Pizza Stone in WSM

[RoyJeeBiv]

i apologize in advance if this is a stupid question...

will be firing up the WSM again this weekend for the NFL draft (first time went great, finally thankful the weather and a break in work will let me use it again!!) -- but the water pan was a friggin' mess.

i have an old pizza stone that doesn't see any action around the house... would this work as a heat sink, as opposed to filling the pan with water (or sand)?? i should think foiling it would make clean up easy enough... see pics for how it sits in the water pan (stone measurements are 13" across, 3/8" thick).

if it's an option, do i need to worry about the pocket of air 'trapped' underneath the stone in the water pan?? i dunno how hot it can get, don't really want it to crack.

i know the only way to know for sure is to try it, i just want to know if it's a waste of time even thinking about it.

sorry again if this is a dumb question.





rjb

[aawa]

You don't need anything to act as a heatsink in a WSM. Just wrap the bowl in foil and put it in there. It will be there as a difusser so you aren't cooking with direct heat.

[volfan411]

I can see no reason why it will not work. I use a clay saucer in mine and would think a pizza stone would with stand higher heat.

[benniesdad]

I wouldn't see why not. Fits very similar to the clay saucer that I use. I would just wrap it and the bowl separately and then run a large piece of foil across the top to catch grease. That will make your clean up much easier.

[Gasket]

Sure you can use it. I use an aluminum pizza pan wrapped in foil. You really don't need to use one but if it makes you feel better. I also ball up a couple sheets of aluminum foil so the pizza pan doesn't sit directly on the water pan.

[G$]

FWIW, I do not use anything other than an empty but foiled water pan, however .....

There is (could be) a benefit to putting a stone in there: Assume you foil the bowl. Then, you place the stone in, and again, foil on top of that. Any dripping fat will fall in to the bowl as is normal but not settle on the very bottom, since the stone will be raised up creating an air gap. The (potential) benefit here is that this dripping fat will not burn from high relatively direct heat of the fire below it, thereby making the smell (and potential taste) more pleasant.

I essentially do this when I foil the bowl by either putting a few tin foil balls in the bottom or simply foiling such that there is a gap between the foil and the bowl bottom.

This would be of particular use if you have a new WSM with the stock deep bowl.

YMMV and all that.

[RoyJeeBiv]

thank you all for the fast responses!! i'll give it a shot -- i especially see this as a benefit for clean-up:

Originally Posted by G$

Assume you foil the bowl. Then, you place the stone in, and again, foil on top of that. Any dripping fat will fall in to the bowl as is normal but not settle on the very bottom, since the stone will be raised up creating an air gap.

[Gilstarr]

It should work.. Pizza stones usually withstand temp near 700 degrees.. try it!!

[Freddy j]

It should work fine, but here's another vote for just foiling the empty pan.

I tried the sand And the only thing it does is make you need more fuel to keep a constant temp. I find temp control much easier and responsive without a heat sink.

[Crimson]

I use a kiln shelf made from Cordierite same as a pizza stone just higher heat over 2000 degres.
Heres how it set in my bubba with two straps.