New Egghead in Need of Assistance!

Heather First, welcome to the forum. Honestly, you should spend some time in here, reading recipes, and watching the things that people post. You will learn a TON! We've always been happy with pizza at the 525-550 range, but there is always a lot of debate on that. Remember with this forum, there are many "correct" ways to cook the same item on the Egg, but some have a preferred method, as you will discover as yours as your adventure continues.
Also, instead of guessing, come to the forum first, and do a quick search on what you are cooking. If you don't get enough info there, post your question. You will likely get a response within a few minutes. It's a lot easier asking before the cook, then when it is already doomed...lol.
Again, welcome, and you will find more info that you ever imagined here. There are many many extremely talented cooks here. And all info provided, will obciously, be Egg friendly.
Did a quick search for you on pizza temps as an example....2765 hits.
http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?searchword=pizza+temps&dtstart=0&dtrange=0&orderby=score&pagelength=50&returnfirst=0&option=com_simpleboard&Itemid=112&func=search

Welcome again!

Welcome to the forum! just a random bit of advice but make sure that your dome thermometer is calibrated (should read 210-212F when placed in boiling water) I cook my pizza between 450-500F

Heather welcome to our world. Glad to have you join us.
Where are you from?
Keep in mind we like pictures :laugh:

Welcome to the cult.

I don't know anything about your setup, so I'll just tell you what I do and if any of it's helpful, then good!

I find that new lump gets hotter faster than used lump, but used lump is ready to cook on right away. With new lump you should allow about 20 minutes for the smoke to clear before you cook on it. Sniff it and when the smoke smells good, it should be ok to cook on. if you're re-using some lump, make sure you stir it with the ashtool before lighting. this helps the ash that's accumulated on the lump to fall thru the grate. otherwise the ash will deter the combustion of the lump. Lack of airflow due to ash buildup and/or clogging vent holes is the #1 impedement to reaching hot temps.

What I do for 600* pizza:

1) For the entire cook I leave the daisy/DFMT completely off. set it aside, you don't need it for this cook.

2) load lump up to about the top of the firebox

3) light the starters, leaving the vent and the whole dome open until the starters have burned up, then close the dome (leaving the vent wide open)and watch the temp rise.

4) at about 300/350 I put the platesetter in, legs down, put 3 flat stones on the PS to act as spacers and set the Pizza stone on top of the stones. You can use balls of aluminum foil as spacers, if that's easier.

5) then just watch the temp and when you get within 50 degrees of your target, adjust your vent door to the desired opening for your target temp. if you don't know what that would be, I can tell you that on my LBGE (using Royal Oak Lump), the door is open about 1.1/2" to hit 500, so adjust yours accordingly. Some lump burns faster/hotter while others burn slower and take longer to get up to temp.

6) once it settles in to your desired temp, let it set for at least 15 minutes to make sure the P-stone is heated and the fire is burning clean. If it's been sitting longer, it's a good idea to give the stone a light wiping with a damp towel.

7) put pizza on!

This isn't the only way to do it, it's just what works for me. Everyone has their own preferred way to do things.

It's easier to do it than to write it (or read it :laugh: )

Heather, Welcome to the forum. Tim

Keep coming back and you will see a difference in your food.

I'm still a rookie but I found the main thing to remember is to wait until there is no more white smoke (just clear smoke) before you put the pizza on. I got that advise from this forum. The first pizza I cooked tasted like I pulled it out of a burning building. The next one was great

"You'd be amazed what I learned this past weekend cooking 6 pizzas at the DC metro fest...played around with an infrared thermometer on the stone and platesetter...I felt like a rookie..wont ever cook pizza without it again..literally saw 780° on the platesetter and 585 on the stone..and the dome never went above 550..."

just curious wess, what do you believe will be the utility of the infrared thermometer in future pizza cooks? Assuming you've been consistent in your set-up & preheat times, it is likely that your stone & plate setter temps have always been in the 585-780 range with a 550 dome temp. If you have been getting good results with 550 dome, what difference does it make what the stone temp is?

By the way, it wasn't me that stole you infrared thing at tiki fest next month :laugh:

LOL...I will be guarding it...the difference was I actually waited a lot longer to put the first pie on and longer in between as well..I cooked one again last night, at one hour, my normal time to put the pie on...the stone was just over 400, at 1 1/2 hours it was right at 515, I didn't bother checking the platesetter, I was only cooking 1 pizza so stone temp was all I was concerned with....This was also my first experience with caputo 00, did a 50/50 mix with high gluten, resulted in a stretchier dough and also made a bigger pie for some reason..

I'll stick with what is working for me now..only one heat barrier severly limits the consistency..and I don't want to dance...