Whats the best way to get high heat in weber kettle?

[mrad]

I have a wood fired pizza conversion kit for my weber 22" kettle grill. Using hardwood lump, I can get temps of 700-750 degrees. However, I am finding I can go through one 20 lb bag every two cooks after using the chimney to start the wood and then dumping it onto more hardwood lump before placing the kit and stone over the grill.

Would putting charcoal in the chimney and then dumping it onto the hardwood, while then placing some oak chunks on the hot coals give me the same 700+ degree temps?

How much hotter does hardwood burn than regular charcoal?

Charcoal is much cheaper in my area than hardwood lump.

 

[noboundaries]

Interesting question. I've never used lump when making pizzas. I have a pizza kit for my Kettle too. I use RO Ridge briquettes and am usually in the 700-800 range. I don't bother with the wood. They'll burn up to 980F, which KBB will too, but ROR lasts 50% longer than Kingsford. Usually I only do two pizzas so I don't need to reload.

One of the things I did to get better heat to the top of the pizza is I put a second grate on the screws in the top of the pizza attachment. Then on top of that I put a carbon steel paella pan. A second pizza pan would work too. Then add the lid.

So, in summary, I overload my charcoal baskets with screaming hot charcoal. Put the cooking grate down. Put my cast iron pizza stone on the grate. Add the pizza attachment with the second grate. Add the heat reflector (paella pan or another pizza pan), then the Weber lid with the vent neared the attachment opening. Let it all heat up for 20 minutes or so then start cooking pizzas.

 

[gmc2003]

The Votex gets the highest heat I've ever had on my Kettle, and I usually need an insulated glove to take the lid off. I've only used briquettes. I would imagine lump would be hotter.

Chris

 

[SmokinAl]

Vortex here too. The first time I used it I thought it may melt the lid. And yes you need insulated gloves to even touch the handle on the lid.
Al

 

[mrad]

Okay, dumb question. What’s the vortex???

 

[JckDanls 07]

https://www.google.com/search?sourc...-ab..1.12.890.0..0i131k1j0i10k1.0.xJ587SkhQHg

Basically an upside down funnel...

 

[WillRunForQue]

I start with a full large chimney of briquettes, spread those in a half moon shape, and then I add hickory wood splits at the back. Usually they are about 6 inches in length. IMO, most importantly for even cooking is I have a metal plate as a ceiling similar to what nb said. Also, my stone is a tombstone shape, allowing plenty of room on 3 sides for flames to come up.

I can get it as hot as I want it using more splits. I have had my old infrared thermometer max out at 1000* when I added one too many! Usually I shoot for around 700.

 

[gmc2003]

The vortex is a wing cooking machine. Lately I've been trying to expand it's usefulness by using it to replace cooking in oil for fried chicken and chicken fried steak. So far the results have been above my expectations. Here's a link to one of those cooks that shows the Vortex in action:

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/chicken-fried-steak-and-sausage-gravy.275549/

Hope this helps.

Chris