Experiment? Or existing knowledge? PizzaQue with vortex?

[hoochiemama]

Ok ok I know the only real answer is to try it out.

But I'm curious about either experience or hypothesis about using the vortex instead of the pizzaque charcoal basket?

I wonder about the charcoal basket being "open" vs the "closed" vortex. I suppose the vortex would provide more indirect heat vs more direct with the pizzque basket but not sure if it would even be worth trying?  Small end up or down?  I would think small end down with coals around the outside.

Btw the reason I ask is purely laziness. I keep the vortex with the grill but the pizzque stored away so just wondering if I might save a bit of lazy hassle .

[Jon]

It seems to me that the Vortex would stick out too much, at least on my setup. It would be partially under the stone. Maybe the mini Vortex would work. Easy enough to mock up without charcoal and give it a look.

[hoochiemama]

Aha of course!  Thanks for pointing that out. I wasn't even considering if it would fit or not . I was just thinking about heat distribution.  I wasn't sure if it would block too much heat from under the stone.

It may be a moot point anyways if it doesn't even fit.

[MikeRocksTheRed]

I would think you could use a vortex and place the coals around it.  I think it would be way to hot if you filled the vortex with coals and your stone would be too hot to cook a pizza without burning the hell out of the bottom of your crust.  Slow-n-sear might work fairly well.

[hoochiemama]

Finally did pizzas again and was about to give the vortex a try. I tried with the wide end up. I went back and forth with the mesh vs vortex and back and forth. Finally went against the vortex only because it looked like the stone is that much bigger than even the wide end of the vortex. So I was afraid the stone would get too much direct heat on the sides. 

In the end pizzas were good but still haven't been able to get the nice crispy crust I'm after

[varekai]

@hoochiemama , get pics of your coal set up...your stone is not hot enough if your crust isnt getting crisped. I start mine with a good 2 handfulls of lit coals near the back of my stone and bring the stone up to around 350 using an IR themo..when my stone is hot, I add some chunks of oak to shoot the temp up to HOT!!.. slide in the pie and give it a few minutes! Here is my set up..
https://www.flickr.com/photos/varekai/sets/72157669475074430