Making pizza on the WSM.


 

Arun L.

TVWBB All-Star
I spent months planning to buy items to help me grill pizza on the 18" WSM. I had also wanted to use some smoke wood while doing this.

Finally, last week, I decided what items to buy.

1) 17" cast iron
2) Dough Joe 15" 3/8" baking steel
3) Pizza Peel


Well, both the 17" cast iron, and the Dough Joe 3/8" baking steel, just arrived.

1) The cast iron doesn't fit in the 18" WSM. It sort of fits in the gas grill (lid only goes 90 % shut).

2) The baking steel doesn't fit in the 18" WSM at all. It does fit in the gas grill.


What do I do?

I had really wanted to try using wood while making pizza on the WSM.




I see now that the person was using a 22" WSM.


I can live with the cast iron either being used in the gas grill, or my kitchen oven.


But what do I do about the steel? I just checked, I can't find the 3/8" available in a smaller size. Maybe someone else can help me look.


Do I get a 22" WSM? I just got this 18" in July, lol.


I guess a 12" square steel is the max I can do inside the 18" WSM. But I can't find one? Again, maybe someone can help.


Now I know how I'm supposed to measure the max square inside a circle.


Is there a rack I can get for the WSM without the side handles? If so, I can get some more area.

But then I'd probably have to have the lid open, which doesn't sound like a good idea.


Please, somebody help find a solution. I spent months planning this.
 
With a cut off wheel and angle grinder you can make that steel any size you want.


How do you plan on heating the top side of the pizza?
 
It looks to me that you'd need to put the charcoal ring on the bottom cooking grate, & a pizza stone on the top grate?
 
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It looks to me that you'd need to put the charcoal ring on the bottom cooking grate, & a pizza stone on the top grate?

Yes. I was going to put the charcoal ring on the bottom, and the pizza stone on the top grate.

What about this. It's not ideal, but I'm trying to work with what I have, without returning a bunch of stuff. It won't be fun paying return shipping for the Dough Joe.


Can I just put the baking steel on top of the WSM, and then still put the lid on top of the steel, for however much it covers? Yes it's not ideal, and there is probably some heat/energy inefficiency. But what do I have to lose by trying this?

The steel would cover the entire top diameter.


Also, would you use the cast iron on the gas grill (even though the lid is only 90% shut? Or only the oven?
 
Hi Arun

As you already know, I have the kettle pizza attachment. It fits the 18 and 22 BBQ & WSM - the most important part is trapping the heat on top. I started out using my 22" kettle lid, and that made pretty pizza, but I ended up burning the bottom trying to get the top done. I then used my cast iron disk, and that worked pretty good. The problem I found was that the cast iron really holds the heat (I cook my pizza at 600 degrees) and it ended up burning the top before the bottom was done. Finally I tried my comal, which is stainless steel. That works perfect, I get excellent top and bottom cook. So to wrap up what I use:

1) Kettle Pizza
2) Comal
3) Pizza stone

I didn't touch on the pizza stone. I have a Emile Henry, that's a very expensive stone. Why I like it is because I don't have to put corn meal down on the stone to keep the pizza from sticking. It has a ten year warranty and they stand by their warranty. I blistered my stone, and they replaced it, no questions ask. (I bet I was over 900 degrees when I did that)

600 degrees is ideal for my types of cooks - do a search for "Barb's dough" it is an extremely easy dough to make and it really works nicely. Trust me you don't want store bough dough, it sticks. Barb's dough is da bomb
 
Hi Arun

As you already know, I have the kettle pizza attachment. It fits the 18 and 22 BBQ & WSM - the most important part is trapping the heat on top. I started out using my 22" kettle lid, and that made pretty pizza, but I ended up burning the bottom trying to get the top done. I then used my cast iron disk, and that worked pretty good. The problem I found was that the cast iron really holds the heat (I cook my pizza at 600 degrees) and it ended up burning the top before the bottom was done. Finally I tried my comal, which is stainless steel. That works perfect, I get excellent top and bottom cook. So to wrap up what I use:

1) Kettle Pizza
2) Comal
3) Pizza stone

I didn't touch on the pizza stone. I have a Emile Henry, that's a very expensive stone. Why I like it is because I don't have to put corn meal down on the stone to keep the pizza from sticking. It has a ten year warranty and they stand by their warranty. I blistered my stone, and they replaced it, no questions ask. (I bet I was over 900 degrees when I did that)

600 degrees is ideal for my types of cooks - do a search for "Barb's dough" it is an extremely easy dough to make and it really works nicely. Trust me you don't want store bough dough, it sticks. Barb's dough is da bomb

Thank you.

I just bought a Dough Joe baking steel (and also a pizza peel).

Will they fit inside the mouth of the Kettle Pizza?

I can't figure out how wide the mouth is, I can't find those dimensions.

Yes I see that the Kettle Pizza has a package that includes a peel and a stone, but as I said, I JUST bought my own pizza baking steel and peel, so I want to use those. Unless they're defective, trying to pay return shipping on those will not be fun.

Plus, the sizes of the peel and stone that I got seem to be standard across other brands. I don't want to have to use a custom sized stone and peel that's not a standard size to make it work in the product.

Here are the sizes of the items I bought:

1) Dough Joe Baking Steel:

15" x 15" x 3/8"


2) Pizza Peel:

18 x 16 x 1.2 inches

3) Cast Iron: Lodge 17" Cast iron

18.5 x 17 x 3.1 inches

As for dough, I saw another recipe I want to try first. If I don't like it, then I'll try your suggested Barb's Dough.

Can I make the Kettle Pizza work with the items I purchased?

I want to use the Dough Joe for thin crust and the Lodge for deep dish.
 
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Ok, after calling Kettle Pizza and Pizza Craft, here are the dimensions:

1) Kettle Pizza:

17" across
3.5" high in the center, with it tapered downward to a 1" height at the end.

2) Pizza Craft:

15.5" across
5.5" high in the center, with it being tapered downward also. No measurement given for the end height.

The customer representative for Kettle Pizza also offered to email me a picture of the opening.

Both based on the Kettle Pizza's measurements, and on the more helpful customer service, I'd go with them.

It does look like the baking steel and pizza peel will fit.

I think I'm out of luck with the cast iron, since the height tapers off.

I guess I should use the cast iron in the oven then, since there wouldn't be a difference between doing it on the gas grill, and the oven?
 
I'm getting a little skeptical of the dimensions Kettle Pizza told me.

They say the shipping width and height is 15x15. So how can it be 17" across then?

Also, I might be able to get a 15.25" cast iron to fit. I guess I'd know for sure once I got it.

Hmm, I have 30 days to return the 17" cast iron and there's a 20% restocking fee. Plus having to pay return shipping. I already tore up the box it came in.
 
I'm getting a little skeptical of the dimensions Kettle Pizza told me.

They say the shipping width and height is 15x15. So how can it be 17" across then?

Also, I might be able to get a 15.25" cast iron to fit. I guess I'd know for sure once I got it.

Hmm, I have 30 days to return the 17" cast iron and there's a 20% restocking fee. Plus having to pay return shipping. I already tore up the box it came in.

The Kettle Pizza is shipped unassembled. You need to use the supplied bolts to make it fit a 22.5" or 18.5" grill.

The Pizza Queue is on clearance at Home Depot. If you're lucky, you can find them as low as $25
 
The Kettle Pizza is shipped unassembled. You need to use the supplied bolts to make it fit a 22.5" or 18.5" grill.

The Pizza Queue is on clearance at Home Depot. If you're lucky, you can find them as low as $25

Thanks.

Just based on the dimensions, the 15" baking steel I have won't fit in the PizzaQueue. Also, what do people think about PizzaCraft the company? Based on my initial call of customer service, Kettle Pizza's was far better customer service.

But I can see on reviews that enough people also like PizzaCraft.

ChuckO, can you verify the measurements of the opening of the PizzaKettle? From side to side, and how many inches does it stay at about a 3" height? I see it tapers off at the end. So I want to check how many inches it remains at the highest amount.

There might be a chance to fit my cast iron in it.
 
You should just PM me and we hook up for a pizza cook. You're only about an hour away from me, you can bring all your stuff and we can cook up some pizzas and you can see if your stuff works with the kettle pizza. I just got some Anchovies, I'm dying to make a "Everything including Anchovies" pizza. I also have some homemade bacon, I'm ready for a bacon ranch pizza too
 
You should just PM me and we hook up for a pizza cook. You're only about an hour away from me, you can bring all your stuff and we can cook up some pizzas and you can see if your stuff works with the kettle pizza. I just got some Anchovies, I'm dying to make a "Everything including Anchovies" pizza. I also have some homemade bacon, I'm ready for a bacon ranch pizza too

That sounds good.

I'll PM you.

Just if you could do a quick verification for me. Because I want to see if it's possible at all for me to fit a cast iron in there. What would the length be for the portion where the height is the greatest? What I mean is that the height is at a certain height for most of it, before it tapers off. What is the length of that maximum height portion?

The reason I ask is because I might return the 17" cast iron, and buy the 15" cast iron instead, if there's a chance I could also fit the cast iron in there (for deep dish), in addition to the baking steel (for thinner pizza).

I only have 30 days until I can return the cast iron (21 days left). So time is a little more critical.

And if you could verify what this maximum height is.
 
Back to the topic of recipes for a minute.


I plan to use smoked mozzarella that I smoke using my Emson Pressure Smoker. I've smoked cheese in it before. I used to bring it to my sister and brother-in-law's for their pizza nights.


But, since I also plan to use the WSM with hickory wood for pizza, how will I know if I'm getting a smoky taste from the cheese, or the wood during cooking?
 
My kettle pizza measures 17" across at the bottom and 15" across at the top. That is straight across through the opening, not following the contour of the curve. My opeaning is closer to 3.25 in tall vs kettle pizzas measurement of 3.5.

The tomb stone that I use is 14.5 wide and 16" long at its longest point.

All these measurements are with the kettle pizza set up for 22.5" Weber Kettle.

Kettle Pizza is a high heat pizza oven. If I was doing a deep dish pizza in a cast iron pan I'd probably just use my oven. I am still tinkering with my KP trying different things. My pizzas cook a little faster on the bottom than I'd like. I'd imagine using a steel it would be way to hot vs a stone.

This all is on a grill where the heat source is a lot closer to the bottom of the stone / steel.
 

 

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