questions about heating

[Curtis Ide]

I've cooked several pizzas in my 2stone pizza grill. The pizza was good but since I'm a perfectionist I have a few questions about how to get the heat just right. I like to cook pizza at very high heat (800+) as well as lower heat (near 500). I've tried both and have similar issues at both temperatures.

When I measure the stone temperature and the bottom of the turbo-top using an IR thermometer, I'm finding that the stone is always somewhat hotter than the turbo-top.

How long do you need to preheat the oven to get the turbo-top and the bottom stone to be the same temperature? Is it best to preheat on very high heat, medium heat, etc?

When I'm cooking pizzas, it seems that the bottom of my pizza is burning before the top has cooked to my liking. How can I adjust the heat to make the top and bottom of the pizza cook evenly? I'm wondering whether cooking with the burners on or off would make a difference. What has been found to work best?

[Willard]

Hi Curtis,

Sorry it took me so long, some how missed it. Good questions you ask.....there are a few ways to tackle it.
The easiest way if your bottom seems to be hotter, use a screen. If you don't like the idea of a screen, there are a couple of things you can also try. Take a tin foil plate about 12-13 inches will work, and put it under the stone in the air space. This will cut down on the heat transmitted to the stone and you will have a cooler bottom. If you still need more.... use some high temp insulation blanket and cut a circle the size you think you need and insert it under the stone. - willard

[Curtis Ide]

Thanks for the tips, Willard.

What I decided to try was preheating the oven for 45 minutes or so then waiting another 30 minutes with the burner off. This let the stones reach similar temperatures. Then I turned the burner on for baking. It seemed to work fairly well for baking at the 500-600 degree range (which is what I use most times).

I'll try adding some insulation at some point.

[Willard]

Hi again Curtis,

Like you, after trying out all the different scenarios I settled on (a lower) 650 for the bottom stone as my ideal....where the pizza comes out with the right crispness and texture that I like. (usually a 2 - 2 1/2 min bake) I'm not a big fan of limp crust that must be eaten with a knife and fork or folded to keep it manageable while eating. (which is what you can get with hot sub minute bakes) There are a number of things to take into consideration, such as not needing as high a bottom heat as a wood burning oven since our stones are being heated from underneath. Even though the stones are reading one thing the air is usually at least 200 degrees hotter. Since you are cooking in a draft your air temps will be quite high anyway, and regardless of stone temp can be 1000 + (if you have a good heat source) with a certain amount of trial and error on how you work it..... you should be able to reach a level of consistency. - willard