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One more try.....advice needed

CT Grillguy
CT Grillguy Posts: 149
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Going to try Pizza again....replaced my gasket yesterday and am not one to say "I'll never do that again!" So.[p]I'm thinking of trying the following set up. I have a ring from Sandbagger that raises the cooking grid to gasket level. On top of that I'll place the Pizza stone. So I will not use the Plate Setter. It seems to me that the plate setter deflected the heat into my gasket and fried it. Also, I got the Egg way too hot last time.[p]Second question: Does anyone else have trouble with their dome Thermometer when using a Pizza stone. Mine read 500 on my last cook but the gasked disolved like it was over 800 so..... Any other ways to guestimate temp without a Grid thermometer?

Comments

  • icemncmth
    icemncmth Posts: 1,165
    CT Grillguy,[p]I baked pizza last night on my egg and I used the plate setter and stone method....[p]I ran the temp to 550-600 deg...and let the egg sit for 30 mins or so...[p]Once the egg was nice and warm ...I tossed a pizza on the stone..[p]about 10 mins later we had pizza!!![p]I really don't think it was the stone that killed the gasket...[p]I think it was how it was set up..[p]My dealer set mine up and I haven't had any problem..[p]and I have done several cooks T-rex style ...and I have done several pizzas where I cooked on the egg for over a couple of hours..[p]I have had a lot of comments about how I keep the temp around 500-550..and I really don't have a problem with that...[p]So I am guessing that if anyone has a problem keeping their egg at temp..then either they don't clean out the fire box or they have some other issues...

  • EddieMac
    EddieMac Posts: 423
    I guess I'm lucky also as I've cooked all kinds of things in the past 18 months and at all kinds of temps...and my gasket is just fine.....[p]As for pizza....I think it's important to let the stone really heat up....At about 525 degrees for approximately 45 minutes before throwing the dough on....I also highly recommend tossing a big handful of cornmeal on the stone and distributing it evenly so the pizza easily slides on and off....[p]I'm no pizza expert...but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express over the weekend....But seriously....I went to a an old-fashioned pizzeria here in the area....and watched them make pizzas...and that little outing gave me some pretty good tips....maybe you can do the same....[p]Best of luck....[p]Ed McLean
    Ft. Pierce, FL

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,657
    CT Grillguy,
    just a thought, but maybe get the egg up to temps slower. maybe you got the fire too large and the ceramics up top hadnt heated up yet, showing a lower dome temp

    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    CT Grillguy,[p]I tried just a pizza stone on the grill without other ceramic mass, and because the heat comming up from the coals was uneven, portions of the pizza bottom burnt. One portion of the stone was much hotter than the rest.[p]Like you, I toasted my gasket while doing pizza, and it was clear that the heat was pressing out where, in my case, the fire bricks were proping up the pizza stone. What I think may contribute to the problem is that I have a 14" pizza stone on a medium, and it may be that it is so big that it is blocking heat from rising to the dome. I'd be willing to bet that the air under the stone was way higher than the 500 degree dome temp. The coals looked like a T-rex fire, and I went through 3/4 of a full load of charcoal in less than an hour. Perhaps be sure that there is enough space for the heat to flow out the dome, and not press against the gasket.[p]I'm considering a metal crisping pan, but the ones I've found so far say they have a non-stick coating, and I'm a little leery of what strange chemicals might off-gas from that.[p]gdenby
  • Spin
    Spin Posts: 1,375
    CT Grillguy,[p]Definitely raise the cooking level to the opening so that the finished pie can be removed easily. If the pie sits down in the egg it is almost impossible to remove.[p]I suggest against not using the plate setter or two pizza stones as the heat from the fire will cook the bottom of the pie before the top is finished.[p]I recommend cooking at a well heated 500-600 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cook smaller pies so you can gain experience quickly. The big pies cook just like the small ones.[p]Good luck,
    Spin

  • BajaTom
    BajaTom Posts: 1,269
    CT Grillguy,
    I agree with fisselman on your heat up stage. In most of my cooks except for steaks I take a slow approach to heating up the egg. I start the lump with one fire stick in the middle. Once that stick has burned up & the lump has caught fire I close the lid. The lower vent is 3/4 to 1 inch open and the daisy wheel is about 1/3 opened. This set up will get my temp to about 450 to 500 dome temp. I think you need to check your themometer for accuracy. The set up I have used for many pizza cooks is inverted place setter and the pizza stone on top. My 2 cents worth, Tom

  • Kelly Keefe
    Kelly Keefe Posts: 471
    Spin,
    If anybody knows pizza on the Egg, it's you my friend! Use the plate setter - it wasn't what fried your gasket.[p]Kelly

  • Smokey
    Smokey Posts: 2,468
    CT Grillguy,[p]When I make pizza, I use the plate setter, pizza stone, like other have stated. I also use a mesh pizza screen (availavle it many cooking stores and makes removing pizza very easy).[p]You should get great results![p]Smokey[p]
  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
    CT Grillguy,
    Well, the Stoker temperature controller has an optional 1000 degree probe you could use....[p]TNW

    The Naked Whiz
  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
    CT Grillguy,
    I'm not sure I understand why you think the plate setter deflected heat into the gasket. Your pizza stone would have been larger than the plate setter and it would have deflected more heat to the sides of the cooker than the plate setter. People have been using plate setters here for pizza at high temps for years and haven't seen their gaskets get melted, so there must have been something else going on. Did you have a flashback? Flashback can melt a gasket in a heartbeat. Did you hold the lid open an inch or two and allow flames to exit the cooker out the sides?[p]TNW

    The Naked Whiz
  • CT Grillguy
    CT Grillguy Posts: 149
    The Naked Whiz,[p]Here's what the gasket looked like the next day.[p]DSCN1142.jpg[p]Not are real well lit pic, but the gasket was not burnt next to the leggs of the Plate Setter and was fried next to the openings of the Plate Setter. Part of it pealed off completely to the left of the pic.[p]This gasket was recently replaced and at the time of the cook was over a month old and had had several high temp cooks, so it wasn't my installation of the gasket...it was tight and secure.[p]I think what happend was that the egg heated up too fast, the ceramic pieces didn't heat up as fast and affected the dome thermometer. Therefore my fire could have been a million degrees and my thermometer was still reading 500. The superheated air came up and was deflected into the gasket area and fried it. All this happened with the lid closed. I guess I need to slowly raise the temp in the egg with all that extra mass.[p]Thanks for the brainstorming!
  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
    CT Grillguy,
    Hmmm, that's pretty telling. I use a 16" stone, so maybe it restricts the hot air enough to prevent that from happening. This is why we have engineers who do thermodynamics, and why we don't! :-)[p]TNW

    The Naked Whiz
  • CT Grillguy,[p] Been lucky so far and no gasket burns in spite of several high-temp start-ups for bread and pizza (when I need cook temps at, or above, 500*F). I am starting to wonder if the platesetter is deflecting heat out and specifically on the gasket AND any 'material/mfg differences' would cause it fail in one or more locations rather than the entire rim. [p] I appreciate your posts .... which keep me constantly aware of the potential for this problem.[p]Regards,
    Tom B (EggSport)

  • dhuffjr
    dhuffjr Posts: 3,182
    CT Grillguy,
    Listen to Spin, if you don't use any mass under the stone to deflect the heat/radiate it you'll get burned or very done crusts with the toppings not quite there.

  • Sandbagger
    Sandbagger Posts: 977
    CT Grillguy, I am not sure what happened. I would not worry too much about it, unless you do it again. [p]At last year's Eggtoberfest in Atlanta, Grillmeister and Hotash cooked several pizzas high in the dome. The pizzas came out great. I remember GM suggesting that the pizzas' greatness was due in part to using the deflective heat off the dome walls. [p]All you need is a couple more inches in height to get the pizza stone into the dome. Others need to chime in, but would two fire bricks work or is that to much mass? For the set-up how about: woo ring, grid, fire bricks (short side up) and on top - the pizza stone. Hopefully, this is not too high. [p]I'll play with it a bit and see what works best. T[p]
  • CT Grillguy
    CT Grillguy Posts: 149
    Sandbagger,[p]Yea, someone was playing around with putting fire bricks in between the Plate Setter and the Pizza Stone. That might be cool. From what people are saying, having the Pizza Stone directly exposed to the lump is a bad thing. So looks like I either need another Pizza stone to double them up, or make the Plate Setter work.
  • CT Grillguy,[p] OK ... so this is obvious ... but I tried some firebrick and found out the hard way that each notable amount of mass takes a notable amount of time to fully heat. I put BGE pizza stone on set of firebricks and the bottom crust was hardly cooked since stone temp had not come up and stabilized. If you look at any brick/stone oven, the mass is substantial, but they are kept at, or close to, operating temp round the clock. For one large pizza, it is just not worth the time and fuel when I get a decent result with the plate setter and pizza stone together. I am going to work hard to get a good result with the PL only.[p]Tom B (EggSport)[p]
  • Borders
    Borders Posts: 665
    CT Grillguy, I think direct heat on your pizza stone is very likely to cause it to crack. I cracked a couple on my small before Chubby came out with his Grillmates. [p]I do tons of pizza on my large egg like most with a stone on a plate setter. One thing I do differently than most is I only cook at 450. With a well preheated egg and stone, I have perfect results at 450. [p]Good luck, Scott

  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
    CT Grillguy,
    I cooked a lot of pizzas on a 14" stone without problems, tried a 16" and fried my gasket at 500 dome temp. I think your stone may be too big. -RP