Kamado Joe Big Joe III
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Weber Performer 22
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Temp Spike
So night before last I mixed up a pizza dough really late and set an alarm to wake up after 2 hours to shape the dough and get it in the fridge to develop. Only I didn't wake up and had to shape the dough 6 hours later rather than 2 hours later. I used 00 high temp flour from Naples. I fired up the Kamado to 700 degrees tonight and let the pizza stone heat for 45 minutes. As you can see, the bottom of the pizza was burned to a crisp. That hasn't ever happened before. The only othervariable that I did change was that I used, at my bride's request, much more tomato sauce than I ever had. I need my gurus to solve this mystery for me so that it doesn't happen again.
I of course love smoked meats of all kinds, but also like quick cooks like chicken portions, pork tenderloins, steak and fish. Really into cooking of all kinds.
My outdoor kitchen has a Lone Star Grillz Adjustable and it is wonderful. There also is a Pit Boss 5 Burner Ultimate Griddle.
There is an outdoor fire pit that has grilling capability and limited Santa Maria-style grill raising and lowering.
I'm hardly a guru, but my first guess is that somehow your stone was hotter than your previous cooks, assuming you cooked for the same amount of time. Was the fuel stacked higher than usual so that it was closer to the stone? The temp in your dome thermometer may not give you the full picture of what the temp is on the stone.
If you have an IR gun, I strongly recommend seeing what temp your stone is at before launching the pizza.
My gear:
22 Weber Kettle
Napoleon PRO Charcoal Kettle Grill
Broil King Keg
Traeger Pro 34
Napoleon Prestige Pro 500
Pit Barrel Cooker
Blackstone Range Combo Griddle
Same dough recipe you usually use? Same temp in the dome? Any sugar or olive oil in the dough? What, if anything did you use on the peel to help launch? My guess is that your stone was hotter than previous cooks and yes, you definitely need an IR thermometer. :-)
On my kamado, using my Lodge CI pizza pan as my stone, I've found that there is a magic temperature around 750F at which I scorch the bottom of the pizzas just like you show, but if I keep the temp down to about 650-700F, they come out perfect.
I have to imagine that some of the ingredients in the dough I make just don't tolerate the "stone" being up at 750-ish, and that is past their spontaneous combustion temp or something. I know you need a specific dough recipe to use a pizza oven at 900F, and I imagine that my recipe ain't it.
Since you used high temp flour, I just have to think that the stone was hotter than your dome temp. You had the deflector in place didn't you, and the stone above the deflector?
hoovarmin you can't do that! Otherwise the stone will be the same temp as the heat hitting the bottom of the deflector! Put in the deflector, THEN the cooking grate, and your stone goes on top of the cooking grate. If you have an elevated grate, put the stone on it - the higher the better. You were basically cooking your pizza on direct heat and not indirect high heat like you need to.
A Mosca or Attjack recommendation I believe. Works perfectly and cheap!
Helect (NOT for Human) Infrared Thermometer, Non-Contact Digital Laser Temperature Gun -58°F to 1022°F (-50°C to 550°C) with LCD Display https://a.co/bi0PzMU
As I mentioned above, you need an air gap between the heat deflectors and the pizza stone. You can use foil bunched up in shape of C (you need two of them). Or some bolts to create the gap.
Looks a little charred. I have never over charred anything that I would admit to.
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"I may not be right, but I am never wrong"
As I mentioned in my comment above - you MUST have an air gap. I put in my deflector, THEN put in the cooking grate, and put the stone on the cooking grate. If you have an elevated grate, even better - get a lot of air gap in there. You want the pizza higher into the dome rather than lower if possible. You are looking for indirect high heat. You basically grilled the bottom of the pizza on direct heat - that is why it scorched so bad.
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