Talk to me about high temps while using heat deflector and pizza stone

[bicho6]

So this weekend I decided to make some ciabatta.  I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to bake bread in my KJ, which I have never done before.  I got the fire going and I set the deflector at the lowest position.  Then I put the stone at the on top of the grill grate.  Close the lid and waited for the grill to hit my desired temp of 475.  Well, not only did it max out around 440 but it took forever to get there.  This is something I have seen in the past when trying to make pizza.  I want my egg to hit 700 degrees for pizza but it isn't able to cause the heat deflector slows the heating down.  However if I remove the heat deflector the flames will be slamming the pizza stone resulting in a super hot stone and burnt crust.  Any suggestions?

[bwarbiany]

Raise the deflector. 

 

When I did pizza, I took the x-rack and put it on the top (felt level) position. I then put the heat deflector on top of that. I put my grate on top of the heat deflector (to have an air barrier), and put the pizza stone on the grate. No problem hitting 650.

 

When you get the deflector up high, it doesn't impede airflow and you should have no trouble hitting your temps. In addition, a lot of people have said that you should avoid trying to have a roaring fire with the deflector in the low position, as that's a recipe for cracking your firebox...

[bicho6]

Raise the deflector. 

 

When I did pizza, I took the x-rack and put it on the top (felt level) position. I then put the heat deflector on top of that. I put my grate on top of the heat deflector (to have an air barrier), and put the pizza stone on the grate. No problem hitting 650.

 

When you get the deflector up high, it doesn't impede airflow and you should have no trouble hitting your temps. In addition, a lot of people have said that you should avoid trying to have a roaring fire with the deflector in the low position, as that's a recipe for cracking your firebox...

thanks for the tip and word of warning.. I will give this a shot next time. 

[rwalters]

Yep, follow bwarbiany's advice.  Solid!!!

 

[keeperovdeflame]

Bicho, 

 

Yes raise the deflector to just below the felt level. For at least 3 reasons; 1. I am of the mind that a deflector set low during a high heat pizza cook will throw excessive heat back down into your fire box and possibly cause it to crack. (there are some guys on the forum who unfortunately can attest to the truth of that theory through experience),  2. I think  you want to set the deflector just below and not above  the felt line to keep from throwing heat directly  onto your gasket, which will cause it wear at a faster rate., and  3. With the deflector set low there is less air flow and it will take longer to heat soak your kamado and stone. 

 

I cook on a BGE with an AR but I use a similar set up to what you are looking for. The KJ Divide and conquer is actually pretty similar to the AR in a lot of ways.  I used to cook pizza with the deflector set low, until some nice guy on our forum, gave me the info I am now giving you. Here is my pizza set up. My go to pizza temp is between 600 and 650.

 

 

 

You can see the air space around the deflector and the fact that it is just below the felt. The spider ring just visible above the fire is where the deflector would sit in the low position. Also I use a 13 inch stone smaller than my 14 inch pizza stone as a deflector to increase air flow. An alternative set up would be to set both stones high one on top of the other. I have yet to try that but am gong to give it a shot on my next pizza cook. 

 

Happy Cooking.