using my Weber gas grill as a pizza "oven".
 

trying to wrap my mind around it. maybe i am over simplifying the deal. i tested my new Weber genesis. it gets up to 700 degrees on my thermo easy. i'll confirm with a thermocoupler later..

you open the lid to put in the pizza, and "whoosh!" all my hard earned heat flies out. how can i get my pizza without opening the lid?

here is my plan. i have a broken pizza stone i'll place over the "flavor bars" for added mass. i want to line the sides of the grill with fireplace bricks and prop the lid open about 2". i can bridge the firebricks with some unglazed tile. all that mass should get crazy hot. i guess i'll get it hot before propping the lid open.

then i can use my peel to slide the pie in and out from the slot..

think it will work?

i ask because i spent $130 on pizza last weekend.

awesome stuff, but i just saw the charge on my credit card..and it got me thinking.

thin crust, edges all blackened..dayum!

WTF!!!! How many people were you feeding and/or what kind of zzz was it?

Probably more construction than you need, just put the stone in and see how that works...

Got this as a gift and it works well. Bring everything up to temp and throw in some wood chips for smoke...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1305747617.jpg

I would do this
- Put bricks in the lower part of the Weber, leave just enough room for the coals (edit: oops I guess you have one of them there girly pro pane grills - anyway, same idea)
- Put the pizza stone on top of the grate, so the pizza slides onto it
- Stack bricks on the grate, around the stone, fill up as much of the volume under the lid as possible
- Get it to 700F and keep it there, so that not just the air is 700F, but all that brick and stone (60 lbs?) gets to 700F

Now, you open the lid and lose all the hot air. Or a little of it, if your fancy sneaky peel idea works. But the point is, the hot brick and stone stays.

Compute mass x specific heat of a couple cubic feet of air vs mass x specific heat of 60 lb of stone. You can see, you've lost only a tiny fraction of the stored heat in the Weber.

Plus, the 700F pizza stone will transmit heat to the pizza far more effectively than will 700F of air.

The only bummer will be if the Weber's legs collapse under the weight.

John, great idea putting bricks on the bottom. Gotta try that.

I usually just set my stone on top of the grates. One of my plans this year is to build a outdoor pizza/ brick oven for bread . I built one in my last house.

Take a look at this
little black egg « Turn Your Weber Kettle Grill into a Kettle Pizza Oven!

read the installation pdf, you can make the same thing. This is on my plan for the next week :)

also google "little black egg pizza", several home made versions.

Jay

I think JYL is right. You need some mass to keep the heat, and to allow for quick recovery of temp. The stone would be good for this as would any good insulation able to withstand the temps you are talking about.

Vash, we have done this successfully on the Weber Genesis several times. I get frozen pizza dough from the supermarket, use a right-sized heavy steel black cookie sheet (hit it with Pam first), get the Weber to max heat. I roll and pull it thin and have had such great success I don't use the oven anymore. I don't think you need the whole pizza stone thing to do it. You need a constant high heat which the Weber will deliver. One little thing: I put the rolled out dough on the sheet for about 3-4 min to cook the raw dough a little, then take it out and add the sauce, cheese, etc., then 8 to 10 min more. We lack an 800+ degree pizza oven, so we can' t just put a whole, finished raw pizza in and expect good results. Not the same as Due Amici's (a NY/NJ ex-pat family run pizzaria in Charlotte), but edible. PS, don't lift the lid to check!

not bad..i bet firebricks used to "shim" up a kettle lid would work too. not bad at all.
this idea, is making me think my idea will work too.

thanks everyone.

Pics or ban - in the "dinner" thread I think.

I like this lil black egg thingy... I already have the spacer and rotisserie for my Weber Kettle.... I may have to cut window to be able to slide a pizza in...

I always wanted to buy a big green egg... but the price put me off....

I compare Hoosiers, or Race fuel to cost of purchases LOL

I do this regularly: just put the pizza stone in when it's cool, start it up, let everything heat up uniformly. When you're ready, pull the lid, drop the pizza on the stone, and let it go for 7-10 minutes. I usually have a goal temperature of 500F.

Some other tricks:
1 - Use a second pizza stone, if available, on top of the pizza. I have a deep dish pizza stone that I set on top of the pizza, with the whole pizza inside the stone. Works great, like a tiny single-pizza brick oven.
2 - Put semolina flour on the peel before you roll out the dough; they're like tiny ball bearings. Put toppings and what-not on quickly, then put it straight in. If the dough sits on the semolina for more than a couple of minutes, it'll settle in and won't slide off. That's a mess.
3 - I don't know. But it seemed like a list of 2 was just too short.

Good luck. I've made the best pizza ever this way.

Cheers,
Dan

Putting a thin pizza stone right on a grill is a good way to break it. I would put the pizza right on the grate.

Hey. We do this all the time. We do not use our stone, just the grill. There is a trick however.

1) Heat up the grill. I do medium hot. I suppose full blast could work but I have hesitation on that.
2) Slide the dough on the grill. don't worry about losing heat. The direct heat from underneath does the trick here.

3) Pull off the dough when the BOTTOM is a little tan. The top will not be done.
4) Flip the dough and put the toppings on the tan side.
5) Put back in and finish up.

You will be amazed. It is that good.

Larry

dont forget to pre-cook sausage once. it will not cook if put on a pizza raw