New Technique for Pizza on the Kettle


 
Shaun R

Shaun R

TVWBB Hall of Fame
I thought I would share a new technique I came up with after trying several different configurations to get a regular kettle up to high temp and keep it there.

What's really cool about it is you already have all of the equipment!
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I use a charcoal basket, but you could just bank the coals in the rear. I also use a raised pizza stone, which I reccomend, but I am sure it would work without one and just use a pan. I set my stone on a Weber rib rack, but a couple bricks will also work. It helps to radiate the heat from the lid toward the pizza toppings. The stone also helps keep the temp up. Mine is almost an inch thick.

Now, here's what really makes the difference! Turn the lid backwards so the vent is directly above the coals and all bottom vents wide open. Just let the kettle come up to the desired temp. I just put an old thermometer in the vent hole and checked it every few minutes while I heat soaked the stone. It was pegged at 700! Meaning it was actually much higher. The flames from the fuel should continue licking the lid vent with the lid on. Even though lifting the lid loses heat it should come back up pretty fast. After opening the lid a few times it still hovered around 650-700 through the entire cook.

I didn't take many pictures, but here's the finished pizza after 12 minutes. I gave it a couple turns while it cooked.




It was perfect! I am sure this can get even better with more practice and should be capable of doing multiple pies.

Please share your thoughts.
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What a great idea! Conventional wisdom always says force convection across your food with the placement of the vent holes, but your method really enhances the flow of oxygen to the fuel. And from the looks of it, who can argue with the results??? Nice work!
 
Thanks Sean & Paul! I used a charcoal basket I made. It holds about as much as two Weber baskets. I think you could just use two Weber baskets next to each other long ways in a half circle behind the stone or just bank a full chimney of charcoal.
 
Sounds like a great idea, Shaun, and that pizza looks great!

I've been hesitant to try pizza on the grill for fear I will mess it up due to fire placement, etc., but I will have to give this a try.

Pizza is serious business around the house, and if I showed up with something raw or burnt, I'd have a mutiny on my hands.
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Nice! Were you able to get a crispy crust on the pie, or was it a softer crust?

I've been doing Pizza on my Kamado Joe, but it would be great to set up a couple of Kettles so I could do more than one at a time and have all the pizzas ready at the same time.

Pat
 
Shaun,

I just told my wife I would be grilling some pizza sometime this holiday. I'll be trying your technique for sure. Thanks for sharing!
 
Yes, the crust was crispy. You could just keep an eye on it and make it either crispier or softer. As far as trying it, it's not a bad idea to do a trial run on a fresh pre-made one from the grocery store. The dough I used was supposed to be a really good brand, but I have had better luck with TJ's or even Safeway brand. They seem to rise better and even bubble.
 
Shaun,

Was the temp at the lid 700, or was that the surface of the stone? And did they really take 12 minutes at that temperature? It seems like I would've had cinders with cheese on top after that long at that heat.
 
Good question Jon, not really sure. My stone heat soaked for almost an hour because I was busy and didn't pay attention. It had to be really hot. The temp at the lid was pinned at 700 so it had to be well over that. I doubt the stone was below 700.

As far as cinders of heat on top, I can't really say. It seems there is still a lot of room between the lid and pizza, so who knows. I need to practice with it more. I did pull off the lid three times during the cook causing a heat drop.

Brian, yep! A pocket knife is the way to go!
 
One of the challenges people ofter have is transfering the raw pizza to the stone without messing it up. At a job I was on a couple of months back the pizza is made on an aluminum pizza pan and cooked on it in a standard oven.

When it is done it is then placed in a separate oven with a stone (about 30 sec to 1 min) but this time the pizza is taken off the pan. The purpose of the 2nd step is to char up the crust a little.

I guess this can also be done on a Weber; assemble and cook it on a pan and when just shy of finishing remove from pan and cook directly on the stone for crust formation.
 
I still use pans now and then to cook the whole pie because it's easy to spin and I can take it right off when it's done, with gloves of course. Lately I have been getting into using parchment paper. Since I have a metal peel the dough tends to stick even with flour or cornmeal, but the parchment is a breeze. I just build the pizza right on the parchment on the peel. After the pizza has been on for a few minutes and the dough has firmed up I remove it and finish the job, I really like this system. It's similar to the two step method you mentioned John.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Shaun R:
Good question Jon, not really sure. My stone heat soaked for almost an hour because I was busy and didn't pay attention. It had to be really hot. The temp at the lid was pinned at 700 so it had to be well over that. I doubt the stone was below 700.

As far as cinders of heat on top, I can't really say. It seems there is still a lot of room between the lid and pizza, so who knows. I need to practice with it more. I did pull off the lid three times during the cook causing a heat drop.

Brian, yep! A pocket knife is the way to go! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Shaun,

I have an infared thermometer that I've used during a few pizza cooks to monitor stone temperature but I really don't know the air temp in there. I found that my first pie gets done at around 500 degrees on the stone surface and comes out great, but by the 2nd or 3rd pie I am up over 650 and don't have enough time to heat the top by the time the crust is burning. And this is using an 18.5" kettle with the stone on firebricks to get it up closer to the lid so the reflected heat can cook the toppings. I've actually been going the other way - cooking at lower temperatures with less coals that are more spread out around the perimeter of the bowl.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
Shaun,

I have an infared thermometer that I've used during a few pizza cooks to monitor stone temperature but I really don't know the air temp in there. I found that my first pie gets done at around 500 degrees on the stone surface and comes out great, but by the 2nd or 3rd pie I am up over 650 and don't have enough time to heat the top by the time the crust is burning. And this is using an 18.5" kettle with the stone on firebricks to get it up closer to the lid so the reflected heat can cook the toppings. I've actually been going the other way - cooking at lower temperatures with less coals that are more spread out around the perimeter of the bowl. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> That makes sense. I have done pizzas at 300-350 and they come out good, just take longer. I find that I like them to bubble from the high heat though. It just seems a little more rustic. Here's an old thread of mine. Low Pizza
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Shaun R:
That makes sense. I have done pizzas at 300-350 and they come out good, just take longer. I find that I like them to bubble from the high heat though. It just seems a little more rustic. Here's an old thread of mine. Low Pizza </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I never saw the thread where you did it in the WSM, but that's pretty neat. I'm still searching for just the right high heat method, but not extremely high heat. Thinking more about my problem, it's more about controlling the temperature over time to cook a few pies. Re-reading your original post and seeing that you have an inch thick stone gives me a clue, as mine is maybe half that thick. You are definitely our resident expert, so I appreciate the input!
 
Hi folks,

I usually use the Weber vegetable basket upside down and the stone on top, gives the stone a good stable base.

I generally use 2 full charcoal baskets and heatbeads (Aussie briquettes) and get the fire up around 500 plus F and heat up the stone for about 30-40 minutes.My stone isn't a real thick one, maybe 1/2 to 3/4 inch...something like that.I place the baskets right out to the side to get the allround heat thing happennin'.

Preferring to like thin bases and they come out really crisp with nicely browned toppings..yum.

Summer down here now but it's been a rather wet Xmas down-under on the east side so I haven't really had the motivation lately and my work shifts are all over the place...sometimes early sometimes late...the old body clock is getting a workout.

But I feel a Pizza party going to happen within the next Month.

Hope you guys have a fantastic New year celebrating an grillin great pizzas.

Cheers

Davo
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by jeff davidson:
sorry to be thick but what do you mean by turn the lid backwards? the lids is circular so what would backwards mean?

tia, </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Good question Jeff, what I meant was most people keep the vent turned towards the front and coals opposite of it. I am saying to try it with the vent right above the coals direct rather than indirect.
 
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