LK BBQ Posted November 23, 2019 Report Share Posted November 23, 2019 I've noticed that when I use the Pizza Stone in my 19" KK TT, it takes a very long time to heat up. The grill can normally get to 500 degrees quite quickly, but with the pizza stone it struggles to get there. Do you think it is because the pizza stone restricts the air flow or is it just the thermal mass? I suspected the former, as the baking stone takes much of the air flow away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrus Posted November 23, 2019 Report Share Posted November 23, 2019 I tend to feel the same way and that's why I let the fire become well established before I put the stone in. From this point I find the wait isn't as long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LK BBQ Posted November 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2019 My guess is that the pizza stone takes up a larger proportion of the 19" than it would on a 23". Also, by forcing the air around the outside of the stone, it slows down the overall airflow. Finally, it's possible that by putting it on the upper rack, it is an even tighter fit at the top of the dome. These are just my theories, as I'm still new to the pizza game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted November 23, 2019 Report Share Posted November 23, 2019 Mostly the extra thermal mass. There's still plenty of room for airflow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrus Posted November 24, 2019 Report Share Posted November 24, 2019 (edited) 19 hours ago, tony b said: Mostly the extra thermal mass. There's still plenty of room for airflow. Take another look. Without the deflector ( PS ) the airflow has a straight line and can run to the exit with ease and out the top vent. Placing the stone in disrupts the air flow underneath causing it to twirl, tumble and roll underneath, slowing it's eventual progress towards the exit. Placing a piece of cardboard in front of a fan will slow the rate of flow and volume of air from escaping because it's being deflected and slowed. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, using the deflector lengthens the route and may slow the process temporarily until adjustments are made. Anyhow, just my thought Toney, nothing truly scientific but,.. then again I've been wrong before and if so, come hell or high water....let me know. Edited November 24, 2019 by Tyrus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted November 24, 2019 Report Share Posted November 24, 2019 I went into geek engineer mode for a second and started to write a dissertation on choked air flow, but I didn't want to bore folks. Readers Digest condensed version - if you can still control the dome temperature with the top vent, then the pizza stone is not restricting the airflow enough to matter. If you want to test it out yourself, here's an easy experiment that shows it's the thermal mass of the stone that is changing the heat-up time and not the restricted airflow. Cover the same amount of grate area as the stone with a sheet of aluminum foil. See how long it takes to get to some dome temperature, say 400F. Run the same test (same vent settings) with the pizza stone in place of the aluminum foil and measure how long it takes to get to 400F. Anybody want to make any bets as to which one takes longer?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrus Posted November 24, 2019 Report Share Posted November 24, 2019 (edited) That'll be the stone of course and the same applies when placing a cold piece of meat on. Well, for moi....I'm comfortable adding in the stone when the KK is kinda soaked. The difference may not matter but for what it's worth that's how I roll. So maybe the question might be, can you reach temp quicker with the stone out and then adding in the additional time to get to temp when placing the stone in vs having the stone in from the get go. Total time A vs B. The only addition I can add is that I feel the stone inhibits the growth of the fire to establish itself in the beginning, that's why I chose another direction Edited November 24, 2019 by Tyrus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted November 25, 2019 Report Share Posted November 25, 2019 21 hours ago, Tyrus said: The only addition I can add is that I feel the stone inhibits the growth of the fire to establish itself in the beginning, that's why I chose another direction Agree. Make sure that your fire is up and going before you load it down with all the extra mass. I do the same with my grates. I wait for the dome temperature to get on scale on the thermometer before I even put in the grates, because it's such a major PITA to unload all of it if your fire doesn't catch well. Plus, I always open the top vent way more than what I need for my steady state cooking temperature, just to make sure the fires well established - typically about 2 full turns. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
