Building a rack for a Pizza Stone


 

Robert McGee

TVWBB Gold Member
I have been successfully grilling pizza on my Performers for some time. Further, I LOVE grilled pizza. I, early on, learned that just simply putting a pizza stone on the grill's food grate ended up with the bottom of the pizza done and the top of the pizza underdone. Or, conversely, the bottom burned and the top finally properly cooked. Just didn't work for me.

I reasoned that we needed to raise the stone up toward the dome to use the higher temps in the dome of the grill to cook the top faster so it would be done when the bottom was done.

My solution was to simply put the stone on a couple of fire bricks. It works well, actually, but I believe that the bricks absorb heat from the fire and it takes longer to heat the stone than it should. My son, Shannon, has long had a pizza rack made from a couple of grates bolted together. That properly raises the stone up into the dome, the pizza cooks evenly (top is done at the same time as the bottom). This method insures that nothing is absorbing heat that doesn't need to.

At any rate, I decide to build myself a similar rack. I happened to have a left over food grate from my Mini-Smoker project and had bought another Smokey Joe grill on Craigslist (new in the box) for small change. I merely took the food grate I had (also from a Smokey Joe) and set out to find some 4" STAINLESS bolts, nuts, and fender washers to complete the little project. The Stainless hardware proved a lot harder to find than I expected. Finally, after checking out Lowes, Home Depot, and another hardware store, I found what I needed at Fastenal's. We have a Fastenal not far from my home. The hardware was not cheap but I prefer stainless when dealing with foodstuffs at high temperatures for possible health concerns. Remember, I want to run close to 700 degrees, if possible.

At any rate, you will need four 4" (1/4" x 20 tpi) bolts (I found Phillips head screws threaded all the way to the head - that's critical), 12 matching nuts, and 16 fender washers (1/4" inside diameter x 1" outside diameter).

Here are the pics of the finished rack:


Here is a close-up of the bottom of the bolts showing the washer against the outer ring of the grate (this positions it properly);


This next photo is focused on the top of the screw showing the relationship of the washer, there. Put the top of the screw on first with a washer under the head, as shown, then tighten the nut forcing the next washer up against the grate. When you have all four screws fastened then do the bottom. I put the bottom nuts even with the end of the screw to give myself the maximum spacing between the two grates.



Here is the rack evenly spaced side to side and "north and south" in the grill;


When you place the stone on the rack see that it is centered.



Note:
When I dump my lit charcoal (one full Weber large chimney of lit and one small Weber chimney of lit) I spread it evenly over the entire bottom. I let the stone heat up at least thirty minutes. Then you can do several pizzas, one right after another. I believe the most I have done is five, one after the other.

This is a very stable platform for the stone. The bottom nuts of the bottom of the rack actually fit in between the Performer grate holding it quite stable. That is an improvement over the fire bricks (although that was NOT a bad way to go - this way is just better:).

There is nothing magical about my choice of grates for this project. I just happened to have those on hand. Charcoal grates would work fine, also. You may be able to find them "end of season" for discount prices.

Soon, I will try adding a couple of wood splits to the charcoal to add some additional "wood fired" heat and flavor to my pizza. Further reports to follow...

Thank you for listening and remember that famous old quote, " I don't need no stinkin' wood fired pizza oven!" I've got a PERFORMER!

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
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The main reason I cook pizza in my WSM is because it provides the spacing needed between my fire and my pizza (stone) I want to cook pizzas in my 26" kettle, I think I might have to make me a rack like yours.

Nicely done
 
I just use the fire ring from my 18.5" WSM. It's just under 5" high.

I still haven't perfected my method for this, not by a long shot.

(this is the rotisserie ring on my 22" grill)
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great build Robert. I have not mastered pizza yet and I think I will need to try your solution.


Clint: does the 18.5 fire ring, pizza stone and pizza fit under the lid with out the rotisserie ring?
 
great build Robert. I have not mastered pizza yet and I think I will need to try your solution.


Clint: does the 18.5 fire ring, pizza stone and pizza fit under the lid with out the rotisserie ring?

Yes but it's very tight. I haven't tried cooking like that yet. Maybe Robert's is a perfect fit. I drilled a lid thermometer in mine that pokes down a little
 
Quick question: Is the upper rack on that even necessary? Since the bolts are sticking up further than the rack itself, would it make more sense to lose the rack and possibly add some additional bolts for added stability of the stone?
 
Quick question: Is the upper rack on that even necessary? Since the bolts are sticking up further than the rack itself, would it make more sense to lose the rack and possibly add some additional bolts for added stability of the stone?

Lots of ways to do things! It has to be fairly stable with the peel dropping off & sliding under the pie.
 
I LIKE the two grate set up. However, I can see the appeal to try to eliminate one of the grates to save money. On the other hand, you can find the grates pretty inexpensively (charcoal grates are less expensive and would work just as well) and I LIKE the stability of the set up. If you accidentally move the hot stone a couple of inches it will be easy to move it back in place if it were sitting on a grate. If it were sitting on bolts, NOT SO MUCH. Remember the stone will be AT LEAST 500 degrees and maybe as hot as 700 degrees if you use wood splits, too.

Just a thought or two...
Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
Regarding the height of the set up. I believe that 4" is the perfect height to get the pizza and stone up into the lid for the hotter temperatures. However, I would NOT want it any higher due to interference with the lid when you slide it back (Performer) or move it or replace it on a kettle. At any rate, at the 4" level (that the two grate setup gives you) I DO know that the pizza cooks perfect top AND bottom at the same rate. High enough is high enough. But that's "just me", of course:eek:...

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
Regarding the height of the set up. I believe that 4" is the perfect height to get the pizza and stone up into the lid for the hotter temperatures. However, I would NOT want it any higher due to interference with the lid when you slide it back (Performer) or move it or replace it on a kettle. At any rate, at the 4" level (that the two grate setup gives you) I DO know that the pizza cooks perfect top AND bottom at the same rate. High enough is high enough. But that's "just me", of course:eek:...

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:

Spot on.

I have a similar set up as the OP and it works great. I use top grate of this set up not the bottom. 4" above the cooking grate gets the pie close to lid to cook top of pie but still allows lid to close without issue.

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/bbq-food-pics/pizza-19051/
B443C06B-FCFD-4BAE-BF95-E50F3517D3BD_zpscueyxeqq.jpg
 
Love it Robert! Perfect! I too have used bricks and not only do they absorb heat, you get cold spots on your stone. You're solution is spot on. Will follow your lead. ..thank you!
 
I've been resting the charcoal baskets that came with my performer empty atop the grill grate and then the pizza stone on the charcoal baskets. It seems to work well enough for us
 
Yesterday I finished assembling your rack set up with the exact same materials that you have. Went and bought a stone and used the same method to heat the kettle and stone while throwing in a few apple chunks. Didn't have time to make my own dough and crust, so I went and bought a Papa Murphy's pizza (Large family stuffed for only $10) and threw it on. My thermapen was registering around 500 degrees air temp just above the stone. Pizza cooked in about seven minutes! Normally these take at least 20 minutes in the oven. Was cooked a little uneven, but the pie turned out great! Easily the best tasting Papa Murphy's pizza I have ever had. Thanks for your help and I'll post more pictures in the future!
 
Robert, you know I'm a big fan of your pizza cooking skills. Have a ? For you. When I cook pizza on the weber, I'm pegging my thermopen DOT at 565 with ease, leading me to believe I'm in the 650-700 range. Your experience with temps? I actually think that is too hot unless you want true neapolitian pies. So I shoot for 450-500.
 

 

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