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Pizza Stone too big for air flow??

GoooDawgs
GoooDawgs Posts: 1,060
edited July 2016 in EggHead Forum
Hey everyone,  my pizza cooks have become a little hit or miss lately, so I wanted to share my set-up and get your feedback on a few ideas I've had.

I have an XL egg, PS legs up (sometimes offset to get an extra inch of height), grate, then 4" bolts with another grate on top to help raise the pie into the dome.  With the XL BGE stone, there is probably 1/2" - 3/4" gap between the stone and the dome - it's a pretty tight fit.

I use 00 flour with a pretty common dough recipe.  

75% of the pies come out great, but it's not consistent.  So, my questions are:

1) I try to get the egg to about 650 and hold it there for 30-45 minutes before the pie is launched.   However, because the stone is so massive, the temp probe is blocked so I don't know how reliable that reading is.  If I'm aiming for 650, should I just order an IR surface temp thermometer and scan the stone until that hits 650 and ignore the dial temp?

2) Should I keep the XL stone more at grate level to allow more airflow?  Are there any issues with it going too high into the dome?  I don't want to go down in stone size as I like making 20" pies

Example - 3 nights ago we kept it at 650 and the pie was great after 5 minutes.  Last night it was 650-700, but it had sat there for an hour so the stone may have been way to hot.  The pizza was toast after 1.5 minutes.   

As always, the problem always happens whenever the guest are over!  

Thanks guys,


Milton, GA 
XL BGE & FB300

Comments

  • I'm no BGE pizza expert, but I found the temp of the stone has made a substantial difference in what comes off. I have done them on the main grid and with my 4 inch bolt raised grid and they have come out about the same. The best ones I have let my stone heat for about ten minutes, floured, and dropped on at about 500 degrees (I let it get stable there for about 25-30 min)

    i do do mine pretty thin so if you are making a thicker pizza results may vary

    "Brought to you by bourbon, bacon, and a series of questionable life decisions."

    South of Nashville, TN

  • Consistent process produces consistent results. 

    It sounds like you ran a little bit hotter and doubled your warmup time. 

    IR gun and dome thermometer can definitely help keep track of two important variables here. 

    You might be a little too high in the dome for that size stone, but if you get good results sometimes, copy what you did on those times.
  • Stormbringer
    Stormbringer Posts: 2,007
    edited July 2016
    I cook thin crust at 700 dome temp on a large with the stone raised up by fire bricks. After the dome hits 700 I leave the stone for 20 mins before adding the pizza. This seems to work really well and consistently. Haven't measured the stone temp, doubt it's at 700 but I'm really happy with the pizzas, as is SWMBO. So maybe 1 hour is too long.

    The only observation I have on airflow, and this could be an optical illusion, is that the width of your stone compared to the grid beneath looks bigger than the large egg and pizza stone.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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    | My food blog ... BGE and other stuff ... http://www.thecooksdigest.co.uk
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  • XLentEGG
    XLentEGG Posts: 436
    I have an XL also. I use my 24" pizza stone with platesetter legs down , and my stone sits on top of three of those green " feet " that come with some eggs. whatever temp i'm cooking pizza at , I let the stone " soak " for an hour before I put on the first pie....so far so good :-)
    More meat please !! :-)
  • onedbguru
    onedbguru Posts: 1,647
    Size is not the issue.  Fill up the firebox, crank it up and let it get to dome temp get to 650-700 for up to 30 minutes before you are ready to put on your pie.
  • tjv
    tjv Posts: 3,830
    with the xl stone at the felt line, you'll be pushing heat at your rutland.

    the stone will hang over the open edges of the platesetter, so will be hotter in along the three egdes.

    t
    www.ceramicgrillstore.com ACGP, Inc.
  • GoooDawgs
    GoooDawgs Posts: 1,060
    Thanks everyone.  Just got my surface temp thermometer today, so I'll have to experiment with stone temp vs dome temp.   Thanks for the help!
    Milton, GA 
    XL BGE & FB300
  • Ladeback69
    Ladeback69 Posts: 4,482
    @GoooDawgs, I kind of have the same set up, but go with legs/feet down on the plate setter and go about 500 to 550 when cooking pizza.  My bolts are 3.5" so I don't think that is much of an issue, but higher in the dome the temp is hotter.  I was cooking at 650 when I started and went down in temp and it seemed to work better.  I use 00 flour for dough as well.  I build the pies on parchment paper for easy transfer and remove it at 4 minutes when I check it and turn the pie a quarter of a turn.  I check again at 8 minutes and if it is done pull it and if not let it go for another minute or two.  I don't think you want to at grid height.  I can't find a photo of my setup, but like I said the only difference is legs down and a little lower in temp.  I also wait 45 minutes at cook temp before putting a pie on.
    XL, WSM, Coleman Road Trip Gas Grill

    Kansas City, Mo.