Performer max temperature

[MikeRocksTheRed]

@BertVentures - My initial reaction to a lot of your coal setup pics is too many coals under the stone instead of around the outside, but it looks like your stone with the deflector is doing a pretty good job.  That last pizza looks like the toppings could have used another minute or more, but the bottom and sides of the crust look good.  You might just need the pizza a little bit higher in the lid.  You are getting really darn close!  I'm very impressed by how good your invention is working!  I'd keep trying to dial it in without a modified lid so that you can give instructions with your stone that everyone can use without having to modify their lid.  I'm wondering if you need some sort of deflector to put over the pizza so it catches the heat coming up from the coals and keeps it closer to the top of the pizza.

[BertVentures]

@MikeRocksTheRed A bit of background, I designed MPS as an improvement to a pizza oven insert (Mighty Pizza Oven) that I also designed and manufactured limited run of it few years back - it is not currently available. One of the MPO main feature is high convection / top heat.

For now, my goal is to figure out the best charcoal setup without any modification to the grill and have close results to MPS on a gas grill or home oven.

[BertVentures]

@MikeRocksTheRed configuring charcoal arrangement has been a challenge. I need to try more coal around the outside as you mentioned. I am trying to keep it simple, and rely only on MPS extension legs to get close to the grill lid..

[MikeRocksTheRed]

@MikeRocksTheRed A bit of background, I designed MPS as an improvement to a pizza oven insert (Mighty Pizza Oven) that I also designed and manufactured limited run of it few years back - it is not currently available. One of the MPO main feature is high convection / top heat.

For now, my goal is to figure out the best charcoal setup without any modification to the grill and have close results to MPS on a gas grill or home oven.

and you are getting really close!  I love that you have been actively seeking advice here and are staying engaged.  The tricky thing is going to be buyers reproducing the setup once you get it figured out.  I see lots of people giving the Kettlepizza bad reviews and I love mine.  It did take me a few cooks to get the coals and wood figured out, but once I got it figured out I was good to go.  The biggest thing you will be up against is people not quite getting the coals right and the inability to see the pizza while the lid is on and it's cooking.  With my kettle pizza if I see the bottom is cooking faster than the top I can always just scoop up the pizza on my peel and hold it up in the dome to finish the top without burning the bottom.   With that said, I think you are working your butt off to get it figured out and are going to end up with a reproducible procedure.

[BertVentures]

@MikeRocksTheRed Thank you, It's nice to get advice and feedback, this is the best place for that on my MPS charcoal journey. Sticking to basics will help getting similar results, hopefully.

My designs are based on making pizza on as simple as grilling. Place pizza on the stone, close the lid and few minutes later, it's done. I do rely on timer to minimize lid opening. No doming allowed. The other factor in my design is to use the minimum energy possible regardless what temperature I am trying to bake at 400 to 900F.

I think I achieved that with the MPS/MPO combination; I just haven't time to test this combo.

[BertVentures]

Yesterday pies, I used two load of charcoals on cooking rack and used MPS extension legs. Average baking time 8 minutes. I had the lid vent closed during stone warmup, I should of left it open, some of the coal died.

[MikeRocksTheRed]

Yesterday pies, I used two load of charcoals on cooking rack and used MPS extension legs. Average baking time 8 minutes. I had the lid vent closed during stone warmup, I should of left it open, some of the coal died.

http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/image/fbp
http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/image/fb8
http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/image/fbD
http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/image/fbG
http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/image/fbT

http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/image/fbq
http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/image/fb2

http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/image/fbl
http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/image/fbH

Getting there! 

[HoosierKettle]

Those look great.  Making pizza is fun and is a whole hobby in itself.


Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

[BertVentures]

Those look great.  Making pizza is fun and is a whole hobby in itself.

Thank you, It is lots fun and rewarding. I really enjoy every aspect of it.

Getting there!

This is more or less what to expect without any mods to the grill.

My next test is to see how much I can improve the bake time / temperature by using couple of removable mods:
1- insulating the lid
2- adding steel plate to the lid.

[BertVentures]

 I figured out today how to use http://pics.weberkettleclub.com,  I went back and updated all my posts pics.

[BertVentures]

I installed two mods on my Performer; Exhaust stack and 16" steel plate, both mods are easy to remove (below pics are self explanatory). I have one mod to add - Insulating lid cover.

[HoosierKettle]

What is the logic behind the vent stack?


Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

[Jules V.]

Just curious how a product goes through  a design  process  and then launched on kickstarter for the sole purpose  to raise funding  in the manufacture of the product.  Seems like no testing or research was ever done  for its intended/advertised purpose which is as a pizza stone on a kettle.   Testing and research started after the product is released to the mass market. Seems a bit backward.

[BertVentures]

@Jules V. This post is not about testing MPS, I came to this forum as a new owner of a Weber product to get tips on how to achieve max temperature in my Performer.

It is not feasible to test MPS on every grill. Based on my first two bakes on my performer, MPS did exactly what is intended/advertised to do, balance cooking rate of pizza top and bottom.

@HoosierKettle The logic behind the vent stack is to create a stack or chimney effect, a natural phenomena that occurs when the density difference between a hot and a cold air column creates a natural flow through a chimney. The greater the thermal difference and the height of the chimney, the greater the flow is forcing more air into the grill.

[Jules V.]

MPS is working great so far. Got the height dialed in. Pie cooks in 6-8 mins. The only issue I'm having right now  are the edges tend to burn. I think a slight adjustment on the vent position should solve it though.