Highest temp you've reached on your grill?

So in my quest for perfect pizza crust and perfect pizza on the kettle i am having another go at pizza on my performer. Last time i did it, the pizza turned out pretty good. I think this time i can step it up a notch. I am using a different dough recipe - http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103444&highlight=pizza+tutorial. The second one on that list.

And i also bought some friebricks to elevate my stone a little more in my performer. My plan is to put stone in middle of grate on firebricks with lump in a ring around the outside of the bowl. I am hoping to get it very hot!

Which leads me to my question, whats the hottest you've reached on your grill? Has anybody gotten 600 degree on their weber kettle? I hope to reach that tomorrow because from what ive read the dough recipe i am using reacts better with a hotter cook temp.

600 should be pretty easy with lump charcoal, maybe even kingsford. I've had a weber replacement therm pegged passed 575.

thanks for the reply. I assumed i could get 600 or so with lump, hopefully a little more

I messed up one time, dumped about a chimenys worth of unlit lump in the bottom of my Performer, then dumped a lit chimenys worth on top of that trying to get the kettle super hot for pizza. On previous attempts, I was not able to get the heat I was looking for, so I did this.
Once the lit coal ignited the unlit coal, I had that pizza stone so hot that the second I put a pizza on it, the crust would burn black and burn. So, just sharing my lesson learned, don't over-do it with the amount of charcaol you put in there, I bet I had that kettle over 800*.
If I had a better buffer between heat and stone, I may have pulled it off, but it was a real disaster/learning experience. I would agree with your coal in a perimeter circle method, and a brick or two under the stone would also be interesting to try.

So far that recipe is my favorite dough recipe. Real easy to roll out dough. I tried it both ways.
I have a second rack and I like to get my grate the pizza cooks on level with the top of the kettle. I also cut a hole in an extra kettle lid. I have pegged out mmy 750 degree thermometer on my kettle.
Took me like 3 or 4 minutes to cook these.

jsperk- do you think its essential to get that 750 degrees by leaving the top on and having the hole cut in the top? Unfortunately i do not have an extra lid laying around that i want to cannibalize

also how do you assemble the coals on the bottom? You think my idea of having coals all round the outside perimeter and the stone in the middle will work fairly well?

thanks for the replies guys..

scotts1919 wrote:

jsperk- do you think its essential to get that 750 degrees by leaving the top on and having the hole cut in the top? Unfortunately i do not have an extra lid laying around that i want to cannibalize

also how do you assemble the coals on the bottom? You think my idea of having coals all round the outside perimeter and the stone in the middle will work fairly well?

thanks for the replies guys..

I use my charcoal rails or a round pan in the mddle of the charcoal grate and do a ring. Sometimes I add few hot coals in the in middle. I like the cut out to get the pizza out and putting in another pizza without lifting lid. Plus I think the air flow helps. Next I want to add heat deflector on the underside of the lid.

My Grilldome thermometer goes up to 700F. One day I was trying to impress a former boss grilling prime dry-aged strips. I used mesquite. When I opened the dome HUGE flames shot out, and the thermometer had spun around TWICE which I guess means about 1400F ... Steaks were VERY nicely charred in about 30 seconds per side. Still came out a beautiful rare.

I have had my CharBroil smoker to well over 500 quite by accident the last time I tried doing pulled pork. The temperature outside was around 34 degrees with 35-40 mph winds coming straight into the firebox. Even with a plywood windblock I still showed a temp spike on my maverick of over 530. Getting ready to start some butts today so hopefully wont have the wind problems today and the temps are supposed to be in the 60's.