I have no loyalty to a particular brand, just the style of cooker.
My original was a K7 size Kamado brand.
A gorgeous thing with cobalt blue tile and was a good bit bigger than the large BGE and weighed in at about 450lbs.
Kamado is now out of business and I sold it before I moved to Utah a couple years ago. The size of it let you put more charcoal in it making it a little easier to hit high temps for pizza.
I really only have two issues with my current large BGE, not enough airflow through the stock bottom grate, and not enough flexibility in the distance from the charcoal to the food. I have solved both issues with a mig welder, a Harbor Freight ring roller, and a bunch of 3/16" and 1/4" HR round stock. First off, I made a charcoal basket that lets far more air through then followed up with grill risers to allow me to raise the food up higher.
My BGE can now easily reach pizza temps with the new charcoal basket I fabricated and is easier to maintain low temps then my old Kamado.
I used to have a small kamado as well for portability. It worked fine for grilling but did not do well smoking foods because it needed more space between the food and the charcoal. So for portability, get a Weber Smokey Joe. Just as good for grilling, and vastly less expensive.
As for charcoal, pretty much all I use is Royal Oak from Wal-Mart. On occasion I'll get 40lb bags of Mesquite charcoal from Sams(or maybe costco) because it's really cheap, but only use it for high temp because the smoke is really strong smelling. I've been known to stockpile up to 30 bags of Royal Oak since Wal-Mart carries it seasonally and I use the barbeque year round (that reminds me, I'd better stock up again)
My favorite wood for smoking is apple, but I use hickory as well.
check out
www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramic.htm to see how deep this particular rabbit hole goes.
(don't worry about the name, perfectly family friendly and safe for work)
If you are interested in pizza I could probably teach a course on it.
- Make your own dough for the crust. (I make mine from a sourdough starter that I can share if you want)
- Make your own sauce. ( I make my own sauce 18 pints at a time and can it with a pressure canner. I sometimes make my own sausage to go on it).
- Boars head whole stick pepperoni is by far the best I've found around here, Tony's was the best when we lived in Sonoma county, CA.
- Get the grill hot, hot, hot. I cook pizza at around 600°-650°
- Beware flashback when cooking at these temps (the website above has a demonstration)
- Forget the pizza stone that comes with the cooker, get http://bakingstone.com/shop/barbecue_grill/ I have used the 14.5 inch one for 10 years now
- Forget using cornmeal on the pizza paddle to aid getting the pizza onto the grill (unless you like the sensation of sand under your pizza). I spread the dough out on a piece of non-stick aluminum foil, plop it down onto the 600° pizza stone, wait about 60 seconds, the grab a corner of the foil and jerk it right out from under the pizza. Works perfectly.
- Cook the pizza high up in the dome to balance the heat to the top and bottom.
... Frieed, sounds like you have your pizza down! I used to make a pretty good pizza when i was in highschool (worked in a restaurant) but gave up at home because I couldnt get the oven hot enough. A good thin crust margarita made at home sounds AWESOME!
