Cracking the Kettle Pizza Conundrum

[cameraman]

I picked up a pizza stone a few weeks ago and took it for its maiden voyage yesterday. After getting a lot of good advice about using the stone and the perennial problem of over cooked bottoms and undercooked tops I had an idea. Get the stone higher up in the kettle where the radiant heat from the bottom and convective heat in the dome would balance out better. I used a chimney of KB that I spread around the edge of the charcoal grate. I then put my charcoal baskets on top of the cooking grate and used them to support a second, elevated grate. The dome just barely touched the top of the base but that was good enough. You could use a couple of fire bricks too probably. I put my stone on the top grate and let it preheat with the kettle. I used corn meal on the peel and the stone for easy sliding. I think the heat balance was spot on. I had a nice crispy crust and a well cooked top. Next time I might try pulling a little sooner but not much. This definitely exceeded my expectations and I'm looking forward to refining my methods and upping my game. As usual I appreciate the excellent guidance you guys give.

 

[landarc]

This makes a lot of sense, I've been thinking of how to lower the dome, :doh:

 

[cameraman]

This makes a lot of sense, I've been thinking of how to lower the dome, :doh:

LOL -- For reals.

Using a WSM to smoke with makes me very conscious of the difference in temps between the top of the dome and the first and second grates.

 

[landarc]

I was thinking of suspending a pizza pan, wrapped with foil to force the air across the pizza, along the top. So, yes, for real.

 

[Wickedcajun]

Nice job!!! Creative solution

 

[cameraman]

I was thinking of suspending a pizza pan, wrapped with foil to force the air across the pizza, along the top. So, yes, for real.

Just for the record, the "for reals" was a reference to my lol. We all know that acronym is carelessly thrown around. I can't tell you how often I come up with overly complicated solution in the studio then realize I had lost sight of the KISS axiom. The perils of a creative mind.

 

[Grimm5577]

Fark yea that looks good to me!

 

[Hadoken]

Mind sharing what pizza stone that is? I keep meaning to pick one up for my kettle but I'm leery of the cheap department store stones...

 

[cameraman]

Mind sharing what pizza stone that is? I keep meaning to pick one up for my kettle but I'm leery of the cheap department store stones...

Funny you should ask. I got that at World Market's 75% off sale on grilling accessories for 6 bucks.

 

[Bonewagon]

That's a gooooood looking pie. :thumb:

 

[JoSal73]

Funny you should ask. I got that at World Market's 75% off sale on grilling accessories for 6 bucks.

Looks kind of like this one:

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/ame...lar-pizza-baking-stone-14-x-16/124PS1416.html

 

[cameraman]

It looks a lot like that but smaller. I think it was 12 x 15

 

[Hadoken]

Funny you should ask. I got that at World Market's 75% off sale on grilling accessories for 6 bucks.

Doh! I was just at World Market Saturday and passed on one on the clearance rack because I thought I should research and find "the best".

Sometimes I think about things too much.

 

[NickTheGreat]

My wife sometimes drags me into World Market. Between that grilling section and sometimes their beers, I don't object so much anymore

 

[grantw]

Two bricks sideways on the top grate put the staone at a perfect height into the dome

 

[Odin the Dog]

http://www.californiapizzastones.com/pizza/stones/pizza-posts.php
I found these. Haven't bought them yet.

 

[cricky101]

I've had good luck with a cast iron skillet on the grates, and my stone on top of that. We made pizzas last week and while not as good as some of the traditional neapolitan style places we love, they turned out well -- cooked in about 5-6 minutes.

 

[sam3]

Great post.
I'll certainly be giving this a try on my kettle.

 

[cameraman]

http://www.californiapizzastones.com/pizza/stones/pizza-posts.php
I found these. Haven't bought them yet.

That's an awesome page. That stone topper is a very interesting idea. :thumb:

 

[Chris89Stang]

I use this same technique on my egg. I built a raised grid and place the pizza stone on top of it. Gets the toppings nice and cooked without taking too long and burning the bottom of the crust.