Kettlepizza Cooks

[kettlecook]

Thanks guys. I really was wondering if ONLY wood has been used in the kettle for here, like well, wood-fired pizza in a restaurant. In other words, if only oak chunks for example is used, no charcoal, would there be enough room in the kettle to have enough wood to create the heat?

You could, but it would be to no advantage. I prefer to run with just wood splits in my offset smoker, but as the Kettlepizza inventor recommends, briquettes is the way to go with the Kettlepizza. Goes against conventional wisdom maybe since we're talking high heat, but from what I've read, you want the ceiling temps to be 200-250* hotter than the stone. So if you use lump or start off with a hardwood coal bed, you're getting too much heat down on the coal grate. (And it's heat that won't last too long, either.) You want the high ceiling temps to come from the fire. This is why it's important to use good sized chunks and splits of wood and don't let them burn down. Manage the fire adequately and your stone won't get too hot in comparison to the ceiling temps. Use briquettes and your coal bed will continue to burn the wood cleanly if you have to add any. I start off with two half chimneys on my Performer burner and pour them in a banked C when the top layer of each half chimney is just getting lit, not ashed all over like if grilling. Of course, you also want to load your subsequent pies closer to the opening because the back of the stone will get hotter as the wood burns down to coals.


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[kettlecook]

Guys, in full disclosure, I have tried ONE thing that isn't in the "manual" that I wanted to mention, even though my wife and my buddy said it can't make much difference. Anyhow, what I'm doing differently now is putting my stone on my stainless steel grate with the sides flipped up. This way I can slip some small pieces through the front and drop on either side if needed after the third pizza or so. I mention that my grate is a stainless one because the sides of my other grate don't lay flat when flipped up. So I think maybe the reason why I'm not having to dome my pizzas is because of less conductive heat from the grate, and none coming from the back part of the grate where the flames are really licking it. Maybe you can see from my pic that the flipped up sides lay flat.




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[addicted-to-smoke]

... This way I can slip some small pieces through the front and drop on either side...

I was under the impression the heat was supposed to come up from one side, through "the back"?

[addicted-to-smoke]

Thanks guys. I really was wondering if ONLY wood has been used in the kettle for here, like well, wood-fired pizza in a restaurant. In other words, if only oak chunks for example is used, no charcoal, would there be enough room in the kettle to have enough wood to create the heat?

You could, but it would be to no advantage. I prefer to run with just wood splits in my offset smoker, but as the Kettlepizza inventor recommends, briquettes is the way to go with the Kettlepizza. Goes against conventional wisdom maybe since we're talking high heat, but from what I've read, you want the ceiling temps to be 200-250* hotter than the stone. So if you use lump or start off with a hardwood coal bed, you're getting too much heat down on the coal grate. (And it's heat that won't last too long, either.) You want the high ceiling temps to come from the fire. This is why it's important to use good sized chunks and splits of wood and don't let them burn down. Manage the fire adequately and your stone won't get too hot in comparison to the ceiling temps. Use briquettes and your coal bed will continue to burn the wood cleanly if you have to add any. I start off with two half chimneys on my Performer burner and pour them in a banked C when the top layer of each half chimney is just getting lit, not ashed all over like if grilling. Of course, you also want to load your subsequent pies closer to the opening because the back of the stone will get hotter as the wood burns down to coals.

Ton of good sounding info here, thanks again. And yes I was thinking of how many guys use only wood in their offsets.

[kettlecook]

... This way I can slip some small pieces through the front and drop on either side...

I was under the impression the heat was supposed to come up from one side, through "the back"?

Since my charcoal bed is in a C shape, I've been putting one decent sized split in the middle in the back, with one good medium sized chunk to either side of it. If I wanted to cook several pies I'd eventually need to take the "oven" off to add another one to the back. However, I've found that I can get my flame and temp back up easier and without taking the oven off by simply adding to both sides of the coal bed. Of course if I take the lid off it's easier to position the wood a little farther back, which yes, is more ideal....if taking the lid off didn't lose my heat. It sounds crazy to use splits instead of little chunks of wood, but they'll last longer, that's for sure. What's fun about it is we're not just messing with charcoal. We're playing with fire, but don't tell Mom or the kids. Lol


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[kettlecook]

Thanks guys. I really was wondering if ONLY wood has been used in the kettle for here, like well, wood-fired pizza in a restaurant. In other words, if only oak chunks for example is used, no charcoal, would there be enough room in the kettle to have enough wood to create the heat?

You could, but it would be to no advantage. I prefer to run with just wood splits in my offset smoker, but as the Kettlepizza inventor recommends, briquettes is the way to go with the Kettlepizza. Goes against conventional wisdom maybe since we're talking high heat, but from what I've read, you want the ceiling temps to be 200-250* hotter than the stone. So if you use lump or start off with a hardwood coal bed, you're getting too much heat down on the coal grate. (And it's heat that won't last too long, either.) You want the high ceiling temps to come from the fire. This is why it's important to use good sized chunks and splits of wood and don't let them burn down. Manage the fire adequately and your stone won't get too hot in comparison to the ceiling temps. Use briquettes and your coal bed will continue to burn the wood cleanly if you have to add any. I start off with two half chimneys on my Performer burner and pour them in a banked C when the top layer of each half chimney is just getting lit, not ashed all over like if grilling. Of course, you also want to load your subsequent pies closer to the opening because the back of the stone will get hotter as the wood burns down to coals.

Ton of good sounding info here, thanks again. And yes I was thinking of how many guys use only wood in their offsets.

I often prefer to use wood only in my stickburner because of the rate of burn, and ease of keeping the fire clean, (since charcoal isn't as hot and briquettes produce a lot of ash). I'll supplement the coal bed with lump if needed, but the real flavor (or 99% of it) is from the wood that is burning, letting off gases, and smoking, not the coals, whether charcoal or wood.


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