Pizza Problems

RGTERP · August 2012

I am relatively new at this Eggperience. I have had my LBGE a little under two months. Chicken and steaks are great, I did slow cook baby backs on Saturday that were the best damn ribs I have ever eaten. But after four attempts my pizza's stink. The problem is I can't get the grill to stay hot enough. My husband and I purchased six fire bricks and laid them out as shown on several of the pages, but only after I had already heated the grill to over 500 degrees. Bam, temp goes down to 300 to 350 and barely rises--and I had the entire fire box full, charcoal blazing. after twenty minutes I finally but the pie up, but it was not up to par again. Short of getting a plate setter (which we are buying this week), any suggestions?

Duganboy · August 2012

Not really sure what you said about the fire bricks, but you need a platesetter if you are going to do a lot of indirect cooking. It is probably the number one accessory that BGE sells.

njl · August 2012

How big is your pizza stone (assuming you put one on top of the fire bricks)? If you can't get it up after putting the bricks on the grill, it sounds like you've constricted the air flow too much, and are smothering the fire.

ChokeOnSmoke · August 2012

I am relatively new at this Eggperience. I have had my LBGE a little under two months. Chicken and steaks are great, I did slow cook baby backs on Saturday that were the best damn ribs I have ever eaten. But after four attempts my pizza's stink. The problem is I can't get the grill to stay hot enough. My husband and I purchased six fire bricks and laid them out as shown on several of the pages, but only after I had already heated the grill to over 500 degrees. Bam, temp goes down to 300 to 350 and barely rises--and I had the entire fire box full, charcoal blazing. after twenty minutes I finally but the pie up, but it was not up to par again. Short of getting a plate setter (which we are buying this week), any suggestions?

1.) Do you have the top OFF and bottom vent wide open?

2.) Are the holes in your charcoal grate clogged? (#1 reason eggs are unable to get up to temp).

DocWonmug · August 2012

I think you HAVE to have a PS to do pizza. And lots of other stuff. Go get one......

On the tmeperature, I had the exact same problem. Several folks opined it was because the small pieces of lump clogged some of the holes in the grate, or maybe the firebox sides. The next pizza cook, I was very careful to clean the grate and firebox holes, and laid out some large lump on the bottom. I still only got to 550.

HOWEVER, I changed my rig slightly. PS legs down. Two plain old fired bricks (not concrete) laid flat on the PS. I tried it with the brick upright, and the stone was quite high in the dome. Pizza stone on top of the flat bricks. Fire up to said 550 and hold for a few minutes. I got restaurant quality pizza!!! I think the stone has to be at the right elevation, high enough in the dome, but not too high. The right dough makes a difference however. But at 350, I don't think any pizza will come out right.

I am not sure why it will not go above 550 or so. I could see the firebox glowing through the vent, so I think I am getting all the fire I can get. Folks here said not enough oxygen. I think excess ceramic just will not heat much above 550. I have a large egg.

tazcrash · August 2012

Ok, IMHO,a plate setter isn't a necessity, but definitely will help, and is their best accessory if you aren't buying an adjustable rig with stone.

To me it sounds like you put the bricks on after you reached the temp you wanted.

Those 6 bricks are huge heat sinks and will absorb the heat (the reason the temp dropped like that).Also if you put 6 bricks in there to act like a plate setter () I'm guessing you blocked the airflow like said above.

Skiddymarker · August 2012

When you pick up your plate setter, try the legs down and the stone on top of the setter. Put the setter and the stone into the egg as soon as it is burning, close the lid and open the vents (top off).

When the temp hits 600, drop the DW on and fully opened, temp will drop a bit, move the wheel until the temp stabilizes between 500 and 600.

Cook your pizza.

Now experiment. PS legs down, stone on raised rack, higher temps - it will all work, find out what works for you.

MO_Eggin · August 2012

+1 to what Taz said. 6 fire bricks is a lot of cold mass that will take time to get up to temp - I'd expect much longer than 20 minutes.

the_alchemist83 · August 2012

If I am doing pizza, I will start my lump in more than one place to ensure that there is going to be even burning & because I want to make sure I hit my temp & can stay there. I've been running 600 F or above for my last two pizza cooks and will be running that hot this Friday when I do pizza again. That being said, lump doesn't last a terribly long time when you are running that hot As others have stated, check your holes in your firebox to make sure they aren't clogged & make sure you clean out any ash to ensure full airflow.

RGTERP · September 2012

Thanks all. I have my plate setter now, and the last pie was a bit better, but still not hot enough. I think I will try the tip and put a couple of bricks on top of the plate setter to lift the pie higher. I refuse to give up. Everything else I have made has been fantastic. The pie will not win!

Back Yard Dan · September 2012

The original firebox had more holes, and they were bigger and they tended to break into pieces. If you bought your egg in the last few years or replaced a broken box like I have, you now have the fire box with the slit cut in it to allow it to expand and fewer smaller air holes. I have had issues with getting temps up with the new box. Never with the old. As others have stated, you need to make sure all holes are clear. I remove all used lump, put lage pieces in the bottom, a layer of fresh smaller pieces, and then the stuff I removed. Light on 3 or 4 places. Leave ps and stone out until you get to about 400 before putting them in. Then let it get to 500 or higher and let the stone preheat for at least 20 minutes....this is critical!! To save on lump, I sometimes per heat the stone in the oven and let it sit in the egg for 5 mins after. 550 degrees should be adequate to cook great pizza.....about 12 mins per pie. I can get 3 pies out before the lump is done with this method

RGTERP · September 2012

Back Yard Dan said:

The original firebox had more holes, and they were bigger and they tended to break into pieces. If you bought your egg in the last few years or replaced a broken box like I have, you now have the fire box with the slit cut in it to allow it to expand and fewer smaller air holes. I have had issues with getting temps up with the new box. Never with the old. As others have stated, you need to make sure all holes are clear. I remove all used lump, put lage pieces in the bottom, a layer of fresh smaller pieces, and then the stuff I removed. Light on 3 or 4 places. Leave ps and stone out until you get to about 400 before putting them in. Then let it get to 500 or higher and let the stone preheat for at least 20 minutes....this is critical!! To save on lump, I sometimes per heat the stone in the oven and let it sit in the egg for 5 mins after. 550 degrees should be adequate to cook great pizza.....about 12 mins per pie. I can get 3 pies out before the lump is done with this method

Back Yard Dan,

Excellent words of wisdom. I am printing this out and will follow it this week as I try to make a great pie once again! I especially like heating the stone in the over--how about the plate setter?

Renee

SamFerrise · September 2012

The only pizza problem we have is that we can't get enough.

DonWW · September 2012

To reiterate points that I believe are most appropriate. You should have no trouble at all attaining and holding 650+ in your egg.

1. Clean out the fire box and makes sure grate is clean and unclogged.
2. Fresh lump. Not critical, but eliminates one potential problem.
3. Get a good flame going however you prefer to start (cubes, electric, looftlighter,. etc)
4. If you built a mound of lump to start the fire, spread it around a bit.
5. Set platesetter on legs down. Put the pizza stone on the PS.
6. Open bottom vent and screen all the way and take the daisy wheel off. Close the dome.
7. Return in about 10-15 minutes. Your egg should be plenty warm.

BYDan is spot on. I personally allow the PS and pizza stone to warm up with the rest of the egg, but this is a minor issue. 550 - 650 and you should be ready to rock n roll.

Little Steven · September 2012

RGTERP said:

I am relatively new at this Eggperience. I have had my LBGE a little under two months. Chicken and steaks are great, I did slow cook baby backs on Saturday that were the best damn ribs I have ever eaten. But after four attempts my pizza's stink. The problem is I can't get the grill to stay hot enough. My husband and I purchased six fire bricks and laid them out as shown on several of the pages, but only after I had already heated the grill to over 500 degrees. Bam, temp goes down to 300 to 350 and barely rises--and I had the entire fire box full, charcoal blazing. after twenty minutes I finally but the pie up, but it was not up to par again. Short of getting a plate setter (which we are buying this week), any suggestions?

Just a couple of questions. Are you using a pizza stone? Are your firebricks split, like 1 1/2" thick? When you get your platesetter you may want to raise it with the firebricks to get it as high as possible in the dome. If you are using a platesetter you should have 1/2" to 1" of air space between the platesetter surface and the bottom of the pizza stone.

RGTERP · September 2012

Thanks Little Steven. My bricks were not split and there was not that much space between the plateseetter (since I got one) and my pizza stone. There will be now though!

SoCal_Griller · September 2012

Keep plugging away. My best ever pizza was last Thursday, I think it was number 5. Biggest problem I had was getting the pizza on to the stone, had a couple stick to the peel, it was a big ol mess.

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