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Old 07-15-2013, 09:33 PM   #1
cayenne
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Question Red Sky Grilling Pizza Stone ordered...Advice?

Hi all,

I just pulled the trigger on the Red Sky D shaped pizza stone...hope it gets here by weekend.

I've googled and found several threads on the site here dedicated to this. I saw a few of them by a gentleman that made a "Frankenweber", that appeared to be modified for gas heating.

I have a regular Weber 22" Kettle grill. I've purchased the Kettle Pizza insert that raises the lid up and has a slit there for sliding the pizza in/out.

I tried it out with a normal stone, and I guess doing temps to 900F like a real wood oven was too much, scorched pizza bottom. I also discoverd then, that with this type set up, my old wooden peel wouldn't do the trick, so I have bought a nice 14" metal one ready for next time.

My question is...what "IS" the temp to shoot for in the weber with this stone? How do you arrange the coals? How much charcoal? I'm guessing briquettes rather than lump..for longer heat...

Or, do you just use some charcoal and us that to start a real wood fire...which I did my first time that burned the hell outta everything....?

I'd not seen any other posts really since about a year ago, so, hoping those with experience with this might have some pointers on how to start.

Also, I'd seen allusions to doing some kind of mod to the lid? PUtting foil there or something to lower the top down for ensuring cooking of the toppings in time with the crust bottom?

Thanks in advance,

cayenne
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Old 07-15-2013, 09:57 PM   #2
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575 degrees
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Old 07-15-2013, 10:35 PM   #3
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Good luck. I've never had good luck with "pizza stones" regardless of temp or application. Once a bit of moisture hits them at high temps they split in half or spall. I'm currently cooking great pies on a $7.48 piece of sandstone(stepping stone) from Home Depot. Thick, heavy, retains heat like mad and durable as hell.
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Old 07-15-2013, 11:07 PM   #4
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there are so many variables with pizza cayenne, it's hard to give any solid answers to your questions. honestly.

i have the red sky and love it. trust me, it won't crack on you.

i shoot for about as hot as i can get it. coal pile up to one side and a scattering of lit directly underneath.

moose, i see your'e reading...i'll let you take over.
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Old 07-16-2013, 12:05 AM   #5
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I am the FrankenWeber gentleman. Nice to meet you, cayenne!

I originally purchased the Red Sky grilling stone for using as directed, and my first pizza was a trainwreck as I didn't follow the instructions and used may too many briquets, so the bottom was scorched, while the top wasn't quite cooked all the way.

Future cooks proved problematic for me even when I followed the instructions on how many briquets to use, as the the top of my pies were not cooked as well as the bottom. Eventually, I abandoned the whole thing when I built the FrankenWeber, and the stone works beautifully as it is rated to 2200 degrees. There's a whole build thread in the blog in my signature if you want to read through it.

Back to your question though, I think using the Pizza Kettle insert with the Red Sky grilling stone would probably work quite well, but I would defer to the instructions on the kettle insert on how much fuel to use, NOT the instructions for the Red Sky Stone as the Kettle insert completely changes the way heat and air behave in the kettle.

The Kettle Insert helps create a convection effect with the front vent opening, and with the Red Sky's D shaped stone, the convection effect is magnified, which is a good thing as it will help force more hot air over the pizza than using a regular round shaped stone.

There's a recent review of the kettle pizza insert, with some mods you might want to check out. The review can be found HERE.


As far as temp goes, I would shoot for something in the 550-575 range for stone temp, and stone temp is the only temp that matters in this situation. If you are using 00 Flour, then you could go up to 700 degrees, no problem. I highly recommend buying an infrared instant read thermometer, so you can keep tabs on the stone temp. It's pretty much a must have for this kind of pizza cooking.

Lastly, I modified my Weber lid by mounting a pizza pan to the inside of the lid, which lowers the ceiling of the cooker, however, not sure this is necessary if using the kettle insert, although if not using the kettle insert, I would def recommend it.

Hope this helps, and please keep us posted!
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Old 07-16-2013, 07:24 AM   #6
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+1 to the 575 temps for the stone and for the infrared thermometer. It's the perfect gadget for this application.

I do a full chimney of coals, and I put them so they'll be under the little cutout part of the stone. Then, once the stone is hot, I put a couple pieces of untreated hardwood on the coals and let them flame up. It helps to have the grate that has the little fold-up portions.
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Old 07-16-2013, 09:15 PM   #7
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Question Thanks...which end for the d?

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies and suggestions.

A question...with respect to which way to face the "D" on the pizza stone, with reference to the opening on my kettle grill insert....and where to pile the coals...

I was under the assumption, that the flat part of the D would be facing the opening of the kettle grill opening...so that the rounded part is in the very back, preventing me from accidentally dropping the pizza too far back and falling off the back edge.

I was intending to put a chimney (weber chimney) full of briquettes filling single level, from back of the kettle to the front. I'd seen an example on the pizza stone site, where they had this set up, and actually used a coal holder in the front under where the flat part of the stone faced, to prevent coals going there...basically leaving a gap of coals where the gap on the stone was, in my best guess, right where the opening on the kettle grill insert is...

Does that sound about right?

Or...is is best to have coals around the edges of the kettle bottom, and only a bit of it directly under the stone?

Is there any reason I'd have the flat part of the D...facing the back of the grill, opposite from the end of the opening to the kettle grill insert opening?

Thoughts?

I saw they shipped it this morning....hoping I get lucky and have it to play with this weekend, likely on Sunday, as that I'll be partying in the Quarter (I live in New Orleans) at the Tales of the Cocktail party there, and likely will be hugging the couch all day Saturday recovering...but pizza on Sunday sounds fun!!

Thanks in advance,

cayenne
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Old 07-16-2013, 09:57 PM   #8
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I'm pretty sure you want the D in the back, opposite the opening of the Kettle Pizza opening. The idea is that the heat travels, from the D opening, over the top of the pizza, and out the Kettle Pizza exit, cooking your pizza at the same rate as the stone. What you don't want is a crispy crust and undercooked toppings.

If you have the D opening lined up with the Kettle Pizza opening, I think the heat will escape and you won't get the heat you need on the top of your pizza.

You probably need to test this out some though. Most of the Kettle Pizza reviews and videos on You Tube show using a smaller stone and not the Red Sky stone that covers almost the entire Weber grate.

I'm interested in seeing your results.
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Old 07-16-2013, 10:20 PM   #9
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Yes, the "D" part should be towards the back. Also, you should put most of your coals where the D is and have a few under the stone. One thing that I have read is that the top of the dome is too high and will not cook the top of the pizza evenly. Some have put a pan in the top of the dome to move the heat down.
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Old 07-17-2013, 11:11 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pyle's BBQ View Post
Yes, the "D" part should be towards the back. Also, you should put most of your coals where the D is and have a few under the stone. One thing that I have read is that the top of the dome is too high and will not cook the top of the pizza evenly. Some have put a pan in the top of the dome to move the heat down.
Yep, agreed, the "D" must always go in back.
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Old 07-17-2013, 12:05 PM   #11
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Terrific info going on in this thread. As an avid pizza making enthusiast I am very interested in these type of threads.
I don't own a red sky stone as of yet, but I have looked into them and they seem to be much better made than the readily available types.
I have been making pizza's for 18 years, now and have been baking them in my oven on a cheap stone I got from Meijer. There are only a few basic rules for these stones and they will give you a life time of use :
1. Heat them up and cool them down slowly.
2. Don't handle them while hot. They are more brittle and easier to chip/crack.
3. They don't like water and never need to be wet for any reason.

That's just about it. Cleaning them is easy. When cool, scrape the crud off and then heat it up. That's it. They are perfectly happy to live in your oven. Mine stays on the bottom shelf.
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Old 07-17-2013, 01:48 PM   #12
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I have the pizza kettle attachment. So far both times I used a piece of 304 stainless steel on top of the kettle insert and my tops cooked to fast. I'm going to try with no lower dome this Friday. The new kettle attachment is lower than the old one. Not sure if that helps or maybe I'm cooking to hot.
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Old 07-17-2013, 08:57 PM   #13
cayenne
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Question wow

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pyle's BBQ View Post
Yes, the "D" part should be towards the back. Also, you should put most of your coals where the D is and have a few under the stone. One thing that I have read is that the top of the dome is too high and will not cook the top of the pizza evenly. Some have put a pan in the top of the dome to move the heat down.
Wow...great response and suggestions.

I'd thought the curved part of the D would go in the back..so, as to keep you from accidentally dropping the pizza off the back end off the peel, and to make it easier when putting the peel under it (since it would stop in the back) when trying to turn it...hmm.

I just ordered a 2nd weber wire grate, to set on top of the kettle pizza insert, and on top of that, I'd set the heavy round stone I origninally bought for this...figuring that would keep the top hotter...and radiate heat back onto the pie.

Hm. Well, I'll likely try it one way this first time, and then the other way the 2nd time, and at least on one of them, I'll do my usual and make up some new "4 letter words" when it blows up on my face.

:)

Looks like, however, my stone won't be in till Monday...so, I may not get to try it this weekend....but still planning and plotting!!

Hey, on a related note, does anyone have a favorite home made from scratch pizza sauce??


Thanx in advance,

cayenne
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Old 07-17-2013, 09:05 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cayenne View Post

I'd thought the curved part of the D would go in the back..so, as to keep you from accidentally dropping the pizza off the back end off the peel, and to make it easier when putting the peel under it (since it would stop in the back) when trying to turn it...hmm.
If you position the D part of the stone towards the front, you will be totally missing out on what it was made to do, which is force hot air over the top of your pie from the back.

There's a good sauce recipe in this pizza tutorial I did:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=102712
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Old 07-17-2013, 10:48 PM   #15
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cayenne, you will also want to have corn meal around when you put your pizza on the peel. This will help it slide off. You shouldn't have a problem with it sliding off the back when you put it on the stone, because it will be sticky and not slide much. Taking it off the stone when it is done, it should slide on easily. The trick is keeping the peel level with the stone and using Newton's first law of motion to get the pizza on the peel.

Good luck.
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