Hello from Northern Ireland/Temperature question

[Jimbo89]

Hello!!

Just signed up to the forum after reading the posts for a while.

I am from outside Belfast and am a nubie in terms of charcoal grilling. Got myself a weber mastertouch 57cm. Really enjoying it!

I have an issue re temperatures. I am very keen to cook a pizza on a stone. Pizzas need very high temps. Having some difficulty getting a high temp and keeping it. Do I need to simply have much more fuel with all vents open?

Thanks.

[keith157]

The quick answer is good quality fuel, and plenty of air which enhances combustion. Doubtless someone with more pizza experience will add to or alter that

[Jimbo89]

Thanks Keith. Tried again last night with better and more fuel. Got the temps I was looking for!

[Verminskti]

Bout ye!

I get blistering heat with vents full open, a chimney of charcoal and then a fill of unburnt on top of the emptied chimney. Wait 10 for that to light and the heat is immense in my OT. Shut the vents to either reduce temp or smother and it's not so much a waste of charcoal..

Could you detail your pizza process and what pitfalls you've found?

See if I can make my weber in til a cultchie pizza oven too!

[paul_niland]

Hey Jimbo..

Couple of tips I have heard.

Maybe try using lump wood as it will burn at a much higher temperature. Trust me on my weber it does!

Also, spread your coal fairly evenly leaving a channel at the front by the lower vent so that that air can flow through evenly.

Also remember that the stone is allegedly 100 degrees hotter than the gauge so take this into consideration.

Also for toppings less is better to allow it to cook quicker. Like 6 mins.

Good luck!

Paul

[keith157]

Most importantly though above all else NO PINEAPPLE on authentic pizzas . I've heard that some people do get better results with lump than briquettes but again it's a matter of the quality of the fuel. There are "less than desirable" brands of lump as there are briquettes so choose carefully.

[Jimbo89]

Verminskti, Paul & Keith - thank you all for your responses. Some good ideas for me to try out.

I got the the weber pizza stone that fits into my weber gourmet grill rack. Whilst I love some good meat one of the reasons I got the weber charcoal grill was to make pizzas. I intend to get the Kettle Pizza addition - check it out on google.

I think I will try it out using a full chimney fill of hot coals and then a second fill of unburnt coals.

Cheers.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Tiny]

Hi,Personally would go for 2 chimneys of fully lit, my experience with Pizza is that they take only a couple of minutes at a time so your actual time manning the stone is quite short. Unless you intend to go for an all evening pizzatastic continual flow process then it is about getting very hot very quick and then done.

Have found it a real challenge to get toppings cooked and bottoms not burnt so think the pizza lid thing sounds like it could help.....

Cheers
Tiny