So after several months of experimenting with variations on the the "Pacman" style setup, I'm back to the SnS with the KP and pretty certain its as close to an ideal setup as I've found so far. A basket and a half of Kingsford Competition and a few wood splits gets me 900+ on the steel and consistent 500-600 on the deck. The height of the SnS puts the heat source nearly even with the deck where it belongs. I scatter about 20 coals under the stone to get it to temp without getting it so hot it burns the pies. An added bonus is between the SnS and the SS baking steel, temps to the kettle arent any higher than doing a hot cook so I'm able to run my vintage kettles if I choose. I still use a lid from a beater most times just in case but old habits die hard haha
A "hack" I'm sure most of you already know when re-using charcoal in baskets, Vortex etc...after lit, setting the chimney over top of the unlit coals allows embers to fall and light them while the chimney does its thing.
(https://i.imgur.com/9kmMi4bh.jpg)
Generally use 2 splits this size. Never more than 3. I leave the steel off until it catches then close it up.
(https://i.imgur.com/ky9CPtAh.jpg)
Deck.
(https://i.imgur.com/IYF12DCh.jpg)
"Dome"
(https://i.imgur.com/CFVYnHPh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/6opJD1Eh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/E6v5n3Rh.jpg)
Recipe I use makes 4 10-11" pies.
(https://i.imgur.com/zGpEhbWh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/dNxPOHRh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/niLVtqRh.jpg)
Dome too hot to really get the onion where I wanted it but still a really delicious pie!
(https://i.imgur.com/6l96gmvh.jpg)
Wow! Thanks for sharing these details
@theduke! Haven't done pizza in months but I will be doing some this weekend. I've wondered about using the SNS. I might have to give it a try. In fact I might have to do a test run this evening. Using the SNS makes sense because it will really focus the heat.
So you put some coals under the stone, but the main source of heat was only in the back? No coals along the sides? Dang you have me curious about this. I might have to do a lunchtime test run without pizza just to see this in action! Seems to me having wood in one focused area instead of in the back and the sides will make everything more efficient and will use less wood than I typically use for a pizza cook. I usually go through close to a full bag of weber mesquite chunks when I do a 8 pizza cook.
Thanks buddy!
Yep a full chimney and a half (minus the 20 or so I scatter under the stone) and the splits are the sole heat source. None around the sides whatsoever. By the time the splits are really roaring the coals under the stone are nearly spent but theyve gotten the stone to temp and the rest keep it there. A thicker stone might hold the temp a little better but until my pizza making skills catch up with the setup I'll wait to experiment with that haha
It's not entirely without it's flaws. If you wait too long to get the pies in, the stone isn't quite as hot as it could be but still works really well. Also bc the SnS juts out under the back of the stone if you're not careful its easy to get a REALLY charred ring around the outer edge on the bottom but nothing inedible by any stretch of the imagination.
I should add that when I put the splits on I leave everything wide open until they catch fire, THEN put the steel on, and once I'm sure the fire is good and hot I put the kettle lid on. I've made the mistake in the past of covering too quickly and it just snuffs out the splits to where they smolder rather than a good strong flame.
Wow great setup!
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Quote from: mhiszem on September 22, 2017, 08:57:53 AM
Wow great setup!
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Thanks!
Quote from: theduke on September 22, 2017, 07:40:59 AM
...
A "hack" I'm sure most of you already know when re-using charcoal in baskets, Vortex etc...after lit, setting the chimney over top of the unlit coals allows embers to fall and light them while the chimney does its thing....
Actually, I'm trying to visualize the workflow here. The chimney is used for the extra coals, or the SnS has the extra coals?
I can see how embers falling on unlit could start them below, but wouldn't that take a long time, and meanwhile you have lit coals in the chimney burning away. Why not dump the lit on top of the unlit? Or ... put the unlit in the chimney and light it, if not already lit? Or buy a second chimney and light it at the same time as the other?
The extra coals in the SnS were from a previous cook. Shook off the ash, lit the chimney (full of unlit charcoal) and put it over top. I let the chimney go until flames are just starting to come out of the top (15 minutes or so) and in that amount of time the coals underneath are completely lit. Just saves a step of dumping them into a second chimney (which I have) and lighting it. Plus they help get the last stragglers at the very top of the chimney going when dumped. All about ease of operation.
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Much easier to grab the lower grate, shake off the ash and turn the sweep a few times than to dump out the leftover coals, light a second chimney etc...just a little trick that saves maybe 5 minutes max but enough nerve endings that it's totally worth it ;)
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That looks great! I always thought the kettle pizza looked like a waste of money, until I saw your set up. I may have to try and get one on a clearance sale. Thanks for sharing.
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I agree with
@theduke. The SNS works great with the KP.
Quote from: Schaefd2 on September 26, 2017, 05:25:24 PM
That looks great! I always thought the kettle pizza looked like a waste of money, until I saw your set up. I may have to try and get one on a clearance sale. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks man! It's definitely the most consistent setup I've tried yet. I think I paid $49 for mine on clearance a cpl years ago.
I recently started turning the stone so the SnS is on the left hand side. Saw someone here do that awhile back and it definitely is much easier to see how the pizza is cooking.
Got some great leoparding on this last cook.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170927/329cdedcd496be2f9177b9b012fe1882.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170927/61bd87940275cf41332f29c184b99458.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170927/35bfec27d3df12ec7a61bc3af6e40321.jpg)
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Quote from: Nate on September 27, 2017, 06:13:06 AM
I agree with @theduke. The SNS works great with the KP.
I think I might try to use a modified charcoal basket if I can get it to sit back against the bowl a little further. The holes on the side under the stone might radiate enough heat to get longer consistent heat underneath
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Supper is almost ready!
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Sorry wrong spot
When you guys use the SnS for pizza, do you add coals under the stone/steel? I did this recently without coals under and the bottom of the (otherwise wonderful looking) pizza was very light with no crustiness to speak of at all.
Can you measure the temperature of the stone? I'm guessing it should be at least 400f before you put the pizza on to cook.
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Quote from: Bubblehead on October 23, 2017, 01:35:54 PM
When you guys use the SnS for pizza, do you add coals under the stone/steel? I did this recently without coals under and the bottom of the (otherwise wonderful looking) pizza was very light with no crustiness to speak of at all.
Not sure If i was clear enough in my original post but I scatter 20 or so coals under the stone right at the beginning to get it to temp. It'll hold around 500 for 45 minutes to an hour with peaks toward the back of 650-700. The game you have to play is getting it hot but not so much so that it burns. If those coals burn out before you get the fire up top really raging you end up with a mismatch top top bottom. This method is definitely not without it's drawbacks but has worked pretty well for me.
(https://i.imgur.com/U9B9pb3h.jpg)
Quote from: FTTH on October 23, 2017, 03:08:18 PM
Can you measure the temperature of the stone? I'm guessing it should be at least 400f before you put the pizza on to cook.
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The pic showing 600 in my initial post is from the back of the stone closest to the fire. At that point it was anywhere from 500 toward the opening to that 600 in the back. That was right before i started the cook. This is the end result.
(https://i.imgur.com/OsbQai3h.jpg)
Thank you, Sir! My instincts told me to put coals under the stone but I thought I'd give it a shot. I actually liked the SnS for this application, I was just missing the crispy crust.
I'll give it a shot again this weekend.
Great set up, thx for sharing, might give this a try tonight (without pizza ring, just the home made slow n sear and lid a bit off). I am more confortable with using wood with the slow n sear to avoid damaging the kettle
If you think your stone is too hot, just add a few more wood chunks in the back so your dome temp is even hotter. The key is having the dome temp 150-200 degrees hotter than the stone so the top cooks before the bottom burns.