Anyone ever made Weber Grill Pizza on a Stone?

[Brauma]

Please dont laugh at my first attempt at pizza dough making. These turned out really thick! Im still such a rookie in this department.

I have made pizza in my trusty old Weber. I used my wife's favorite Pampered Chef stone (I got real lucky and it didnt break). I set 2 firebricks on edge and placed the stone on top of them to get the pizza closer to the top of the dome. I mounted a thermometer in the top of the Weber dome and I got the temp up to about 500*.

I started the fire with Kingsford and added 2 splits of oak.

I did 2 pies on this cook and each took about 8-10 minutes.

[Villa Roma]

Here's some pizza made on the little black egg (gas fired weber kettle). Both are 100% whole grain.

Villa Roma

[TDVT]

Before I ever saw this thread I had modded a small Weber with a stack (to create a draft, in theory) & added a steel plate suspended in the lid (to reflect heat on top of the pie, also in theory).

While I had some REALLY good pies, I found that the charcoal was VERY hard to regulate.

I was using cheap stones & had them on an aluminum plate, set on the actual grill. Often it would get too hot & the bottom would cook quickly but the top wasn't near done. I would have to put the pizza on a double-layer air bake sheet & continue until the top had caught up. The steel plate in the top DID help but not enough. I went through a couple of stones as well.

Then I saw Villa Roma's videos & modded the Weber again (same size as his) to rest on a turkey burner that we also already had. Much better but too much heat for a cheap stone so I made the switch to half-thick fire bricks.

Now, I think I'm closing in on a good set-up. The half bricks worked great though I still have uneven heating top to bottom. The next step is to add a baffle to the top & replace the steel reflector with a thin stone (probably the best use for those cheap ones).

Also have an IF thermometer on the way, so I'll try to put up some pics & info of the latest incarnation.

[TDVT]

Well, the lastest version of the Pizza Weber is the most successful. MUCH more even cooking with a stone mounted in the lid. This contraption will get me through to better weather & some sort of proper oven. Still this is much better than cooking pizzas in our big range (commercial).

Initially, I had the firebrick splits (half-thick) on the wire rack which started to deform making the surface uneven, so I welded up a soild base for the bricks. Then I took the steel reflector plate the was mounted in the lid & mounted it higher in the lid so it was touching all the way around but cut out a section in the front (away from the stack) to allow gasses to escape. Then I welded some angle as spacers to hold the stone off the steel plate along with some little tabs to hold the stone in.
The theory this time is that the heat can reach both sides of the top stone & has to travel to the front, then towards the back to reach the stack. Hard to describe but easy to see in the pics.

It all seems to work. All the pies were cooked fairly evenly in about 5 minutes. No pictures of the pizza as we were busy eating them. Next time.

[TDVT]

LID PICS

Lid with stone mounted




Lid baffle

[Villa Roma]

TDVT....Looks like some pretty heavy artillery! Here's a picture of my LBE after I cut a side vent. Where do you live, the Yukon?

Villa Roma

[TDVT]

Hi Mr Roma, Mine seems to be working pretty well with the latest modifications. Thanks for the inspiration to switch to gas. I saw your posts here, then checked out the vids a while back. I had been using charcoal to that point with sometimes great, but usually inconsistent, results & lots of cracked stones. These split bricks work really well.

Having the capacity to weld stuff makes the tinkering easy.

What is the new vent on the side for?

I live in Northern Vermont about 20 miles from Quebec. It's not the Yukon but sure seems that way some days. LOTS of snow this year, the maples haven't even started running yet.

[Villa Roma]

TDVT.....The side vent redirects the air over the pizza and creates a sort of convection effect. Works geat. Check it out here. Little Black Egg

Villa Roma

[TDVT]

Thanks for the link. I think that is the thread that lead me to the FB forum. Last I saw it, you were trying out your turntable bearing.

Looks like there are some close kin out there, especially the unit with the galv stack.
I checked out your side vent, I think we were/are on the same page with trying to direct heat flow. That was the same idea behind my lid baffle having the cut-out on one side, which is away from the stack. The holes in the baffle are from the last version, I just left them there.

[TDVT]

I meant to mention that during my last session with the Pizza Weber the outside temp was about 15F(-10C). I'm thinking it will cook quicker once the weather gets nicer.