Heat from Pizza Kettle is cracking my stones!


 
J

Jim Mathews

TVWBB Member
I'm using the Kettle Pizza accessory, and starting to get pleased with the results. Problem is, with heat that sometimes hits 800 degrees, I have cracked both my stones - one from Walmart, one from Weber.

Can anyone recommend a stone that can handle that heat? They sell stones at the Kettle Pizza website that I assume are up to the task, but I figured I'd also ask here.
 
Jim, have you ever tried lower heat like 400 degrees max for your pizza? They taste the same, just takes a little longer to cook.
No broken stones. Or you could get a cast iron pizza pan, Lodge makes them.
 
Bob, I have tried that, and maybe it's the dough I'm using, but it doesn't taste the same. I like crust that's almost burnt on the outside, light and chewy on the inside, and I get my best results at about 700.
 
Jim, are you putting the stone on when you're first starting the fire? It's my opinion that the stone needs to heat up slowly. I did purchase my stone from Kettle Pizza and I get my kettle well over 800 degrees and I've had no issues with my stone.
 
James, I put the stone on the grate just after I dump the cxharcoal.

I emailed the Kettle Pizza folks, and no questions asked, they said they'd send me a replacement stone for free, as well as 10% off some other accessories I was considering. Now that is customer service.

DO you have the new tombstone? I had the stone they were selling before the tombstone.

And to anyone who likes the high temps, and/or pizza that is almost burnt. Kettle Pizza's biggest drawback, in my opinion, was ll that airspace above the stone, takes heat away from the top of the pizza. So, you get pizza tops that didn't cook enough. Well, they solved that! There is now an accessory called the Baking Steel, which is a piece of steel, custom cut to fit in the Kettle Pizza ring, a bit above the stone. This metal will have awesome heat conduction. Hefty price tag (about $100), but it's all I'm asking for, for XMAS this year.
 
"Heat from Pizza Kettle is cracking my stones!"

am I the only one who saw humor in this title? :rolleyes:
sorry for going OT.
 
Jim Mathews said:
James, I put the stone on the grate just after I dump the cxharcoal.

I emailed the Kettle Pizza folks, and no questions asked, they said they'd send me a replacement stone for free, as well as 10% off some other accessories I was considering. Now that is customer service.

DO you have the new tombstone? I had the stone they were selling before the tombstone.

And to anyone who likes the high temps, and/or pizza that is almost burnt. Kettle Pizza's biggest drawback, in my opinion, was ll that airspace above the stone, takes heat away from the top of the pizza. So, you get pizza tops that didn't cook enough. Well, they solved that! There is now an accessory called the Baking Steel, which is a piece of steel, custom cut to fit in the Kettle Pizza ring, a bit above the stone. This metal will have awesome heat conduction. Hefty price tag (about $100), but it's all I'm asking for, for XMAS this year.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information Jim...I do have the tombstone stone. I will have to go check their site for this "Baking Steel". I have read in previous posts that putting foil over the top of the insert prior to putting the lid on could capture more of the heat. I will try this and report back. Jim, are you burning more than charcoal when using this attachment? I have found that the only way to get my kettle really hot is to burn a good supply of hard wood with the charcoal.
 
James Lake said:
Thanks for the information Jim...I do have the tombstone stone. I will have to go check their site for this "Baking Steel". I have read in previous posts that putting foil over the top of the insert prior to putting the lid on could capture more of the heat. I will try this and report back. Jim, are you burning more than charcoal when using this attachment? I have found that the only way to get my kettle really hot is to burn a good supply of hard wood with the charcoal.
Click to expand...

Sure thing.

Today, I do what yuo said...I cover the top of the kettle pizza extension with heavy duty tinfoil, works awesome. But check out this article...a pizza website. They used a generic Baking Steel Plate, which has awesome heat transfer. This review was so good, that it spurred a demand for Baking Steel inserts. So the Pizza Kettle folks got together with the Baking Steel folks, and you can now gt a Baking Steel plate that is custom cut for the Kettle Pizza.

Enjoy the write-up hare, this was published before there was a Baking Steel custom cut for the Kettle Pizza...

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archiv...e-ultimate-home-pizza-setup.html?ref=obinsite

As to your question about charcoal, I usually use one chock-full chimney of briquettes (I cook on a 22.5, not a 26.75). After dumping the coal, I put the stone on the cooking grate, and cover it. After 15 or 20 minutes of pre-heating, I toss 3 hardwood chunks into the fire. That really stokes up the heat. After letting the chunks burn for 5 minutes, I usually have enough time to cook 3 pizzas before the heat drops significantly. SO yes, I use chunks and charcoal.

With this Baking Steel thing, I expect cooking times of no more than 4 minutes, can't wait to get my hands on it.
 
James Lake said:
Thanks for the information Jim...I do have the tombstone stone. I will have to go check their site for this "Baking Steel". I have read in previous posts that putting foil over the top of the insert prior to putting the lid on could capture more of the heat. I will try this and report back. Jim, are you burning more than charcoal when using this attachment? I have found that the only way to get my kettle really hot is to burn a good supply of hard wood with the charcoal.
Click to expand...

Here is a link from the kettle pizza site, showing the Baking Steel accessory. Looks very, very promising, especially in light of the articl;e I posted about the Baking STeel combined with the Kettle Pizza.

http://www.kettlepizza.com/KettlePizza-Baking-Steel-for-22-5-Kettle-Grills-p/kpbs-22.htm
 
Jim Mathews said:
Sure thing.

Today, I do what yuo said...I cover the top of the kettle pizza extension with heavy duty tinfoil, works awesome. But check out this article...a pizza website. They used a generic Baking Steel Plate, which has awesome heat transfer. This review was so good, that it spurred a demand for Baking Steel inserts. So the Pizza Kettle folks got together with the Baking Steel folks, and you can now gt a Baking Steel plate that is custom cut for the Kettle Pizza.

Enjoy the write-up hare, this was published before there was a Baking Steel custom cut for the Kettle Pizza...

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archiv...e-ultimate-home-pizza-setup.html?ref=obinsite

As to your question about charcoal, I usually use one chock-full chimney of briquettes (I cook on a 22.5, not a 26.75). After dumping the coal, I put the stone on the cooking grate, and cover it. After 15 or 20 minutes of pre-heating, I toss 3 hardwood chunks into the fire. That really stokes up the heat. After letting the chunks burn for 5 minutes, I usually have enough time to cook 3 pizzas before the heat drops significantly. SO yes, I use chunks and charcoal.

With this Baking Steel thing, I expect cooking times of no more than 4 minutes, can't wait to get my hands on it.
Click to expand...

Excellent idea...thank you for sharing this article, I might just buy the plate, I have an extra grate.
 
I've used this setup after building my Pizza ring for the 18 and had no problems. All you really want to do is deflect the air flow out the opening. I just use two layers of HD foil. I can come up to temps a lot faster with the foil. I don't know how high I can go but have exceeded 750 on my therm.
IMG_0195_zps794948e0.jpg
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I also shaped expanded metal to the circumference of my pizza stone to minimize any direct heat. No cracked stones so far.
IMG_0178_zpsde814ac5.jpg
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Gary, very slick indeed! Today, I do what you do in the top photo, except I put the stone on the top grate first, then cover that with foil...and I broke that stone right-quick.

From what my engineer friends tell me, the Baking STeel on top will transfer heat down to the top of the pizza, much more efficientlt and intensely than tin foil, because of the radiant (or conductive?) heat trransfer properties of that metal.

I have had great success with a setup similar to yours, I just keep breaking stones.
 
Thanks Jim, I don't doubt your engineering friends are right but from what I've read real brick pizza ovens use three heating methods; convection, reflective and conductive heat. The dome creates a natural airflow for convection heat. Heat is also reflected off of the dome back to the pizza, and the stone hearth conducts heat to the crust. My intention was to create a smooth hot air flow over the surface of the pizza and exhaust out the front. I also wanted to achieve reflective heat. That's the reason I foiled first. Does it protect the stone, I guess it must as I'm not breaking stones and the 700-750 degree range is easily maintained as you mentioned with small chunks of wood. I refuel simply by placing fuel on the pizza stone and pushing it strait back into to the fire, wood too. I've done that by modifying the grate holding the bottom stone. Here is my original post
http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?44586-Custom-Pizza-Kettle/page2
In any event that's cooking. We all have our own methods. :)
 
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Gary S said:
I refuel simply by placing fuel on the pizza stone and pushing it strait back into to the fire, wood too. I've done that by modifying the grate holding the bottom stone. Here is my original post
http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?44586-Custom-Pizza-Kettle/page2
. :)
Click to expand...

Very cool.

For what it's worth, the Pizza Kettle folks have thought about ease of refueling, too. They now offer a grate (for the pizza stone to sit on), that has cut-outs on the side and in back, to make it easier to *** fuel. They call i tthe "pro grate". I give those guys at Pizza Kettle credit, they are responding to what their customers are saying...

http://www.kettlepizza.com/KettlePizza-ProGrate-and-Tombstone-Combination-Kit-p/kppg-22.htm
 
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