I missed in the original post that you banked all of your coals in your slow n sear. That'll be good to remember. I'm guessing the stone would heat more evenly with the coals spread out. But the vortex would be a great way to help get the heat and smoke to come up on the back side and enter the chamber from the back where the holes are. Maybe throw 1/4 of the briquettes in the slow n sear, and the rest spread out under the stone. Hadn't thought about the slow n sear here, but I do see how, if done right, that could be very valuable in the wood fired pizza world!