Pizza stone heat sink (1st try)


 

Chris Notarpole

TVWBB Member
All,
Previous discussion closed regarding this topic but I wanted to let anyone know who was waffling between the flower pot base vs pizza stone, that the pizza stone rocks. I cooked spares for 6 hours and had no problem stabilizing heat. Have a ton of leftover fuel also....

1. Much easier to wrap in foil.
2. Pretty much rests right on top of the WSM waterpan.
3. Hold temps nice and even.
4. Very thin don't have to worry about touching bottom rack.
5. Maybe it would even season my stone with smoke so the next time I make pizza it would taste even better.

I might throw a couple of river rocks in the old water pan and try and make a bigger sink. They won't have to be covered since I have the pizza stone.
 
No issues with grease. If you still wanted to go a step further then make a little ridge around the edge of the stone to act as a barrier.

The juice just hit the tinfoil on the stone and then slowly dried up or burned into carbon. Very easy to cleanup.....
 
Chris, I use the clay saucer and other than my first usage when I used way too much fuel and couldn't get my temps down it's worked great for me. However, one thing you mentioned caught my attention, "Very thin don't have to worry about touching bottom rack." How thick is the pizza stone? Something that has bothered me, is that the bottom grate rests on outside edge of my clay saucer. It hasn't caused any problems, but it does bother me. Thanks in advance.
 
I'm doing the pizza stone in the pan also.
I had the clay pot base and it cracked after 2 uses, used JB Weld on it and noticed its not holding up after 2 cooks. I've even done the pizza stone in the clay pot base! Best ribs cooked to date!
 
I too am going to try this. Maybe I missed another thread, but how many coals did you start with? And what about freezing the stone first?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Phil R.:
And what about freezing the stone first? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Why would you want to freeze the stone?? I fear that freezing it would encourage cracking
 
The only reason you would freeze it is if you were cold smoking for an hour or two with just 2-3 lit coals. I've done that with my clay saucer with ice water on top and it really kept it cold for about 90 minutes.

For hot smoking it wouldn't make sense to freeze your clay pot or pizza stone, and it would make it more likely to crack if you put a lot of lit underneath a frozen stone.

As to the person who had the clay saucer break after two uses, I've used mine dozens of times without any problems. Maybe you started with a bad saucer.
 
I thought maybe freezing would make it a little more effective (a la the frozen river rock thing). But I guess it's not really necessary. I've got an old pizza stone I was just about to throw away...I'm going to wrap the sucker in foil and see how she runs for a spares cook tomorrow.
 
Larry I have to go and measure the pizza stone but I am guessing it is no thicker than 1/2 an inch. Don't forget to catch the temps on the way up when you are using a full load of coal. Easier to open a vent a hair to increase the temp vs trying to tame a raging inferno!!!
 
Ron,
The stone is 3/8 of an inch wide and it is a 14" stone. You can also use non glazed floor tiles made out of only clay as a substitute. The tiles are much cheaper and if they break go buy another one for around .50 - 1.00. The only problem is that they are square and allow more heat to rise up the sides.

I think I got my stone at Bed bath and beyond but you can get it at any of the cooking stores in your area.

Also Larry you will love that it is only 3/8 of an inch and your bottom grate will not rest on the stone.

Hope this helps you guys....
 
I'm a little confused. I run the WSM with a Guru, and never use water. I have just foiled the water pan. However, it collects a fair amount of grease, especially with 4 butts, but also with ribs. So, what confuses me is how the stone avoids grease going over the side and into the charcoal or bottom. I would have thought a foiled dry water pan would have carbonized it as much as the foiled stone. Is it possible that the grease is being burned up by the fire after dripping from the stone? If so, what would be the downsides? I may be all wet in this thinking
icon_biggrin.gif
, but i'm definitely confused.

thanks,
Duidley
 
Dudley- What I do is foil the pizza stone, then cut another piece of foil the size of the stone and make a drip pan from it and set it on top to collect the drippings, then toss it when done cooking.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ron C.:
Chris,

Could you tell us the diameter of the stone and where you purchased it at?

Thanks! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Chris!
 

 

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