Second time's a charm

Aron

Just wanted to thank everyone for their input last week. I used my egg for the second time this weekend (hopefully my schedule will ease up and allow more than once a week cooks soon).[p]This time my spatchcocked chicken was incredibly juicy, and I even tried a pizza, which although extremely misshapen (I need a peel or something to ease transition to the stone on placesetter), was absoutely delicious. Not restaurant quality yet, but by far my best ever.[p]I think the main things that contributed to the more successful cook were:[p]1. Using real lump charcoal: I went out and got a large bag of maple leaf lump, instead of using pure large hickory chunks, which was all I had available my first time. I could tell the difference within a few minutes, when the chimney's smoke became almost clear, which never happened using the pure hickory. I was also able to get my temperature higher and was left with more lump and less ash after the cook.[p]2. A much better chicken--Much meatier to begin with left it much juicier to eat. [p]Just one question this time--I have a cheap pizza stone and took it out of the egg after making the pizza so I could place in the grill for the chicken. The stone cracked in half since it didn't get to cool down slowly. It can easily be fit together, and I assume I can just cook on it as is for the time being, before replacing it with a higher quality, thicker ceramic stone. Am I correct?
Thanks again to all those who responded to my distress call last week. Can't wait to continue learning more wisdom from fellow eggers, and hopefully I'll be able to help out the newbies someday.[p]Aron

Chuck

<p />Aron,[p]It sounds like you a well on your way to some great cooking. The pizza peel will make a huge difference in getting the pizza on and off, it will also be useful for the quesidillas that you should give a try. I'm not sure about using the cracked stone, I guess it can't hurt, but I do recommend that you get a BGE pizza stone when you buy one. It is made for the higher temps in the BGE, the others were designed for oven use at a lower temp. Also I would recommend a plate setter if you don't have one already. This will give you more ceramic mass under your stone and also raise it up to the level of the opening. It makes it much easier to do pizzas and is great inverted for indirect cooking. Good luck.[p]Chuck <><

The Naked Whiz

Aron,
If you have a large egg, Crate and Barrel sells a 16 inch pizza stone that works marvelously in the large. I recommend it highly.[p]TNW

Strmn2Smoke

Aron,[p]I had the same misfortune with the "cheap" stone..got some J-B Weld epoxy @Ace Hardware, it is safe and can take temperatures up to 600 degrees, mixed the stuff and glued the stones together. I left mine to dry flat side down on wax or parchment paper, which will burn off should some stick from any oozing. Hope this helps..nde