Need advice on using pizza stone


 
B

BrianS

New member
Hey everybody

Decided to buy Weber pizza stone (the round one with the fancy handles), and tried it out last weekend. Unfortunately, by the time the top was nicely browned, the bottom of the crust was burned. :(

I used a full load of charcoal, and preheated the stone for 15 minutes, per the instructions.

Can anybody with more experience using this product give me some advice on how much charcoal, how long to preheat, etc. Hate turning on the oven in the heat wave we're having right now in southern Ontario, but I do love pizza!

thanks in advance...
 
When I use my pizza stone on my kettle I do two things to prevent what you're talking about:

1. put the lit charcoal around the perimeter of the charcoal grate, not under the stone, and

2. elevate the stone off the cooking grate using firebricks, so that it's only one or two inches under the dome

This helps get more heat to the top of the pie, and moderates the heat coming from the stone. Results are middling to good depending on the strength of your fire.
 
I find that adding a couple chunks of oak really helps to get the temp high enough to cook top as fast as the crust. Other suggestions of raising the stone are also true.
 
here's my set up
0720131522.jpg

just add charcoal and wood
0721131242.jpg
 
I've been doing pizza alot on a 22" OTG and the keys are:

1. Raise the stone up close to lid so heat from lid comes over the top to cook the top and bottom evenly

2. The stone needs a long slow preheat. I agree your statement, i don't want to fire up the oven is the summer.

To do this i built a raised grate using 4" SS carriage bolts and an 18" grate. Build here (scroll to end of thread):
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/it's-a-triple-threat/msg178850/#msg178850

I build a long ripping hot Lump fire with most of the coal in the back of the kettle to roll over the top of the pie but put some coal direct under the stone to preheat the stone.
To allow the stone to preheat slowly to avoid thermal shock i start with 1/2 or a full chimney of lit lump and add more unlit on top to increase temp as it lights.

I let the stone heat for 30-60 minutes ( still experimenting if theres an advantage to the 60 vs 30, need to get an IR therm to test once and for all).
This set up gets the kettle up over 650. Some folks want higher but this is higher then what my local (Long Island, NY) pizzeria cooks there pies at so its fine for me as i prefer NY style pizza. Here is a post of one of my earlier cooks (before i built the raised grate).
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/bbq-food-pics/pizza-2-0/

My pizza kettle set up is pretty solid now...my pizza making skills still have a long way to go. Getting a good looking pie from the peel to the stone is an art that have not yet mastered but i continue to work on it.
 
Please excuse my lateness in saying thanks to all of you for your help with this issue. I appreciate the feedback and excellent advice.

I love this forum (a fairly new member); folks are all so helpful and friendly!
 
It occurred to me after looking at your posts that raising the stone would be a cinch with a "Hovergrill". I think they are sold by the same folks who sell the "Smokenator".

Has anybody tried that setup?
 
BrianS said:
It occurred to me after looking at your posts that raising the stone would be a cinch with a "Hovergrill". I think they are sold by the same folks who sell the "Smokenator".

Has anybody tried that setup?
Click to expand...

my set up is basically a DIY hovergrill.
 
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