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pizzas at 550

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smoker62
smoker62 Posts: 80
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I loaded my fire ring to the top, lit the egg with mapp in three places and got her up to 550. Closed the screen , left the door open fully , no daisy. Stayed at 550 for 30 minutes preheating the plate setter and stone.Cooked my first pizza about 12 minutes . By the time I was doing the second pizza the temp dropped to 500. I opened the screen fully and could not get it back up. It appears at 550 I burned enough coal to lose the 550 temp. Guessing maybe in an 1 to 1 1/2 hrs I burned enough to lose the 550 capabilitie , does this sound right? RO steakhouse lump. If I have to add more ump after one pizza it seems wrong. :blush:
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  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
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    I've had similar experiences. I'm not sure if it is because there is not enough lump, too much ash, or a mixture of both. I've tried stirring the lump, and that has helped some.

    I will remind myself next time around to put lump up into the fire ring.

    Also, with the stone, etc at 550, my pizzas usually cook in more like 5 minutes. I do use fairly light toppings, and fresh yeast dough.
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  • Mike in Abita
    Mike in Abita Posts: 3,302
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    Doesn't sound right. What size egg? Seems like a reduction in air flow.
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  • Schwadamaga
    Schwadamaga Posts: 15
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    I was thinking it was bad airflow too. I've only had my egg for 2 weeks so I might not know what I'm talking about yet... Anyhow, you might try starting out with a clean firebox. Stack bigger coals at the bottom and try to leave as many air holes as possible so your fire can get plenty of Oxygen.
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  • smoker62
    smoker62 Posts: 80
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    Air flow is fine. I clean the pit , clear the holes , fresh lump. Seems to just eat it up at 550 in an hour. Coals are at a full burn when viewed. Maybe a fast burn few bags of RO I have had. I will try some Ozark oak I have a few bags of and see how that holds up. Done get me wrong , there is still plenty of coal left but just cant get back to 550 after the first 1-1/2 burn. I have no problem hitting 800 same setup for searing. But thats only for short time.
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  • Mike in Abita
    Mike in Abita Posts: 3,302
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    Almost sounds as if you thermo is jacked a little. Opening the lid will allow some hot air out but it should rebound quickly as the inrush of air should help feed the fire.
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  • thailandjohn
    thailandjohn Posts: 952
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    I use different lump for different cooking.....for high temps, I use Mesquite. Mesquite burns hotter than most other lump...different woods burn at different temps


    http://jvp.smugmug.com/Barbeque




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  • Dylanh
    Dylanh Posts: 2
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    You should cook pizzas hotter than that anyway. I cook mine at 700 degrees. A pizza cooks in a minute and a half, and is perfect. True Neapolitan pizza chefs use higher temperatures yet.

    My large egg can hold 700 degrees for more than 30-45 minutes easily, and I can cook 20 pizzas in that time if necessary.
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  • Spray97
    Spray97 Posts: 12
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    I have been using ro steakhouse lump and wide open my egg runs at or above 700.
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  • EmandM'sDad
    EmandM'sDad Posts: 648
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    My guess is that burned lump settled a bit and choked off airflow.
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  • smoker62
    smoker62 Posts: 80
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    Like I said, I can hit over 800 with the RO steakhouse lump, thats not an issue. Just holding 550 for more than an hour and a half is the issue.
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  • smoker62
    smoker62 Posts: 80
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    A minute and a half?? Come on. You need to preheat your ceramics for a 1/2 hr no?? Sounds like a hard thing to do , cook crust and all the goods evenly in a minute and a half. :lol:
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  • Theophan
    Theophan Posts: 2,654
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    I haven't cooked pizza, yet, so I'm not pretending to know anything -- just asking a question. I bought a BGE pizza stone a few weeks ago, anticipating cooking pizza one of these days, and was amazed at how tiny the stone seemed compared to the Egg. I had the person in the store double-check for me that I really had the right thing, and I did (I have a Medium Egg and it's the BGE-brand pizza stone specifically recommended for the Medium). I looked at a BGE stone for the Large, and it fit comfortably, I thought, in the Medium.

    What this made me think is that the BGE manufacturer seems to think there needs to be a LOT of space around a pizza stone for proper heat circulation, because the stone they recommend for each size egg seems to be a LOT smaller than the inner diameter of the Egg.

    So at last the question: Are you using a BGE stone specifically sized for your Egg, and do you have what seems almost like an unnecessarily large amount of space around it? If not, maybe like someone else suggested, it's an air flow problem, but because of the size of the pizza stone, not ash clogging vent holes?

    Theo
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  • Egging Flock
    Egging Flock Posts: 25
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    Just a thought, but depending on the lump you're using, it might be ash build up between the fire ring and the shell...

    I had some issues last year with ash building up between the fire ring and the outer shell wall (via the air holes in the ring during cleaning, I suspect), which cut down airflow and I could not get up to proper temps for pizza. A complete disassembly and clean out immediately remedied the problem. I now do this regularly after 3-4 pizza cooks and have not seen a repeat of the issue.

    Best of luck in any regard.
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  • smoker62
    smoker62 Posts: 80
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    I never checked between the walls when I clean but good thought. I have a cougar ash vacuum I use on my pellet stove , I think I will do a good vac with the parts out and try it again.
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  • Angela
    Angela Posts: 543
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    I prefer cooking pizza in the 700-800 range, if needed a hair dryer at the bottom vent will help the temps soar.
    Egging on two larges + 36" Blackstone griddle
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  • Mike in Abita
    Mike in Abita Posts: 3,302
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    Yes you can. With the properly hydrated dough and limited ingredients, and extremely high temps you can cook a pizza in a minute and a half. Now you can't cook a NY style pizza in that amount of time, but a thin crust, almost cracker style at 1200 will cook real fast.
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