Print Page - New Gadget Alert!! Pizza Porta for Kamados

My good buddy Cajunate was looking out for me Friday when he ran across a post on Broil King's Facebook Page looking for a Keg owner in Atlanta to try out a device for cooking pizzas on the Keg. Being the pal that he is, he tagged me in the post and it led to me getting in touch with the inventor of the Pizza Porta. I was able to go meet him and his wife, both very nice folks, at one of Atlanta's 3 Restaurant Depot stores. We talked a bit about this crazy obsession we all have, he gave me a quick tutorial on how to use it and off I went. When I got home yesterday evening, I made a batch of dough in order to prepare for today's guinea pig session.

Cortlandt (the inventor) has made varying versions of this device but has only used it on BGE and KJ Kamados, hence the reason to see if it would also work on the Keg. Luckily for me, that's where I came in. I have 3 versions of the Keg but for this test, chose to use my BSK2000 since it is somewhat covered. It was windy and was acting like it might rain so it was the right choice even though all 3 are basically the same.

First challenge was to see if the Keg's hinge assembly would work with the Pizza Porta, if this was a no go, then I'd have to cook pizzas on the UUNI 2S, or just keg them without the Pizza Porta. I was a little nervous oddly enough, I REALLY wanted this contraption to fit. Not so much as for my own benefit but rather I didn't want to give Cortlandt any bad news. He's a super nice guy and I really want him to be able to expand his product's reach. I love success stories! He and his wife are genuine folks so I can't help but root for them :)

So, walk with me while I take you through this afternoon's testing session. I will warn you, there are a LOT of pictures and even a video. I am nothing if not thorough, lol.

Ok, here we go. First things first. Did it fit? If so, how well? I was pleased to see that the Keg's hinge was compatible. The top gasket fits perfectly but I will say that there are some small gaps on the bottom portion. I feel that a changeable felt gasket on the Pizza Porta would help things nicely, on Kegs and other Kamados. With that said, maybe it's not such a big deal.

Placed on Keg before lighting the lump. Various angles to show fitment.
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp01.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp02.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp03.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp04.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp05.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp06.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp07.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp08.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp09.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp10.JPG)

Time to make some pizzas! First one up is double pepperoni. On the last picture of it in the box, you can see that the top is nice and browned. I achieved this by taking the pizza and rasing it up into the hot dome for browning just before removing the pizza from the Keg. This is called "Doming" according to the instructions Courtlandt gave me. Works great!
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp11.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp12.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp13.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp14.JPG)

The next pizza is a Pepper Stout Beef pizza. We LOVE these!
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp15.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp17.JPG)

As you can see, the Keg and the stone stay hot since the dome is never raised!
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp16.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp19.JPG)

Time for a BBQ Chicken & Bacon Pizza
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp18.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp20.JPG)

More Glamour shots of this one since it was the last one I did, I had the time to go a little crazy with the picture taking :P
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp21.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp22.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp23.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp24.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp25.JPG)
(http://www.tpdatlanta.com/pizza porta/pp26.JPG)

Here's a video of it in action if you want a little more inside information on it!
https://youtu.be/ydqDZRJGoCA

So......what do I think of it? Overall I like it. Mainly due to being an admitted gadget freak. I like that the Keg stays closed, eliminating losing heat while adding pizzas or rotating them. This is a clever idea. Here's the realist side of things, hey you didn't think I was going to only give you the good without the bad did you? It's geared for those that are going to cook more than one pizza. If you're just doing one pizza on your keg then this is more of a novelty than something that is practical. If doing one pie, you're not going to benefit from having this, even though it IS a cool contraption. If you do, however, cook more than one pizza at a time then this may be something you want to add to your arsenal! It IS fun to use!

I enjoyed trying this out for the inventor and I seriously hope all of you on here with Large BGEs, KJs or Kegs consider supporting this guy. The Pizza Porta is American made right here in Jawja, in the A-T-L no less, so you're getting a well built unit. You can learn more about it HERE (http://www.pizza-porta.com/)

If you have any further questions for me about the Pizza Porta, post them here!

Awesome review RG! So did you put your order in for one? ;)

That is really cool!

Thanks for sharing

I like that! Really a great idea for entertaining- and allowing folks to build their own - then you can slide it in. I noticed the temp around 600F...? Can it go hotter? Does it really matter either way?

Quote from: teesquare on January 29, 2017, 07:08:08 PM

I like that! Really a great idea for entertaining- and allowing folks to build their own - then you can slide it in. I noticed the temp around 600F...? Can it go hotter? Does it really matter either way?

It'll get as hot as the cooker it sits on! If you want a 900° pizza then open all vents and let'em rip. The Keg can get hot enough to melt Brad's Grill Grates™! It's been documented, lol. The only way that 900°+ temp would work is if you made a fast cooking, lightweight dough, topped very lightly such as a Neapolitan pizza. A traditional Margherita pizza is about all you'd want to attempt at that temp and you better be moving quick! Rotating every 15-20 seconds. Unlike the UUNI, there isn't an active flame in the back but all Kamados do have a hot spot. The Keg just so happens to burn hotter in the back by the hinge. Whenever I cook on the Keg, I like to cook around 550°-650°. I can cook a pie in about 5 minutes this way. All of those were about 5 minute pies. All cooked nicely and that "doming" technique is something you can't do without this device. Hard to do when you have to lift the lid, lol.

The instructions say to get your Kamado up to 450° then close your top vent and open the side vents on the Pizza Porta at that point and use those vents to get to where you want your final cook temp to be. I left one vent closed (it has one on each side) and left the other open with my bottom vent about 40% open. This gave me around 600°-650° dome temp. It would rise a tad during the making of the next pizza. I liked that actually. Usually when I keg pizzas, the temp drops in between pies. This eliminates that.

If you're a one pie cooker, this really isn't a gadget you'll benefit from immensely other than the browning aspects of "doming" but if you cook lots, say for example at a Pizza Party or a Super Bowl event while rooting for my Falcons (shameless plug) then this thing is awesome!

That's Impressive! A lot of thought and design went into it. Nicely done! :thumbup:

Quote from: tomcrete1 on January 29, 2017, 07:45:05 PM

That's Impressive! A lot of thought and design went into it. Nicely done! :thumbup:

I also think it's clever. I love this kind of stuff. I admire his initiative to think of it, make it, put it into production. That's just cool. That's America!

Not a gadget for sure but a very well engineer tool.
I like it.

Nice set up :thumbup:

Quote from: HighOnSmoke on January 29, 2017, 05:33:37 PM

Awesome review RG! So did you put your order in for one? ;)

Nah....I was hoping he'd tell me to keep this one for my services rendered, lol! In all seriousness, If I were in the market for such as this I'd buy it. I don't currently "need" it but as a gadget freak I appreciate it and would vouch for it's usefulness.

Also, I don't know if anyone is interested but I am going to post the current dough recipe for those that want to make the style of pizzas that I have been posting lately. I've tried many pizza dough recipes over the years and have tinkered with some and had good and not so good results. Lately I have been using Jim Lahey's "No Knead" dough recipe as my base. The only thing I do different is I don't use AP flour and I do "knead" it, lol. I use a kitchenaid with a dough hook. Other than that, it's verbatim to his recipe so I won't call it MY dough recipe, it's still his, just slightly modified.

I have posted it in the recipes (http://www.letstalkbbq.com/index.php?topic=19628.0) section for those that care to take a stab at it.

Let's Talk BBQ

Outdoor Cooking Equipment => PIZZA OVENS - Wood Fired => Topic started by: RG on January 29, 2017, 05:25:16 PM