Kettle Pizza

[MacEggs]

Anybody have one of these, or ever used one?

http://www.kettlepizza.com

The reason I'm asking is because of the following ad.
I would want to get it just for the pizza adapter, and maybe another chimney plus the cover. Sell the kettle.

http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-home-outdoor-bbqs-outdoor-cooking-Weber-22-5-Kettle-Grill-with-Pizza-Adapter-and-Chimney-Starter-W0QQAdIdZ496544933

[landgraftj]

That's at least $250 worth or gear, easily. I'd pick it up and sell what you don't need. Always wanted to try the pizza thing but its so damn expensive. I think Brian (zavod44) has one, maybe he'll chime in. He's gotten some good pies outta his with some mods.

[MacEggs]

Yeah, very expensive! The base model starts at $150.
Problem is, it's about an hour to 1½ hours drive for this deal. Not sure I wanna do that. I do not like driving to the big city.

I would like to see the pizza adapter up close (hands on), and, perhaps fabricate something similar.
Just need some measurements, and some good ol' ingenuity. 

[Winz]

Here is my inexpensive approach to the Pizza Kettle:

Built a metal ring out of aluminum to lift the lid of the kettle about 6 inches (got the idea from a "tamale pot" thread here on the forum)  Use the charcoal baskets to lift the stone away from the fire:



Pizza stone nice and high:



The rig with the lid on:



I fired up TWO weber chimney starters with Royal Oak lump and put the grill, charcoal holders, pizza stone, and lid on.  Dome temp was about 575 as measured by my thermapen.  Cooked the crust alone for 2 minutes and then removed it.  Turned the crust over (cooked side up), added my topping, and retuned to the stone for about 4-5 minutes.  Results were pretty good.  The main drawback with this setup is that I have to remove the dome to remove the pizza, thus losing all the heat built up in the dome.  As a result, the dough cooks pretty fast on the hot pizza stone, while the toppings cook slower as heat has to build back up in the dome.  I am now searching for some material that is stiffer than the aluminum flashing, so that I can cut a section out which will allow me to move the pizza in and out without removing the lid.  That is the key feature needed to make this work.

If you find an inexpensive alternative to the pizza adaptor, please share. 

[saxart]

Couldn't a section be cut out of a 55-gal barrel much like an Ugly Drum Smoker?  Those are certainly thick enough to withstand an opening for a door...

[addicted-to-smoke]

And another thread jack: Weber has their pizza stone that doesn't use an extender ... what's the reason for extending the lid up and/or moving the pizza farther from the heat?

[Winz]

Couldn't a section be cut out of a 55-gal barrel much like an Ugly Drum Smoker?  Those are certainly thick enough to withstand an opening for a door.

An excellent idea.  Plus you would have latitude on the length of the sides, and therefore, how high you want the dome to be.

what's the reason for extending the lid up and/or moving the pizza farther from the heat?

My theory is that you need some space from the direct heat of the fire, or the crust will cook much faster than the toppings. 

[MacEggs]

Thanks for the replies! Thanks Winz, too, for your method and pics. 

Couldn't a section be cut out of a 55-gal barrel much like an Ugly Drum Smoker?  Those are certainly thick enough to withstand an opening for a door...

Something like this .... from another forum. Looks pretty cool!

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=54814

[DoppelBock]

'

[bryanw21157]

Cant you cut it yourself? 

[DoppelBock]

'

[Duke]

Just use a jigsaw. I have thought about it in the past, but just kept putting it off. There will come a day.

[1buckie]

Cant you cut it yourself?

From what I've read, I could make the cuts with a circular saw & metal blade. But coolant needs to be added so the blade doesn't burn out. Messy job to say the least. So the preferred way is plasma cutter, costly. I may be wrong on the cutting, if anyone has experiance with this sort of thing your comments are welcome

Just use a jigsaw. I have thought about it in the past, but just kept putting it off. There will come a day.

I'm ever-so-hopeful that my maninical cutting projects are right ariound the corner......

Y'all will know when it happens.....

[DoppelBock]

,

[1buckie]

You can use Drill-Ease cutting oil spray & maybe not try to do the whole cut at once.....