Kettlepizza, advice/feedback

[CraigC]

While searching for weber kettle grill accessories, my wife ran across this kit. KettlePizza - Turn Your Kettle Grill into a Kettle Pizza Oven. USA Made, Patent Pending

Does anyone have one? Any feed back?

Thanks in advance!

Craig

[roadfix]

Here's a huge thread on the Kettlepizza:

Kettle pizza oven - Topic

[CraigC]

Thanks roadfix! I placed my order today.

Craig

[GLC]

I gotta give them points for imagination and ingenuity. And I have found credible accounts of getting very high pizza oven type temperatures out of it, although it peeled the paint off the inside and charred the handles. If you don't achieve those temperatures, all you get out of it is the wood smoke effect. There's not enough head sink to make good use of the fuel needed. I don't think I'll be buying this one, but it does rekindle my desire for a wood-fired oven and a notion of how it might be made more fuel efficient. I think I'll get the big local recycler to hang onto some more propane tank ends. When they dispose of the tanks, the cut off the round ends. They're about 1/2-inch thick steel. I've so far used them for outdoor planters, set on large pipe sections. But I believe I might make a sort of kettle grill on steroids with the pizza stone and door option.

[CraigC]

Guess I'll be finding out for myself.

Craig

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

The best pizza I've made yet is on my Webber 22 inch kettle, with a solid bed of charcoals. The secret to this is cooking with the lid on, with all vents fully open. I used a cast iron pan to hold the pizza, with a little oil put in the pan before the crust. It was a truly great pizza, with a thick, bread crust, lots of sauce and toppings, and that great fire/smoke cooked flavor. The crust was cooked all the way through.

Just make sure the charcoal is as hot as it will get, and two layers thick.

Don't purchase gimmicks. Learn to build the fire properly to get the results you want from your kettle.

Seeeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

[CraigC]

Thank you for your insight but we've been making pizza for years on the grill successfully using hardwood lump charcoal and hickory/oak and a thin crust pre-cooked on the grill, then topped, then finished back on the grill over indirect heat. We also smoke various cuts of meats so I'm well versed in making a fire and controlling it to get the temps I want.

Personally, unless I'm making a take-off of Pizza Hut's old Priazzos, not very fond of a thick bread crust. Much prefer a thin as possible, crispy crust with just enough toppings.

Reason I bought this is trying to get even more of a wood-fired oven thing going on with even hotter temps (i.e. quicker cooking times) and trying to avoid having to pre-cook the crusts, which this accessory supposedly does. On further investigation, I've also found you can do a double-stack method of cooking on the top part of the grill after you get your initial pizzas going. Looking forward to some wood-fired oven cooked bread now too.

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Originally Posted by CraigC

Thank you for your insight but we've been making pizza for years on the grill successfully using hardwood lump charcoal and hickory/oak and a thin crust pre-cooked on the grill, then topped, then finished back on the grill over indirect heat. We also smoke various cuts of meats so I'm well versed in making a fire and controlling it to get the temps I want.

Personally, unless I'm making a take-off of Pizza Hut's old Priazzos, not very fond of a thick bread crust. Much prefer a thin as possible, crispy crust with just enough toppings.

Reason I bought this is trying to get even more of a wood-fired oven thing going on with even hotter temps (i.e. quicker cooking times) and trying to avoid having to pre-cook the crusts, which this accessory supposedly does. On further investigation, I've also found you can do a double-stack method of cooking on the top part of the grill after you get your initial pizzas going. Looking forward to some wood-fired oven cooked bread now too.

Sorry if I seemed condecending. I didn't know your experience level with the Webber Kettle, or if you knew that there were different methods for building a fire in the Webber. From your post, you are well experienced.

I didn' have to pre-bake my curst when using the direct heat and a cast iron pan. I put the crust in raw, sauced and with toppings, something I haven't been able to achieve in my house oven. I was suprised at the time how great that pizza came out.

As for your preference of a thin crust, that's simply personal preferance. Don't know if I could achieve that with my method. Will have to try, as I enjoy both thick, chewey, and thin, crispy crusts, depending on my mood. My only requirements are that it has plenthy of rich, flavorful sauce, and spicey meats, with great veggies to round things out.

But back to your post; I like what you are trying to achieve with the add-on unit. And it makes inserting and removing the pizza easier as well, at least from the pictures on the web-site. Good luck with the unit. Let us know how it works for you.

[CraigC]

It arrived yesterday. The test drive will hoprfully be this weekend. We'll see if it performs as advertised.

Craig

[FrankZ]

I can't wait for a testing report. Make sure the camera batteries are charged up.

[CraigC]

I've brought this thread back to life as I have purchased an update kit for the Weber. We stopped using the original unit because, to be honest, it was dangerous. To add fuel, it was necessary to remove the whole insert section, which took two people messing with a really hot piece.

The upgrade has a form fit rack and pizza stone. It has access to the back and sides to refuel by simply removing the Weber lid. You can use the Weber charcoal baskets in the back and sides. It should be here Saturday and we might give it a spin Sunday.

Cordierite Tombstone and ProGrate for 22.5 Inch KettlePizza Kits - KPPG-22

[medtran49]

The upgrade has passed the test, cook wise, safety wise, and ease of use wise. The pizza crust was just as crispy as could be and the focaccia came out pretty well too. Oh, and we didn't have to pre-cook the crusts to get them crispy.

[Andy M.]

Looks great! How long does it take to preheat and cook and how much charcoal do you use?

[roadfix]

Very nice! I like the new feature.

[CraigC]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

Looks great! How long does it take to preheat and cook and how much charcoal do you use?

Andy, the upgrade uses the Weber charcoal baskets, one in the back that came with the kit and two on either side of the stone. I filled the baskets about 3/4 way up with briquettes and in the back I topped the charcoal with chunks of oak. I didn't want to take a chance damaging the stone, so I lit the coals with a product called "Tumbleweeds". They are basically bundles of straw dipped in parrafin. It took about an hour to get up to temp, 800F, according to the dome thermometer. It probably wasn't necessary, but after the second pizza, I refueled all three baskets with a couple chunks of oak. By the time I put in the third pizza, the temp was off the scale. We waited for the temp to drop around 550F before the focaccia went in. I also put a pan with water over the back basket for moisture.

Today, I fired up the Horizon and have 6 racks of baby bakes going.