FrankenWeber Pizza Kettle Maiden Voyage: Major Pizza Pron!

Those look amazing!

Great looking pies Moose

It's Pizza Party Time.....

I'd be on those pies like a poodle on a post master.

Very nice. I have been thinking about putting one of these together as well with leftover bottoms of kettles sacrificed for UDS lids. I like the use of the burner to get up to higher temps but I am still thinking of trying to do it with wood/lump. Do you think you would get some wood fire flavoring if you put a couple chunks of wood in the sand? I would assume it would be hot enough to get it smoldering.

Man I love pizza those look awesome! I'm noticing the same thing in my 22.5 kettle. In my 18" SJP I can get the top of the pizza nice and golden brown but not so much so on the big kettle.

Dang Moose! Just, dang!:thumb::thumb::becky:

How can you get just a little more convection over the top I wonder...

NICE!
Awesome lookin' pies!
:clap2::thumb:

Thanks for the write up! Keep working on the technique, and once you have it down perfect let me know so I can copy every detail!
There has to be a way to force more hot air down on the top of the pie so that the crust and top are done at the same time. I wonder if you should just try it once with layer of HD foil on the lid just to see if it makes any difference? Even if it does burn up, dunno. It would be interesting to know temp of the area above the pizza stone, but don't know if there is a way to measure that. Maybe not enough heat is getting through the opening into the upper area? So many variables!

looks good interesting build

Sugoi! Nice pies there!

Looks good Moose! Glad to hear the maiden voyage went well for you. I would say it was a very successful outing! Couple of things to think about/ponder/digest -

1) are you using the stock food grate? if so, it will start to warp pretty bad from the extreme heat. I tried doubling them up and it still wanted to warp after a few cooks - to get around this I bought a replacement charcoal grate (for the 22.5) and I use that as my grate - I bought SS 3 1/2 bolts that I drilled through the kettle wall (4 of them) and the charcoal grate sits on those - it is much sturdier and does not warp at all
2) Top browning - do you know what your dome temps are? (I installed a cheap thermo in top of mine). Originally I was cooking at 600 stone temps and about 700 dome temps before a few more mods.......
3) I did a couple of things that helped my results - I removed the SS bowl with sand and I use firebrick as the hearth - FB transfers hear much slower then your stone (I would imagine), so I can get away with not using a diffuser and getting me faster heat up times then I could before. Also, I moved my FB hearth all the way up front (like your open "D" shape) and then I blocked off ALL the gaps on the sides between the FB and the edge of the kettle - this helped a lot with dome temps..now, my dome temps are around 850 degrees. Finally, do you have a disk or something in the lid to reduce the volume and force the "ceiling" of the dome lower (closer to the pie)? I am using a 19 inch alum pizza pan in my dome that seems to work ok.

What is the gap on the edges between the stone and the edge of the kettle? Even 1/2 to 3/4" gaps will cause you to lose top heat...if necessary, block these gaps with HD alum foil and try it again - I bet you will see a major improvement on the dome temp which will = more top heat on the pie...these things are pretty finicky - I tried all sorts of combos before settling on my current setup (I tried moving the SS bowl more forward to force it the hear rear...it had limited affect for me....you might still need the SS bowl in yours..it just depends on how your stone heats up....good luck let me know how it comes out!!

Nice smoker, and killer pizzas! Man those just flat out look good:clap2:

I wonder what would happen if you made an insulation blanket for the top of the kettle, that sat on top of the metal lid, sort of a night watch cap for the Weber lid. This would prevent heat loss through the thin metal lid. Hmmm, now I am wondering if I made one of these for my kettle if the low-n-slow would go better?

Moose said:

Shaun,

Thanks for the excellent feedback as always!

1) Yes, I am using the stock food grate. What is the benefit of drilling extra holes and using the 3 inch screws vs the supports in the kettle?

2) I did check the dome temps and it was an appalling 350 or so degrees. Obviously there's not enough heat getting to the top of the pies. I did mount an 18 inch pizza pan underneath the lid like so:

I did take a reading on the top of the lid, so given that the pizza pan is mounted underneath the lid, perhaps a better reading would be below the line of the pan.

3) There's maybe 1/2 inch space max between the stone I used and the side of the kettle. Do you think that trying it without the diffuser bowl might be OK with the stone I use, or would you recommend using FB instead? I also have a 16 inch 3/4 inch thick granite stone I could try, but it seems the "d" shape seems to make the most sense...the ceramic stone for the Weber is supposedly rated to 2300 degrees, however, I'm sure it conducts heat differently than FB.

If I do go with FB, is there a way to cut them to create the "d" shape?

Also, when you rotate your pies, do you use tongs inserted through the vent, or take the lid off? I did the latter, so that may also explain why the tops weren't quite as well cooked...3 or so times taking the lid off results in a lot of heat loss, I'm sure.



Look FW to your comments...

Click to expand...

Hey Richard,

For me, the stock food grates starting warping pretty bad after a few cooks because of the extreme heat, and I could not find any cheap, heavier duty grates, so I bought the charcoal grate (much thicker steel) and since it is smaller then the cooking grate, I had to put the bolts in there to hold it up (the grate rests on all 4 bolts). I put the bolts about 1/2 inch HIGHER then the tabs are for the cooking grate. That is pretty much the same pizza pan I have in my lid as well, so that should work ok for you (the best thing would be some refractory material molded into the lid...which has been done by Eissen on Pizzamaking.com). I cannot recall for sure, but I think when I tried checking the dome temp with my IR gun, I could not get an accurate reading...those aluminum pans do not reflect accurate temp readings on the IR gun...that is why I drilled a small hole on top of the lid and stuck a grill thermo in there (kind of off to the side, so the nipple made sure to clear the aluminum pizza pan in the lid). That is where I am getting my dome temp readings from...prior to my mods, it was 700 degrees and that was all I could get..after the mods, I am pushing 800-850.

For the mods, I would try a couple of things if I were you - 1) even though you have 1/2 inch gap between the stone and the side of the kettle, that is letting a lot of heat escape before it goes over the pie and out the front vent - try laying down HD alum foil under your pizza stone (along the edges..not in the middle of the stone, as that will effect your stone temps greatly) and have the alum foil stick out enough to completely block the 1/2 inch gap all along the sides and in the front - leave it open in the back. Do a test run and see what that does for you. I bet you will see a dramatic shortening in heat up times, as well as much higher dome temps (I did). One more thing, are you cooking with the stock weber vent open, or shut? I always have mine closed completely...if I had a 180k BTU burner, and I had TOO much heat on top, I would open it, but that is not the case for me. I would try this first with your stone and see how you like it. Then, maybe try and remove the SS bowl with sand completely and note your heat up times, as well as stone temps to see if that works for you. If your stone works to your liking, then by all means use him!

The FB is likely much heavier then your stone, so if you can get your stone to work for you with the mods, you might NOT need to worry about the stock cooking grate warping (less weight on it). FB conducts heat much slower then any pizza stone I have tried....it retains its heat better between pies as well...as weird as this may sound, I have found it to be true - different material pizza stones conduct heat way differently - ie 600 degrees on FB is not the same as 600 on my Primo Pizza stone (scorched bottom crust with Primo Stone for me). There is a good read on Pizzamaking.com about the different materials and how they conduct heat from a Pampered chef stone, primo stone, FB, Codierite, Fibrament, Soapstone, etc (IE a pie baked on a Soapstone slab in the home oven at 550 degree temps..which is what most home ovens max out...is almost like cooking the pie at 650-700 on other material...and they can get a 4-5 minute cook in the home oven)...it sounds weird, but I am a believer after seeing how much better my pies turn out with the FB compared to my PC or Primo Stone...As far as cutting FB, I bought a $8 cement cutting blade for my skill saw and used that to cut my FB - I had to do it in the shape of an octagon to make it easier, since you cannot cut curved cuts with a skillsaw...a rotozip would work great and be able to cut any shape you want..I do not have one though. I rotate my pies at about 1 minute, then every 45 seconds...almost all of my pies cook in 3:45-4 minutes tops. Using Ap flour, the max I can do is a 650 hearth temp with HR's between 63-69%...any hotter and it toasts up on me...I ordered a bag of Caputo to give that a whirl, so we will see how it goes...also, when I rotate, I take the lid off, rotate 1/4 turn, and get the lid back on quickly...dome thermo gets back to 800-850 within a few seconds. Hopefully you can use some of this info...a lot of this info was given to me as I was tweaking my LBE from the folks at pizzamaking - they have quite a bit of practice on these things and were a great help. Let me know how the experiments go and take some good pics!

Shaun

One final thing..because my grate is abouu 1/2 inch higher then yours (because of the bolts), and because my FB is thicker then your stone (I am assuming???), my pies are actually a bit higher in the dome then yours...which also helps with the browning on top.

hmmm..I tried to send you pics via PM, but I cant do it..here is a pie made on my LBE BEFORE the mods..the second pie is one made after the mods...quite a bit of difference in the cook....also a pic of my FB cut - the gaps in the front and the sides are completely blocked now with HD foil and that made all the difference in the world for me - last pic shows the bolts - the bowl with sand is no longer used

Awesome Moose!! I keep studying your pics...those pies sure look good. How much propane do you suppose you used?

Would be interested in the beer and butter dough...somehow missed this recipe.

I'm set on making some type of pizza oven. Leaning toward propane at this point. Have seen some pics/video of wood chunks being used for flavor (that appeals to the bbqer in me)...think it was villaroma on pizzamaking.com site.

Congrats on your build. Looking forward to more pics of your pizza. Thanks!!