Using 16-1/2" pizza stone

billyray · February 2012

Just bought a 16-1/2" pizza stone from Sur La Table. Cooked a Costco pizza last night, had the platesetter legs down jar lids between that and the new stone. Heated stone to 500, I noticed the outside edges of the pizza started to burn before the pizza was ready to take off. Because the stone is larger than the round area of the setter, it seems to get hotter on the area that would get some direct heat.

How do you deal with the larger pizzas, to prevent this?

70chevelle · February 2012

When you say you heated the stone to 500*, did you actually check the temp of the stone, or was that the dome temp? You may have needed more heat up time for the platesetter and pizza stone to stabilize the temp. If the stone was @ 500* and the temp was stabilized, you may have to consider lowering the temp a little (400*) for the Costco pizza. Check the ingredients of the dough. If there is oil and sugar in the dough, it will burn quicker at higher temps. Most high temp pizza dough (neapolitan style) is just flour, water, salt & yeast, but the cooking temps are much higher, around 800-900*.

billyray · February 2012

That was the temp. of the stone, taken with an infra red. I'll try at a lower temp.

Ragtop99 · February 2012

Are you using a large egg?

billyray · February 2012

Yeah it's a large

Hillbilly-Hightech · February 2012

This is just an educated GUESS on my part, but if the stone is really 16.5" diameter, I believe the widest part of the Egg is 18" diameter, so that means that you're only left w/ 1.5" of TOTAL space (or more accurately, 3/4" air gap) around the stone.

That might NOT be enough of an air gap to allow for the convection to occur, and if that's the case, then you're just getting radiant & conductive heat off the bottom of your stone. So it'll cook radiantly & conductively, w/ no convection (air flow) around the pizza, which COULD BE a reason why the outer edges cooked (and over-cooked) BEFORE the middle of the pizza.

Not sure if that's really the case, but it sounds logical

SMITTYtheSMOKER · February 2012

Try it with the platesetter feet up with the cooking grid on top, place your pizza stone on top of the grid.

I find I get better results this way at 500-600 degree dome temps.

It will hard to make that gasket stay on with that size pizza stone. IMO- Good luck.

billyray · February 2012

@ Smitty

That's what I was going to try next. I think that'll work.

MaskedMarvel · February 2012

Try it with the platesetter feet up with the cooking grid on top, place your pizza stone on top of the grid.
I find I get better results this way at 500-600 degree dome temps.

It will hard to make that gasket stay on with that size pizza stone. IMO- Good luck.

this was also my set up and good results with the Costco pizza. Also, the Costco pizza says it's 16" but mine always butt right up to the edge of the stone. Centering it can be tricky.

Ragtop99 · February 2012

This is just an educated GUESS on my part, but if the stone is really 16.5" diameter, I believe the widest part of the Egg is 18" diameter, so that means that you're only left w/ 1.5" of TOTAL space (or more accurately, 3/4" air gap) around the stone.

That might NOT be enough of an air gap to allow for the convection to occur, and if that's the case, then you're just getting radiant & conductive heat off the bottom of your stone. So it'll cook radiantly & conductively, w/ no convection (air flow) around the pizza, which COULD BE a reason why the outer edges cooked (and over-cooked) BEFORE the middle of the pizza.

Not sure if that's really the case, but it sounds logical

That was my thought. For my XL, CGW only recommends a 17.5" stone in lieu of a plate setter to allow at least 2" for air flow all around. For Large they suggest that BGE's 14" stone is too big and to use a 13" stone. This is for the spider which sits lower in the grill, but it gives an idea on the guidance they provide.

tjv · February 2012

with two stones, bigger stone on the bottom, littler stone on top, this insures 100% indirect coverage on the top stone. from there it's fine tuning based on style and type of ZA.........

if it's a thin crust ZA, you might try just the 16" stone and placing it high in the dome. make sure the lump is burning evenly throughout so the heat plume rising off the lump hits the stone evenly. Having it pushed high in the dome should help with even heat distribution above the ZA too.......

t

Using 16-1/2" pizza stone

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