My current pizza setup

[Chasing_smoke]

This is my current pizza setup on my kettles.  Until I can locate some fire brick this is my substitute.

First up is to get some coals rolling, I place them in the center under the grate.



Garlic infused olive oil

Next I got some minced garlic and heated up some olive oil. Place the garlic into the oil once it gets to about medium heat pull off the heat and let cool.


Rolled out my dough, just canned dough since that's all I can find locally. I did buy the ingredients to make fresh but didn't have a few hours to allow it to rise. I do add corn meal on the pan before placing the dough down.

Take the olive oil and cover the dough, and crust on the edges. Then I season with oregano, Italian seasoning and garlic salt.



Sauce then fresh mozzarella, pepperoni and ham. With some shredded mozzarella on top.



Then I setup the grill for my cook, I plac an old pizza pan on the grate then the charcoal baskets on top.



Then the pizza on its pan goes on top of the baskets and old pizza pan.



I feel like this setup works well since it deflects the heat around the pan and helps extend the cook long enough for both top and bottom to cook evenly.

If you watch that kettle pizza video it's using the heat to radiate down on the toppings. I'm trying to figure out a way to do that. Was thinking on my performer to utilize the temp gauge hole and drop a small chain or something through and hang the old pizza pan over top of the pizza to deflect the heat down. Any ideas are welcome to add to this. 

Here's the finished product!

 



 "my kettle is more powerful it will do almost anything."

[Craig]

That's a nice looking pie!

[Winz]

Rolled out my dough, just canned dough since that's all I can find locally. I did buy the ingredients to make fresh but didn't have a few hours to allow it to rise

I use the following recipe for dough.  It only takes 10 minutes and can be made while you kettle warms up.  I find it turns out a nice crust with good texture:

http://www.food.com/recipe/super-crispy-thin-pizza-crust-290968

[Duke]

Looks fantastic! I see you had help too.

[One Touch Platinum]

As far as the heat for your toppings, how hot are you running your grill? I use a full chimney ( A full size Weber one ) so my heat gets as high as I can get it....the hottest part of the grill except for over the direct fire will be up at the dome. Try to move the coals around the bowl in a circle with none in the middle. I would also suggest not to put the pizza pan under the pizza pan that the pizza is sitting on. The reason is it WILL effect the amount of heat that hits the dome area of the lid and if you move you coals around the outside it will get VERY hot .....so hot that you will need a glove or something to push them around with tongs or whatever you use to move your coals into place. You will not burn the bottom of your pie before the top gets done! You will get better heat distribution with the heat source coming from the outside ring of the bowl as opposed to the heat in the center and you will not need anything to deflect the heat like the old pan since the entire pizza will be cooking at the same time and not bottom first. If you keep an eye on the bottom of the crust by peeking with a spatula or something you can lift the edge with you will get you crust as brown as you want with a bigger window of time before the crust goes from golden to burned. I bake cheesecake and cookies and dutch pancakes etc. with the same setup and only vary the amount of fuel for the amount of heat I am shooting for. The top of your grill will reflect enough heat to do what you want if you make some small alterations to your setup. By the way, if you use that cast iron pan that you are using for a deflector plate as your pizza pan you do not need to preheat it....put it on cold when you put the pizza on ....and remember that the pie will continue to brown on it when you pull it off if you pull the pan with the pizza so take the pizza out of your Weber just before the crust reaches the color you like and then once you get it in the house take it off of the pan and move it to a cutting board or something to cool a bit. Hope this helps you out.

[Chasing_smoke]

Thanks for the tips OTP! I've been thinking of moving the coals to the outside anyway. I'll drop the pan and add more coals. I was at 370 this run which is a bit lower than most folks cook at.  My favorite way is with fire brick but adding a few if your touches will make the pies even better than they are now with what I have.


 "my kettle is more powerful it will do almost anything."

[Tim in PA]

Good looking pizza!

[gunner]

You can order fire bricks from Ace Hardware and have them ship for free to your local Ace for pickup.

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1366795&KPID=1109409&cagpspn=pla&CAWELAID=109349399


I have had the best success with this pizza setup!
I pre-heat my pizza stone in my oven at 450-475 for a good half hour.
Dump a full chimney of UNLIT charcoal around the outside of the bowl in a circle, if you have fire bricks, use two of them on the edges to hold most of the coals. Then light another full chimney of charcoal. When the coals are ready dump them on top of the unlit charcoal. Put your grate on and put the two charcoal baskets on top of the grate to hold the pizza stone. Grab your pizza stone out of the oven and out it on top of the charcoal grates. Put your lid on and crack it off to the side to allow the unlit charcoal to light (top and bottom vents full open). 15 minutes later or so, your temp should be around 500+ degrees.

If you made your own pizza dough or have store bought, I like to sprinkle cornmeal on the pizza stone then throw your dough on for a few minutes. Take the dough off the stone and you can load on your sauce and toppings. Pizza should only take 10-15 minutes more. Hope this helps someone, this is the way I like to make our pizzas! (if you don't want to preheat your pizza stone in the oven, you can throw your stone on the charcoal baskets after you dump the lit chimney on the unlit.) Good luck!

[Chasing_smoke]

Thanks for the tips gunner! I'm going to find an ace hardware and order some bricks.

So today I decided it was already time for another shot. Yes pizza two days in a row... Going to have to give it a break for a few days. But my OCD wont let me stop until I get the results I want.

Made the dough this morning, two pizza and one flatbread different recipes.





Had to roll out the dough with a Tennessee rolling pin



Actually I used a mason jar filled with pickled peppers because I don't think we have a rolling pin lol worked great.

Similar topping as above, I used OTP method with charcoal around the edge of the bowl. On top of two baskets no bottom pan just the one the pizza is on.

Here's pie one



Here's pie two with  ricotta cheese and mozzarella

 

And the crust shot from the bottom!



Almost perfect tasting crust, my wife loved it and my son is still eating it lol

Thanks for the tips guys, I've accomplished what I wanted a really good pie in Tennessee. There is one local place down the road that makes a good pizza but its $30+ every time we walk in. This is close and very good, plus kettle cooked gives it a better flavor.



 "my kettle is more powerful it will do almost anything."

[Duke]

Nice pies, it looks like you have it dialed in. Gunner, I wouldn't mind to see your setup in action.

[One Touch Platinum]

I am glad that the setup worked for you! Pizza has become one of my favorite cooks once the guess work was taken out of it.  If your son loves it we must be on to something! Those pies look good!

[Cameraman]

Not sure where you are in Nashville, but over on the west side NY Pie in the Target shopping center is the real deal. They also sell their pizza dough, as do most pizzerias.  Thanks for the thread I'm going to use some of this info to take another stab at kettle pie.