Pizza , new Kamado Joe owner

[coolpapabill 109]

I just got a Kamado Joe Classic II form the wife for my birthday ( best wife ever ).

I've seen the setup most people use with pizza stone raised about an inch above deflector

plate. My question is how do you think an 1"  to 1 1/2" thick soapstone directly on the

accessory rack would work  , and how long should it take to come to temperature ? Thanks

[KismetKamado 4,213]

Probably depends on temps and dough and pizza composition. If your soapstone is heat soaked and sitting that low, I think you are likely going to burn your crust.  Also, cooking down on the accessory rack isn’t going to give you the benefit of getting the pizza up in the dome to help with getting your toppings done.  You can definitely try it and see what happens. I’m not sure many have experience with that thick of a piece of soapstone. If you try it without a deflector I think you’re more likely to have better results if you find a way to have it higher in the dome. 

[fbov 218]

I once tried using the heat deflector as a pizza stone. The food was incinerated. 

 

Think in terms of emulating a wood-fire oven, a very hot ceramic cooking surface with even hotter air above it.

- Use a heat deflector so you know the pizza stone is at grill air temperature. 
I put the deflector on the accessory (star) rack. @KismetKamadoputs hers higher, on the cooking grate.

 

- Put the pizza stone as high as you practically can.

I got the grill expander for this purpose. @KismetKamado and many others put the stone on top of the deflector, using 1-2" non-galvanized metal spacers. 

 

So how do I know what @KismetKamado does? She's posted pictures... here's one of my pizza set-up. 

 

HAve fun,

Frank

Edited November 17, 2018 by fbov

[KismetKamado 4,213]

More than one way to skin a cat....

 

Big Joe setups I’ve used:

 

 

 

 

 

This extended rack barely fits on the deflectors...  this really isn’t terribly stable.  

 

Papa Murphys pizza - no upper stone - pull tray out after a few minutes. 

 

Akorn Jr setup:

 

 

 

Vision setup:

 

 

Mini BGE setup - barely any gap between the small 8” stones due to limited space. 

 

 

Heck, I even do pizza on the gasser. 

 

 

 

 

[coolpapabill 109]

Sorry for the misunderstanding.  I meant , putting a thick soapstone lid high on the accessory " star " rack ,

like in the pictures above. 

[KismetKamado 4,213]

3 minutes ago, coolpapabill said:

Sorry for the misunderstanding.  I meant , putting a thick soapstone lid high on the accessory " star " rack ,

like in the pictures above. 

 

I think you will be too close to the fire. I suggest you try to use it elevated. 

[KismetKamado 4,213]

My setup in the KK will be one thick stone with no deflector, but it will be elevated and there will be quite a bit of space between it and the fire. 

[coolpapabill 109]

KismetKamado , how thick a stone and how far above lid level ?

[KismetKamado 4,213]

6 hours ago, coolpapabill said:

KismetKamado , how thick a stone and how far above lid level ?

 

My KK baking stone appears to be just under an inch thick.   It will sit a couple of inches above the “felt” line on the upper rack. The KK has a lot more distance between the fire and the upper rack than a KJ. 

 

 

This is is a SteakStone (soapstone I think) and not my baking stone. Just included for reference of the location of the upper rack. Quite a bit of distance from the fire. 

 

 

I haven’t done pizza yet on the KK. I’ll take pictures when I do. 

[keeperovdeflame 9,105]

Thats pretty much how I set up for pizza. I think the set up will work well for you. One thing about raising your stone closer to the dome is that the top of your pie gets all that nice reflected heat down off the dome. It really helps to give you nice toasty crust and leopard spotted cheese. Enjoy. I am looking forward to seeing your pizza cook photos. 

[KismetKamado 4,213]

Also be careful with your temps. Your stone will take a long time to heat soak and your dome will be reading cooler until the stone comes up to temp. 

[fbov 218]

On 11/17/2018 at 12:39 PM, KismetKamado said:

More than one way to skin a cat....

As usual, you do not disappoint! 

[KismetKamado 4,213]

3 minutes ago, fbov said:

As usual, you do not disappoint! 

 

It’s fun to see how we all do things a little different. One of the reasons I love the forum.  

 

[RevNayte 43]

It looks like some folks like to get the deflector higher in addition to getting the pizza stone higher. What’s the theory there?

[freddyjbbq 6,764]

On 11/17/2018 at 12:39 PM, KismetKamado said:

 

Papa Murphys pizza - no upper stone - pull tray out after a few minutes. 

 

Akorn Jr setup:

 

 

 

 

Vision setup:

 

 

Mini BGE setup - barely any gap between the small 8” stones due to limited space. 

 

 

Heck, I even do pizza on the gasser. 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm at work and we're trying a real italian pizzaria today for lunch,  i'm so hungry waiting for it to arrive & i shouldnt have looked at this thread!  these beautiful pizzas are not helping my hunger problem, look SO GOOD!!!!!