Trouble getting pizza stone hot enough

[PeterR]

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?

[tony b]

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??

[jonj]

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

[PeterR]

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.  

 

[tony b]

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.