Pizza Cooking Setup

Unknown

I tried my first pizza on the BGE last night. BBQ chicken with onions, jalepeno's, cheddar, & mozarella. It was awesome!! Only problem is I need some help with the baking stone part. I'm new to the BGE experience and don't have a "plate setter" yet. I tried to use a 1" piece of flagstone on grill and put my damp baking stone on the flagstone. About half way through cooking the baking stone broken in a few pieces. It was a new stone and thankfully a cheap one from Wal-mart. Any suggestions you can provide for a baking stone setup would be great. I assume the BGE baking stone and "plate setter" are the ticket. Any need to preheat the stone? If so... how?
I figure BGE has a better stone than Wal-mart that will hold up.

Shelby

SavagOrang,
Here's the most common setup and the one I use. Platesetter with a BGE pizza stone on top of that. Once the fire is started, put the platesetter/pizza stone both in place and let them heat up as the egg comes up to temp. They need to heat at least 15-20 mins. It also helps to have corn meal under your uncooked pizza dough before transfering to the pizza stone to cook. The corn meal acts as little ball bearings and allows the dough to slide right onto the stone. If you intend on cooking pizza frequently, the platesetter/pizza stone are well worth the investment.

Poncho

SavagOrang,
I agree with Shelby and use the same set up. I preheat to 700 and cook the pies at that temp. A substantial preheat is helpful. I've had no problems with cracking or breakage of BGE platesetter or stone. I ordered mine here:
http://shopping.netledger.com/app/site/site.nl?category=147&site=ACCT86477&mode=items&sc=2

Gretl

SavagOrang,
I don't have a platesetter. I set three thin firebricks next to each other like a platform on a raised grid with the pizza stone on top. It works fine. [p]Cheers,
G.

Julie

SavagOrang,
I have a pizza stone from BGE. It is a little thicker (mine stone is 3 years old with no breakage)and with the use of a grill extender, it works the same as a plate setter in this capacity. From what I've heard, if you use bricks, you will have to turn the stone to avoid uneven heating of the crust.

Boccie

SavagOrang,[p]We use the stone that BGE sells, it holds up great. I've seen others break into peices.[p]Here is a page from the first time we cooked pizza.
[ul][li]Our First Pizza Try[/ul]

tn slagamater

SavagOrang, the BGE pizza stone is made of the same material as the egg to withstand the high temperatures like you just used. Also, kiln shelves, sold in ceramic supply outlets, make great pizza stones and come in larger sizes than the BGE stones. They can handle 2000 degrees and several egg users utilize them.

Aussie_Hugh

tn slagamater,[p]The kiln shelves, are they round or oblong? I am assuming round. They sound pretty good as I imagine that they are thicker than the ordinary pizza stone.[p]Regards,
Hugh.