PeterR Posted October 10, 2021 Report Share Posted October 10, 2021 I have a 19" table top and having issues getting the grill hot when the pizza stone is in place. I followed advice on this forum to use large chunks of charcoal for maximum air, bottom vent open all the way and top open about 3/4 of a turn to maximize draft. With no stone on the main grate, and the charcoal fire going well, the dome temp runs right up to 500-600 degrees. If I place the stone in place, the dome temperature drops to about 300 and it takes hours to get it to 450. I let it run even after cooking to see how hot it would get and it never went over 500 - about 5 hours after putting the stone in. Seems like the stone blocks airflow, limiting temperature rise? Tried different settings of the upper vent but pretty much the same. Any suggestions? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted October 10, 2021 Report Share Posted October 10, 2021 That does seem odd to me, but I'm not familiar with cooking on a 19" TT. The airflow dynamics might be different. Maybe other 19" owners can help?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonj Posted October 10, 2021 Report Share Posted October 10, 2021 (edited) Have you tried opening the top vent to 1 or 1 1/2 turns after the stone goes in? On my KK23, with the pizza stone or baking steel in and with a deflector or double drip pan to keep the stone/steel from gettin too hot, the top is open between 1 - 1 1/4 turns to maintain 500. Until everything is heat sunk, I open the top 2 full turns. I don’t know if this applies to a KK19 however. Sorry, I just saw you had tried opening the top vent more without improved temperature so my comment isn’t helpful. Edited October 10, 2021 by jonj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterR Posted October 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 I tried several different settings for the top and it did not make much of a difference. The 19 only only has one vent on the bottom. Next time I will try to pull the bottom vent plate out to increase air from from the bottom to see if that is the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 Worth a try, just don't pull it out all the way - it can be a PITA to put back sometimes and you can cause a small air leak if the tube(s) get tweaked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
