@tcbritt Since you're still practicing and researching technique, give this method a try. This what used to use before I got a KP. I still use this technique for deep dish pizza though.
- one full chimney lit. Place it around the perimeter of the grill.
- add half a chimney of unlit to the lit stuff.
- put your cooking grate on.
- set you charcoal baskets on the cooking grate upside down.
- set your stone on the baskets
- put the lid on with vent open. With kbb I use to get temps in the 550-600 range. If you can't get that, lift the lid a little to get more O2 in.
- let the stone preheat for 30-45 min.
- launch the pie to the stone and close the lid.
- check the pie at the 4-5 min mark and rotate it 180 if you feel it's necessary. Oh, and check how the bottom of the crust is cooking. This will help you determine how much longer you should keep cooking until the crust burns. Cook time appx 10min.
Practice is all it takes.