Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Paul, where do you rest your food grate and pizza stone? Do you put it on the Weber kettle where it normally goes or do you move it up to rest on the lower set of wing nuts of the KettlePizza insert?

We just finished making "Microwave Mozzarella". While quick and convenient, I want to move to the more traditional format soon. It does produce a superior product than the off-the-shelf stuff in the stores. This batch was not quite as successful as the last one. I need to monitor the pH closer. Normally it comes out a bit stretchier. And normally we get roughly a pound per four kilos (a smidge over one gallon), this time it was barely three quarters of a pound. We added a bit of liquid smoke to deepen the flavor of the Mozz. I'm sure it will work fine on tomorrows pizzas.

Explain the purpose of the ceiling. Is this to keep the heat closer to the pizza, against the inefficiency of heating the dome?

Steve, I put it on the lug nuts so that I have a clean and easy entry into the oven.

Pete, indeed it is to get a asston of radiant heat to the top. This particular method tends to be a bit strong on bottom and weak on the top. Lowering the ceiling brings the heat into better balance. Without it you definitely need to do the pizza lift; apparently this is actually pretty traditional for many traditional ovens, depending on their shape. The slice has an ongoing saga using the device. They go overboard, of course, but it is informative.

Paul is the second person using the Weber PizzaKettle setup that does the "pizza lift" approach to finish their toppings that I've run into recently. The other is an Australian who reports hitting 900F in his kettle setup repeatedly. That is almost coal fired pizza temps! I'm hot to do the steel ceiling, with charcoal, blah ... blah ... blah, since I seem to possess an "inner geek" that demands some play time! I will not be surprised after chasing my steel ceiling vision to end up doing exactly what Paul describes.

We did our second pizza night with the Weber. Hey, moving it up to lower set of wing nuts set the stone where it was very accessible. Major, major improvement! The other thing I did, once I could access the pizza on the same level as the stone, was flip the manufacturer tools over. Kind of counter-intuitive to me, wanting to use the prongs in a downward motion, which tore pizza dough/crust up last time. When the prongs were up, the long thin strip of metal slipped under the pizza, helping keeping it from sticking to the stone. It worked rather well. Oh, a little tear here and there, but no major hunks being torn out, no warping the pizza into a Picasso-esque shape.

Two loads of charcoal, some Samdol wood, and I was hitting the high 600's and 700's without a problem. I charred one side a bit. But overall, very successful. Now that I have assembly and temps fairly reliable, I can look to improving my dough, doing some different sauces, and the rainbow of toppings that beckon. Color me pretty, pretty pleased with it all.