Maiden Voyage: Kettle Pizza

[Boatboy24]

I fired up the new Kettle Pizza for lunch today and I am in love. This thing rocks! Got it going with a very full chimney of Kingsford Blue and about 3 chunks each of pecan and mesquite. Here it is, right after I put it all together:



I let it run for 10-15 minutes with the lid vent open, just to let the airflow really get things cooking. It worked. This is the lid therm after I closed the vent. I went to 550F and didn't stop. I'm estimating it was at 850 up in the dome.



Ready to roll - surface temps pushing 700 degrees.



First pie: just cheese with a little basil







Second pie: A little pepperoni







I used store bought dough for this run. I've never really like the dough that my Harris Teeter sells. It is very tight and sticky. It doesn't stretch well at all. But it did pretty good for this first run. I'll use my current go-to dough recipe for the next run.

Overall, I'm really happy with this. I think you can buy a steel insert that can sit on top of the Kettle Pizza and keep those higher lid temps closer to the pizza. Probably a good investment as on these, the crust was done before the toppings. It is suggested that you put the pizza back on the peel and hold it up near the lid to finish the toppings. I did that, but I think I'd rather just buy the insert.

 

[Rocky]

That is a really good looking pie, Jim. Do you plan to, or even can you, make bread in the Kettle Pizza?

 

[Boatboy24]

@Rocky: It might be workable. About two hours after I lit the grill, the temps inside were still at 400+. You might be able to make it work. The challenge would be the opening, which is about 4 inches high. Getting the bread out when it is done would be challenging. But at that point, you could just take the lid off.

I'm going to give it another go this afternoon with a dough recipe that I like.