Pizza Miscue

Farbuck · May 2014

I tried to make pizza last night but it didn't turn out. Here's what I think I did wrong:

I set up my Egg with the platesetter, legs down. On top of that were 3 fire bricks. On top of that was the pizza stone.

The dome temp originally got to about 700° but once I placed the platesetter, bricks and stones, the dome dropped to about 550 degrees.

And after that, the temperature continued to drop and the Pizza stone never got above 375. The pizza baked but it a slow process and the bottom never got the crispiness I wanted.

The three bricks weighed over 22 lbs. I'm thinking that the mass inside the Egg - the platesetter, the pizza stone and 22 pounds of firebricks, kept the heat down.

Does this sound right?

I plan to repeat the session using ceramic spacers instead of the firebricks - so that will drop the mass inside the dome by 20 lbs.

grege345 · May 2014

They are some mighty big bricks.

nolaegghead · May 2014

The amount of mass you add will drop the temperature but it should, with time, rise back up to whatever it was before you added that mass. Unless your fire waned. Make sure you have a full load of lump Cole when starting a pizza cook. You can reduce the time to heat up all the mass by running the bottom vent full open until you reach your desired temperature. You should take the DFMT off, and leave it off for a pizza cook.

Skiddymarker · May 2014

7# fire brick is a pretty hefty brick. That much mass would take some time to come up to heat.

Once started I like to get the set-up in as soon as I can. When the dome thermo climbs thru 300º, in goes the setter - legs up (this keeps the falme away from the gasket) , then a grid, some spacer to get above the felt line then the stone. within 20 minutes it is all good to go. For my MBGE I use a 13" stone.

With your stone raised so high - was the air flow restricted? You need a stone to be al least 2" smaller than the diameter it is sitting at (At least 1" air flow space around the stone). For a LBGE the maximum size stone at the felt line is about 16", if you raise it in the dome you might need a 15" or 14" stone.

EDIT - just thought of this - 700º with no setter is not that hard to get - the dome thermo is exposed to direct burning lump. The ceramics can still be cold even though the thermo says 700º. Once you dropped in the setter, you are now reading a more realistic dome temp.

Cowdogs · May 2014

There is no good reason to wait to put the plate-setter and stone in. Load up on fuel, open the vents, and make sure you have airflow.

Farbuck · May 2014

Skiddymarker - thanks for the Edit portion of your post. I think that explains what happened - I tamped down the warmup too early and just couldn't get it high enough with the amount of lump left.

nolaegghead · May 2014

Yeah, that is a good point.

AD18 · May 2014

For a pizza cook, and I'm still a newbie at this, I always load up all my "equipment" and get it pre heated. I use plate setter legs up, grate, and BGE pizza stone on grate. Soon as I get a good fire going I put everything in place and start watching dome temps. Once I get to desired temp, I like stable 450-500 as per dough instructions, I let it sit there for 15-20 minutes more to continue heating stone, and then in goes the pizza. So far I have not had any issues with burnt pizza bottom and everything cooks fine. Did one last night via this method and very much enjoyed it.

FATC1TY · May 2014

I did two pies last night.

I load up on lump, get it going, put the grate in, then the platesetter legs down and the stone on top of the PS.

Open the bottom all the way, remove the daisy wheel, and let it ride. I get nice thin crust pizzas to be crisp on the bottom and edges, and the top be bubbly and cooked/melted.

The key is to not put anything on the stone, until you've got it around 500*. The stone has to be hot.

KenfromMI · May 2014

Did my first two pizzas the other night and they were flawless..I set up everything in advance, plate setter legs up, grate, and then pizza stone. Heated up to about 700 degrees (by accident, wanted 550 degrees) Let it stabilize at 550 for about 20 minutes. Did two pizzas back to back and they were perfect. Making more tonight and going to try the same set up. I will slowly ramp up the heat until I get comfortable in the 650 degree range or so to cook them faster each time I make them until I ruin one LOL

FATC1TY · May 2014

This brings up a good question/debate here..

Some like to have the hot air under the stone, and others have it up against another heat source like the PS, or fire bricks..

Wonder which ones serves better? I'd think the more mass you can have hot under and with the stone, the better. As the PS or fire bricks will retain more heat longer, versus relying on the air to get the stone back hot after you place the pie on it.

Pizza Miscue

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