Roger Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 (edited) I have a 23” kk. Just finished the curing process and want to make a pizza for my first cook. I have a pizza stone (which looks exactly like the heat deflector). Do I need to use the heat deflector when cooking the pie? Edited November 29, 2020 by Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 (edited) No, you do not need to use the heat deflector, put it into storage, most of us never ever use it. It will take a lot longer to heat up your KK and burn up a lot of charcoal in the process. Have fun with the pizza. Edited November 29, 2020 by MacKenzie 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonj Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 After 4 years, I almost used the heat deflector Thursday, but decided against it. Everything came out great. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sovsroc Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 7 hours ago, MacKenzie said: No, you do not need to use the heat deflector, put it into storage, most of us never ever use it. It will take a lot longer to heat up your KK and burn up a lot of charcoal in the process. Have fun with the pizza. I have been wondering but no more i have not even unwrapped mine yet 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 After 4 years, I almost used the heat deflector Thursday, but decided against it. Everything came out great.That was a close call, jonj. Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 Text expander/ canned heat deflector info: I've learned it's easier to give people what they want than to educate them. I supply them because people coming from the glazed-pot Kamado world think they're very important. The glazed-pot Kamado's lose heat through their walls and having more thermal mass inside the grill helps reduce temperature drops when the ambient temperature changes. Because KK's are so well insulated, this is not a factor. That being said I have not use the heat deflector in one of my grills for probably 10 years. I'm confident that using foil to create your indirect area then putting your drip pan on top of the foil on the lowest grate gives you a much better performance.. i.e. less airflow, less evaporation, and more retained moisture in your meat. https://komodokamadoforum.com/topic/10026-heat-deflectors-in-the-kk/?tab=comments#comment-121321 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 What The Man said! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Pearson Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 Dennis is the King of Kamado’s 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Pearson Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 When I bought my KK Denis told me to use my heat deflectors for stepping stones LOL! 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted November 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2020 Skipped the deflector. Turned out amazing. Got it to around 500 degrees at the stone. Gonna try getting a little hotter next time. Thanks for all the replies. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AAAsh Posted December 29, 2020 Report Share Posted December 29, 2020 So I was searching the forum to try and figure out when I needed to use the heat deflectors.... Found the answer 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...