Used a komodo joe pizza stone in the BGE today. Put some corn meal on it before putting the stone on the BGE to heat up. Both pizzas we made had a burnt crust. BGE was at 500 degrees. First pizza was on for 8 minutes. We pulled second at 6 minutes and it had a burnt crust too.

Was it burnt bc we put the corn meal on too early and it burnt up? If not, how do we avoid a black crust on the bottom.

Bocephus said:

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Used a komodo joe pizza stone in the BGE today. Put some corn meal on it before putting the stone on the BGE to heat up. Both pizzas we made had a burnt crust. BGE was at 500 degrees. First pizza was on for 8 minutes. We pulled second at 6 minutes and it had a burnt crust too.

Was it burnt bc we put the corn meal on too early and it burnt up? If not, how do we avoid a black crust on the bottom.

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Where was the stone in relation to the fire? Did you use a plate setter below?

Why would you put cornmeal on the stone? Using corn meal to slide from the paddle makes sense but corn meal will burn, i would use as little as possible.

One problem with just a stone versus a pizza oven is often the bottom cooks fast but since you don't have anything reflecting heat to the top the top doesn't keep up. Where as a pizza oven has a low top that heats the top of the pizza as well.

On my Primo I use the plate setter and the extension rack to get the stone as close to the dome ceiling as possible. That ensures that the top cooks as fast as the bottom, normally only 3-4 minutes.

ORAggieFan said:

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Why would you put cornmeal on the stone? Using corn meal to slide from the paddle makes sense but corn meal will burn, i would use as little as possible.

One problem with just a stone versus a pizza oven is often the bottom cooks fast but since you don't have anything reflecting heat to the top the top doesn't keep up. Where as a pizza oven has a low top that heats the top of the pizza as well.

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Bc that's what the instructions with the stone said to do (sometimes I do actually read instructions).

CrawfordAg said:

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On my Primo I use the plate setter and the extension rack to get the stone as close to the dome ceiling as possible. That ensures that the top cooks as fast as the bottom, normally only 3-4 minutes.

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And it doesn't burn the bottom of the crust?

Bocephus said:

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CrawfordAg said:

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On my Primo I use the plate setter and the extension rack to get the stone as close to the dome ceiling as possible. That ensures that the top cooks as fast as the bottom, normally only 3-4 minutes.

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And it doesn't burn the bottom of the crust?

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Ive never had problems burning the bottom of the crust. You do need to make sure you have something deflecting heat under your pizza stone though. And like CrawfordAg said, the higher you get it in the dome the better it will cook evenly.

Another thing ive learned with pizza is to use less fuel than if I were grilling. You want a small but very hot fire.

Also are you using any sugar in your dough? Don't need it with hot fires like ceramics or WFO.

I use some square tubing pieces between the stone and grate to add an air gap and get the stone higher in the dome to cook the top. I also use parchment paper instead of cornmeal. Take the parchment paper off after the crust sets, about a minute or so. I usually cook pizzas 650-700 degrees.

txagfisher said:

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I use some square tubing pieces between the stone and grate to add an air gap and get the stone higher in the dome to cook the top. I also use parchment paper instead of cornmeal. Take the parchment paper off after the crust sets, about a minute or so. I usually cook pizzas 650-700 degrees.

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Plan was to get it to 700 degrees, we just couldn't get the temp up that high. We had a late start, but if the stone is too hot, the temp wasn't the problem.

Bocephus said:

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ORAggieFan said:

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Why would you put cornmeal on the stone? Using corn meal to slide from the paddle makes sense but corn meal will burn, i would use as little as possible.

One problem with just a stone versus a pizza oven is often the bottom cooks fast but since you don't have anything reflecting heat to the top the top doesn't keep up. Where as a pizza oven has a low top that heats the top of the pizza as well.

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Bc that's what the instructions with the stone said to do (sometimes I do actually read instructions).

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I make pizza on the BGE all the time and have always put corn meal on the paddle, not the stone.

I don't think the corn meal on the stone was an issue. If the corn meal burned, you could just simply wipe it off. The stone being too hot was the issue.

We put corn meal on the peel, didn't do enough the first time and had an issue sliding it off the peel. Used more the second time, it slid off perfectly.

This was the first pizza. You can see the burnt edge, whole bottom of the pizza was like that.



Second pizza, not as bad but still some char.



Crumb shot from second pizza. Can see the char mark. I was happy with the oven spring.

Bruce Almighty said:

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Bocephus said:

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ORAggieFan said:

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Why would you put cornmeal on the stone? Using corn meal to slide from the paddle makes sense but corn meal will burn, i would use as little as possible.

One problem with just a stone versus a pizza oven is often the bottom cooks fast but since you don't have anything reflecting heat to the top the top doesn't keep up. Where as a pizza oven has a low top that heats the top of the pizza as well.

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Bc that's what the instructions with the stone said to do (sometimes I do actually read instructions).

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I make pizza on the BGE all the time and have always put corn meal on the paddle, not the stone.

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Do you use a heat deflector? How long do you have the stone in the BGE before you put the pizza on it?

The Kamado Joe YouTube channel recommends having spacers between the heat deflectors and the stone. Supposed to keep the stone from overheating.

fav13andac1)c said:

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The Kamado Joe YouTube channel recommends having spacers between the heat deflectors and the stone. Supposed to keep the stone from overheating.

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Thanks for the link.

Looks like spacers and checking the stone temp are musts. Good advice for next time.

Bocephus said:

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Bruce Almighty said:

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Bocephus said:

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ORAggieFan said:

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Why would you put cornmeal on the stone? Using corn meal to slide from the paddle makes sense but corn meal will burn, i would use as little as possible.

One problem with just a stone versus a pizza oven is often the bottom cooks fast but since you don't have anything reflecting heat to the top the top doesn't keep up. Where as a pizza oven has a low top that heats the top of the pizza as well.

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Bc that's what the instructions with the stone said to do (sometimes I do actually read instructions).

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I make pizza on the BGE all the time and have always put corn meal on the paddle, not the stone.

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Do you use a heat deflector? How long do you have the stone in the BGE before you put the pizza on it?

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Yes, I use a heat deflector with the feet pointed down and the stone right on top. I typically let the charcoal burn for about 10 minutes, put the plate setting in with the stone and close the lid and wait until it gets to about 600 degrees. I usually start making the pizza once the temp gets to 550 and work fast.

I would put the grate between the deflector and the pizza stone. If the stone is sitting right on top of the deflector it's an extension of it and is then nearly the same temp (way too hot). You want the stone to be around the ambient temp, not a directly heated temp.

Sooner Born said:

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I would put the grate between the deflector and the pizza stone. If the stone is sitting right on top of the deflector it's an extension of it and is then nearly the same temp (way too hot). You want the stone to be around the ambient temp, not a directly heated temp.

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The instructions said to heat up the stone

I always heat up the stone. Putting the heat deflector on the grill with the feet pointed down gives plenty of room between the charcoal and stone.

Definitely still heat the stone but if you have your stone sitting right on the deflector, if the egg is 600, your Stone is probably 1000+ since it's effectively getting direct heat.

What you want to do is start your egg, put the deflector, grate and stone in and then let your stone heat up for 30-45 minutes so it's at whatever temp the egg is at. You just don't want it resting right on the deflector. Just my opinion though...next poster will tell you that way works just fine

Bumping this thread to not spam the forum.

Has anyone cooked a high temp NY style or Neapolitan style pizza on a kamado with good results? Surprisingly, couldn't find a lot of good info online. Talking a high hydration dough, cooking at 6-750 degrees. Much like you would get from a good quality restaurant pizza oven or a dedicated home pizza oven (Ooni Koda, roccbox, etc.)

Any pictures, links, advice etc to successful attempts would be much appreciated.

No experience but they make pizza oven add ons

That one looks a lot more complicated than the doe joe...but looks like it has a lot more flexibility on venting. Interesting.

Willy Wonka said:

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SACR said:

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This was the first pizza. You can see the burnt edge, whole bottom of the pizza was like that.



Second pizza, not as bad but still some char.



Crumb shot from second pizza. Can see the char mark. I was happy with the oven spring.

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I see nothing on there that looks like it's burned.

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I was thinking the same. I'd eat the **** out of that pizza.

Going to post my own research. This pizza was cooked at 550 degrees on a pizza stone in the regular home oven. White pizza with ricotta, parmesan, lemon, and garlic. All-purpose flour. ~65% hydration. At the end of the day, all-purpose flour may be the bottleneck, but I plan to try some 00 flour next time.

I let the stone preheat for a good 2 hours at 550. When I started shaping the dough, I put the stone at the top of the oven and turned the broiler on high. Going to post the same pizza tomorrow, but on the kamado at 650.