Pizza oven

[PeterSims]

So looking for some tips. So I've recently bought my self a pizza oven attachment and stone.
So I tried it out last night with some success.
I lit a full chimney and added one very large lump of apple wood . Got the temp up to 450c and was holding. So went in with the pizza . Now my crust was probably a tad on the thick side but that can be altered . Cooked perfectly underneath I'm just lacking top heat . Do I need more coals or just keep adding wood . It's a 57cm so it's a big space .

 

[PeterSims]

I've also seen online clips you can use to ease the grill grate any idea were to purchase would be helpful

 

[Jonas-Switzerland]

How's the bottom of the pizza? How long did you bake it?

From the looks of it you could have cooked it more. My pizzas get more maillard crust at the edge in my normal oven at 270c convection.



As for more heat on the top... I don't think you can. Not without gadgets, or a kamado grull. There is a reason why Pizza ovens are built like a dome of stone. Maybe you can get some mass above the pizza, or get a thermal blanket. But if you truly are already at 450Celsius, then you should already have a strong enough fire. Do you have enough convection over the pizza?

 

[Joe D - BBQ Joe]

I would use more wood. I find that the high temps are reached best after more wood goes in. I can cook three or four pizzas, and then I will add a couple more wood chunks as the temp drops without new wood in there. I use pretty big chunks. To save the expense, I usually buy the firewood pack from anywhere and then cut it up into chunks.

Two things on top heat. Try lifting the pizza on the peel to to the top of the dome to sort of finish it if you are looking to blacken parts of the toppings. Maybe one minute? Honestly, I haven't got the patience to hold it very long, so it does help a little but it takes too much effort for me. Also, I find that moderation in toppings is best. A pizza with everything will probably struggle as there is just not enough time to cook all of that stuff without then also burning the crust.

 

[PeterSims]

Well that was what the dial said but I don't have a laser temp . The base was golden so I never wanted to go any longer . First pizza was about 4 mins and second was about 6 mins. Why I question the temp can not be correct. I was unsure as to have the vents open or at the back of front

 

[PeterSims]

I did think I over loaded it a bit I tend to do that even in my oven .
Raising the pizza would be a good idea as it was hard to get the peel under it as the cooking grate is lower than the door.
I have so old oak splits in the shed that were to big for the wsm so there going in next time

 

[Joe D - BBQ Joe]

the cooking grate is lower than the door

Looking closer at your picture of your rig, you might double check your setup. I have the Kettle Pizza brand, so yours could be different of course. On mine, there are tabs on the circular rig to allow the 22" grate to drop in the rig itself, and when that is dropped onto the kettle grill, the stone is level with the opening. These pictures are from the Kettle Pizza manual.

Also, they recommend "keeping the top vent closed and the bottom vent slightly open. Feel free to experiment with the vents depending on
the exact fuel combination you may be using." That seems to work fine. Completely opposite of what I would have expected or what I am used to though.

Finally, I am attaching a photo of their setup in terms of the proportion of charcoal to wood. The oak splits sound fine. I save the good stuff like the apple wood for the smoker.

I can send the whole manual if that's allowed.

 

[PeterSims]

Mine is a cheap version but the basics are the same . Mine just fits over the the base and grill can only sit on the original fixings . I did see the onlyfire version has some clips to ease it up. I might try placing my wsm grate on top to ease it and sit the stone on that

 

[PeterSims]

Interesting about the wood will help reach the temp. Definitely more wood next time

 

[Jonas-Switzerland]

AFAIK an IR thermometer measures surface temperatures. So the ir could give you the temp of the stone, or of the inner walls, not of the air inside.

A good Pizza oven has high indirect heat. If the bottom is already done, then you can try to increase the heat from above, or reduce the heat from below. I saw a contraption somewhere where the stone was lifted high above the fire. Or like I said, convection. I saw a critique of a gas fired pizza oven, which apparently had bad air flow. So you had tremendous heat, but it would flow above the pizza and not do anything. Maybe the stone is too large and blocks the flow inside. But that's just a guess from me.

 

[Darryl - swazies]

Many have tried pizza on their charcoal setups......and generally the most complaints are not enough heat on the top, it looks like it could take more heat on top all the time. I did it one time in my E6 and ran hot temps around 700 and it cooked fast but still looked like it could have used a broil.
I generally will cook pizza inside most of the time.....the amount of work to get everything going right is fun but not really worth it especially if you are doing it often.
I think there was a longer thread where Dan came to a conclusion that the higher you can get the pizza ( closer to the dome ) the more likely you were to have the top look better.
I had my pizza raised up about 5 or 6 inches up off the grill itself and needed more top heat.
I also break my pizza stones all the time with this heat method....I have no idea how hot it is under that stone but it breaks my stone.

 

[PeterSims]

Starting to think that the amount of coal and wood I'll need to use will out way just using the oven . Flavour was good tho. Definitely thinking smaller pizza but just cook more and raising the grate I've been tinkering with it. I can use my rib racks to raise it up quite high. So hopefully less bottom heat and more top or at least more even.

 

[Joe D - BBQ Joe]

Starting to think that the amount of coal and wood I'll need to use will out way just using the oven .

Blasphemy! Just kidding...

I use maybe a half chimney of charcoal and then add wood as needed. I usually have to pull the pizza rig off the grill entirely after 4 pizzas or so and add wood. Takes a few minutes after that to get back up to temp. I have a temp gauge on the front of the pizza rig and 800-900 degrees F is not uncommon.

My recollection is that the 22" grate rests on three or four wingnuts that are part of the pizza rig. So if they didn't supply a way to fix the grate inside the pizza rig, maybe you can drill out some holes and DIY the wingnut method.

 

[PeterSims]

I could try drilling holes . Yes my probe is at the front . That is the sort of temps I'm after . Hotter than a oven . Can you use any hard wood as it's not so much of a flavor profile your trying to achieve unlike smoking meat