Eat
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
LYU370
LYU370
J
Only Three Toppings Plus One - Pizza Edition
2
Replies
28
Views
1K
Aggie12
A
Moose
• Netflix Inspiration: I Came for the Pizza but Stayed for the Sammich
Replies
15
Views
703
Big George's BBQ
Big George's BBQ
Back
Top