Best stone for grill???

[scott123]

Good information. I thought it would be some cheap POS.  Glad to be wrong!

In a grill setting, any unshielded stone has to be cordierite or it would fail almost immediately.

[Jackitup]

Would you cut the metal plate round so that it fits inside the insert or just sit the metal plate on top?  I've spent some time looking for round steel discs, and have been semi-successful, but cutting plate round could either be costly or difficult.
If, on the hand you're going with a square plate and sitting it on top of the insert, then the ceiling will be too far away from the pizza, imo.  Kenji did a beautiful pie (his best yet, imo) with his stone on top of the insert, but if you have any inclinations towards Neapolitan bake times, you need to bring the ceiling down to just above the door, as you were thinking about before.
If you do decide to put the steel on top, you really shouldn't need a plate plus another stone.  According to my estimates, you should need some thermal mass but not that much.  1/4" steel plate should be plenty.  1/4" steel should give you good insurance against warping as well. A thinner gauge plate, even with the weight of the stone on it, could end up warping on you. You might be able to get away with as thin as 1/8" steel (also without a stone on top), but I definitely wouldn't go thinner than that.
My advice is to see how redwing's 21" axner shelf works out and, while he's testing it, run your kettlepizza insert with a foil ceiling and lower, foil friendly temps (no wood yet).

Scott,
Yes, looking to cut it round and was wondering the same thing about needing the second stone if the plate was tight enough. I think the reflective properties would be the most important with the lower ceiling and the main thermal mass need is the pizza stone itself being the Weber itself is just metal. On the other hand, if not needed I still have an extra stone for "goofing one up". Will probably get 2 stones as the price is ok and report back with the results of each.  My brother knows some metal fab guys so should be able to get a good deal on something. Do you have a link to Redwing's deal? Been looking for it but so far missing it.
Jon

[scott123]

Jon, if you're asking me for a link for the kiln shelf Redwing purchased, it's here:

http://www.axner.com/cordierite-shelf-21roundx34.aspx

If you're trying to find the conversation where he talks about ordering it, it's at the end of Kenji's KettlePizza article that I linked to earlier. I'm sure that once he gets the stone and sees how it fits, he'll post something either on Slice or here.

[Jackitup]

OK I did read it then. I thought it was separate something I missed.
Jon,

[Jackitup]

Soooo, Smith Sharpe a no go on cordierite but led me to Continental Clay. Had a very nice phone call with them and the young lady I spoke with will be emailing more specific info. Website is www.continental.com, lots of stuff, oval, square, round and more size variety than I've seen thus far. Looking good here. http://www.continentalclay.com/searchResult1.php?keyword=cordierite&CategoryNavigationSide1%3ASearch1%3AimbSearch.x=19&CategoryNavigationSide1%3ASearch1%3AimbSearch.y=11
Jon

[scott123]

From what I can tell, the largest round-ish stone they have is a 21" 12 sided shelf, which, imo, is probably worse than the 21" round axner shelf, because of the gaps from the 12 sides.

I did notice that all these places have 12 x 24 stones.  If you wanted to go the Kenji route and put the stone on the top of the insert, you could put two 12 x 24 stones together.

http://www.axner.com/cordierite-shelf-12x24x1rect.aspx

It would, again, be too high, imo, but it would be pretty simple to do, avoid aluminum, create no gaps and give you a Kenji pie- you could do a lot worse than a Kenji pie.

No matter how you shake it out, Axner's 21" round stone in the KettlePizza insert is going to be complicated.  There's not going to be any supports in place above the door for the stone to sit on, so you'll most likely need to drill holes in the insert. If you want something that's just ready to go, without any DIY fuss, I think two 12 x 24 shelves is the way to go.

[pizzaneer]

DIY fuss??!!     But thats the fun part!

[Jackitup]

Was thinking about 5 holes with 'L' brackets on the inside('L' upside down) would do the trick fine. They are going to get back to me on other stone sizes that may not be listed on their site.
Jon

[pizzaoven dot com]

22.5 Weber Performer with that Kettle Pizza insert using lump and wood chunks. With a couple small adaptations I think this thing can fly. A good option for vs 4 grand for a WFO. May still get one of those too sometime but was going to get the charcoal grill anyway so figured what the hell, give it a try.
Jon

Love the Kettle! I wrote a review for it. The pizza cooks really well and does not taste bad at all.

Check out my review

http://pizzaoven.com/equipment/kettlepizza-next-step-gourmet-barbecue

[pizzaoven dot com]

DIY fuss??!!     But thats the fun part!

DIY makes it worth more in the end!


http://pizzaoven.com/equipment/kettlepizza-next-step-gourmet-barbecue

[Jackitup]

Here's a link to the 1st run on the new unit. Very happy with it so far. Making a dough from the Occident ER flour tonite for firing probably Sat nite. Got the new stones now too, all cured and ready to go. .75" thick vs .625" thick. http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,19973.msg195907.html#msg195907

Jon

[jim4065]

Just read on an earlier post here that someone is worried about melting aluminum when it's shielding a pizza stone. That's a joke, right? Is anyone really cooking pizza at over 1200 F?   http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/melting-temperature-metals-d_860.html

[scott123]

Just read on an earlier post here that someone is worried about melting aluminum when it's shielding a pizza stone. That's a joke, right? Is anyone really cooking pizza at over 1200 F?   http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/melting-temperature-metals-d_860.html

Not a joke at all.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,11126.msg101366.html#msg101366

Aluminum should be fine for the typical gas grill, but when you get into the kind of burners the members here like to to put into their little black eggs, aluminum can and does melt. Both charcoal and wood have been known to melt aluminum also. Jackitup is planning on working with wood.  Once wood temps enter the picture, aluminum has got to go.

Lastly, while 1000-1100 domes are pretty much the norm for Neapolitan pizza, you will find domes occasionally hitting 1200, so there are people baking at that temp.

[pizzaneer]

Actually, we're not kidding, and it is a valid concern.  One of the members here put in an aluminum piece as a deflector in his LBE.  The flame hits that directly.  It melted and ran out the bottom of the LBE, congealing into nuggets on the patio.  He was really lucky to not get it on his foot, or step on it while it was hot.

So keeping aluminum out of direct flame is kind of a no-brainer.

[TXCraig1]

Actually, we're not kidding, and it is a valid concern.  One of the members here put in an aluminum piece as a deflector in his LBE.  The flame hits that directly.  It melted and ran out the bottom of the LBE, congealing into nuggets on the patio.  He was really lucky to not get it on his foot, or step on it while it was hot.

So keeping aluminum out of direct flame is kind of a no-brainer.

I had zero problems with the aluminum pan under the Fibrament grill stone - in fact, it was a critical element as it reflected a bunch of heat away from the stone - otherwise it would have been way too hot relative to the air temp above (maintained with insulation as seen here: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,9614.0.html. The pan was a couple inches above the burner and came nowhere near the melting point (1221F). With the stone on top (or without for that matter), you are bleeding off a ton of heat into the air above. It's is apples and oranges compared to having a piece of naked aluminum directly in the flame of a high BTU burner.

pizzaneer - I love your new picture - get's my vote for best avatar.

CL

[jim4065]

Thanks for the education! Looks like I need to travel a bit to find and experience a "good" pizza. Also, thanks for the Fibrament reassurance - just bought one with the 16" pan.

[pizzaneer]

pizzaneer - I love your new picture - get's my vote for best avatar.

Thanks Craig -  next one will be animated, waiting for inspiration.