gasket replacement ?

John,

My experience is with the large and smaller. Depending on how bad the burn is you may not 'have' to replace the gasket. Now when this happened to me and I asked the same question it really bothered me that when I was told the same thing.

After replacing two gaskets and thinking I needed to replace a third I learned to accept what others told me and so far I am using the samed burned gasked and my egg works fine for low temp and high temp cooks. I do get some smoke release but it is not much and I can easily hold 225° if I want to cook that low of a temp.

It is important that there is not an air leak at the gasket level. If there is then adjustments need to be done. Use the 'dollar bill' test between the dome and egg to test for tightness.

Others will jump in with bolt tightness on the XL.

Removing the gasket for me, on the large did not require dome removal although it would have been easier to remove the dome.

I found that using a stiff paint scraper and 'Goof Off' worked very well. Acetone did not work very well at all for me. I did use acetone for final cleanning around the ceramics before installing the new gasket.

If you ending up using a razor blade of types or a scraper with an sharp edge make sure you don't mar the ceramic surface.

GG

I when I replaced my gasket on my large I used acetone to remove the residual from the old gasket. I also removed the dome. I would not remove the dome unless I was resetting the dome to the bottom, which I was doing as mine was not assembled properly.

John,

I have the XL and had a gasket problem with it burning up at high temps when used my plate setter and pizza stone. I did make some minor adjustments to the lid after my first gasket burnt. I used a old wood chisel as a scraper, I found it was a little stiffer and it didn't take as much effort to get the old one off. I also used a sponged sanding pad to get the surface really clean before putting the new gasket on. Is your lid the same size as the bottom? The reason I ask is that mine is a little smaller than the bottom. I have a call into the Mothership to see if this is normal. Hope this helps.

Jimmy

With the back of the dome aligned perfectly, the front is set back about 1/4" by the handle. I haven't had any trouble cooking low and as I said the only time I had gasket issues was when I had it blazing hot or with the pizza stone over the plate setter.

There has been some talk a while back on the forum about folks cooking their pizza at 800° to 1000°.

First of all I think it is nuts to take an egg that high dome temp and secondly I would think the entire ceramics would have to be stabilized before something like that would even have a chance of working.

On my large I can get a pizza to cook at about 450° dome but that temp some on the pizza's are not cooked on top before the bottom begins to scorch. I am thinking what my problem is, is that I don't have the egg completely up to temp, including the dome.

As you can see there are a lot of folks that are turning out nice pie's so it is matter of some testing. But, I agree burning corn meal is the pretty bad.

Instead of corn meal use parchment paper, a lot of folks use it for cookies etc.

Kent

I think my stone is a pampered chef also or just some store bought pizza stone.

From what I have read put a space on the inverted plate setter between the setter and pizza stone. Some folks are using 1/2" copper pipe 90 or 45° "L's", some use balled tin foil. I have access to some kiln furnature and I use 1/2" or 1" stand off's. All the options will accomplish the same thing.

I woudl think the heat transfer to the setter then the stone would almost be like one thick piece of ceramic that you are cookin the pizza on. With a space it would give some air/heat flow underneith the pizza stone.

When you try it again just get a frozen bake at home pizza with thick topping and give it a try. Watch your crust and cook unitil dark brown or just beginning of blackening - like the pizza joints do. The top should take care of itself once you have estabilished the correct temp for your setup.

The parchment paper will be available in rolls right next to the wax paper in the grocery store. Same type box, just pull off and tear what you need. You might want to cut if a bit round for the stone but leave enough to pull when you put the peel under the pizza, or what ever you use to get the pizza off the stone.

BTW check you clearance's anyway - good or bad gasket. It is a good idea to know.

GG