Cooking the pizzas directly on the firebrick was less than fully successful. The top of the brick hit about 680°F and the lid thermometer read about 500°F. That resulted in some charring of the crust w/out browning the cheese on top. It was still good, but not good enough. I did the second and third pies on the tortilla griddles and they came out good. The CI helps to moderate the neat from the fire brick on the bottom providing sufficient time for the top to cook fully.