HELP! Pizza on a Weber 22.5

[dwfisk]

Do you set up direct or indirect? Got a really nice pizza stone and the instructions said a direct hot fire, but last time that burned the crust before the pizza could cook. I'm thinking setting up as indirect so the stone does not get quite as hot. Any suggestions?

[mshick68]

Direct! At the correct heat a pizza ahould only take minutes to cook. I get my stone to about 700 degrees then put the pie on. NY style. Your only cooking the crust and warming the topings. Trick to a NY style pizza is let the stone get very hot, then throw the pie on

[Smoothsmoke]

I place a few firebricks beneath the stone. Doing it this way I have not had an issue with burning the crust.

[jsperk]

I usually set a set a steel pan in the center of my charcoal grate and then dump the lit charcoal in around the pan so I have a nice circular pattern of charcoal. Sometimes I put some charcoal in the middle also but not a lot since I have at least a chimney full on the outside.

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

Direct can be too hot and cracks the pizza stone.

[Bludawg]

It is all about fire management: light about 20 coals in the chimney group 3-4 in the center of the coal grate and make a ring on the grate the aprox size of your stone. Add the cooking grate and the stone and open the throttle put on the lid and let it heat up.

[dwfisk]

Thanks all, especially the quick response. I'm gonna go direct with the firebricks and let them come up to temp with the stone as the charcoal gets ready and maybe a little less fire, but I'm still aiming for 600*-700* stone. I'm thinking last time I just had too much fire. Appreciate the firebrick idea and I just happen to have a few extras. Firing off the chimney in 30 minutes.

[Thermal Mass]

Before we built our WFO (pizza oven) we used the pizza stone a lot.
Timing and constancy (heat qty/type) is key to getting a perfect crust every time. (an infra red thermometer is very helpful.)
*do not wash the stone, ever* It will take much longer to pre-heat and can cause it to crack.

IMO 700 deg. is too hot, you will get a cooked crust and only warmed toppings. We cook pizzas in the WFO at not much higher than 600 deg. deck temps.
Yes it can be done hotter but must be watched closely and have the right dough.

I really like the idea of two fire brick under the stone, a little more "thermal mass" and puts the toppings closer to the lid.

Look for a dough recipe that has a little more moisture, this will cook a little longer without burning. A few rolled out "samples" will help get the timing and temp right.

Have fun. Pr0n wanted!!

[CarolinaQue]

Here's how I do mine:

[dwfisk]

Bludawg: very helpful, pretty clear now that I had way to much fire on my last attempt.
ThermalMass: thanks and I'll have my IR gun ready!
CarolinaQue: is that rig homemade or one of the appliances I've seen for the Weber? Neat!
Pics promised!

[Smokey Al Gold]

You can even do a ring of fire around the kettle and place your stone on some fire bricks. Let everything heat up well then cook your pizzas. works for me good luck!

[Thermal Mass]

Carolina Que, Cool idea, looks like it works great!
What is the top made of? Steel? do you put fire brick on top of that to hold heat?
BTW, that is what an "experienced" stone looks like!

[palmcoastbob]

Getting the stone close to the dome on both my kettle and my akorn makes for great pizza.

[Carbon]

I used a wide angle lens so the perspective is a bit odd, but as mentioned by others raising the stone (cast iron pizza pan in this case) close to the dome top helps cook the toppings before the crust turns into char.

[Thermal Mass]

Nice piece of IRON!