New Egg: Cast Iron or Ceramic Plate Setter

HeliGuy

I am the proud new daddy of an XL.  After a few straight cooks with steaks, I wanted to try my hand with pizza.  While to top of the pizza's would make any Italian proud, the bottom burned badly on the stone at 600-650.  A little research revealed that I will definitely need to pony up for a plate setter.  

I came across and was intrigued by the Paragon Casual Cast Iron Plate Setter.  I like the flexibility of the griddle top, but have also seen some reviews that mention the fit is too tight and that several people have experienced cracked domes due to the expansion.  

Does anyone have any direct experience with the cast iron model?  
What are the advantages/disadvantages of the cast iron versus the BGE plate setter? 

Hotch

I would also take a look at the adjustable rig from The Ceramic Grill Store. You can call Tom and he will walk you through it. Much more versatile. Especially on the BGE XL. 

And welcome to the herd. Post those pics of your cooks. We like to see them.

Photo Egg

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I have one of the cast iron plate setters for my large and XL and highly recommend it over the ceramic. I have 2 broken ceramic plate setters for my XL that I wish I never would have purchased.
That said I still prefer my Flip Ring and Adj Rig from Ceramic Grill Store used with a pizza stone or pan.
I know Tom has made some updates on the XL Rig since mine and it's even better. I still use my Flip Ring most of the time in my XL. The simplicity and added grilling space with the Flip Ring is Awesome...I use my broken ceramic plate setters as pizza stones now.

YEMTrey

I use the Adjustable Rig from Tom and put my pizza stone on top of it to get the pie way up in the dome.  Great results.

HeliGuy

Okay-  so after this posting I just "happened" to drive by the local BGE dealer (a.k.a. The Hardware Store) and had a lengthy conversation with Kieth.  He has had two customers with cracked grilles from the cast iron plate setter. He recommende convEggtOr  with a GIANT BGE XL stone. He recommended legs up, grill, and two fire bricks to hold the stone up into the dome. 

swordsmn

I think you should indeed peruse the Ceramic Grill Store ! Then call them and discuss pizza and other future interests with Tom.   The versatility of the AR will complement your serious investment in egging.

milesvdustin

Just call tom and get the AR. Ceramicgrillstore.com

bettysnephew

I am a fairly recent convert to the XL AR/Woo set up and it is one of the best things I have ever purchased. My platesetter has a crack most of the way across and it is only a matter of time before its' demise. I checked into a new platesetter from my local stealership and the CGS set up was not a whole lot more $. The versatility of not having to store dirty fire bricks and assorted other paraphernalia is great (I can just stack and assemble all of the pieces of the AR in one unit) and I also prefer the stability and not having to worry about tipping very hot things over when using the pizza peel etc. Since you haven't invested in the PS yet, be sure to check with Tom at CGS. There is so much more that can be done with his setup than just a platesetter for not a lot more investment.

GRE1

Agreed on the CGS products!  Good Quality Items Clark!

Hotch

HeliGuy said:

Okay-  so after this posting I just "happened" to drive by the local BGE dealer (a.k.a. The Hardware Store) and had a lengthy conversation with Kieth.  He has had two customers with cracked grilles from the cast iron plate setter. He recommende convEggtOr  with a GIANT BGE XL stone. He recommended legs up, grill, and two fire bricks to hold the stone up into the dome. 

Just call Tom. You will wish you did, if you don't.

GaBGE

Adjustable rig from Tom at ceramic grill store.

Photo Egg

HeliGuy said:

Okay-  so after this posting I just "happened" to drive by the local BGE dealer (a.k.a. The Hardware Store) and had a lengthy conversation with Kieth.  He has had two customers with cracked grilles from the cast iron plate setter. He recommende convEggtOr  with a GIANT BGE XL stone. He recommended legs up, grill, and two fire bricks to hold the stone up into the dome. 

The nature of ceramic grills is that the molded shape is not perfect. Especially on something as big as the XL BGE Base. The consumer should have enough common sense to dry fit any part put into the Egg to make sure it fits and has expansion space. 
I bet all the cast iron plate setters have a quality tolerance far superior to the ceramics in the BGE.