My good buddy Nate 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.
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!
The next pizza is a Pepper Stout Beef pizza. We LOVE these!
As you can see, the Keg and the stone stay hot since the dome is never raised!
Time for a BBQ Chicken & Bacon Pizza
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
Here's a video of it in action if you want a little more inside information on it!
https://youtu.be/ydqDZRJGoCASo......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 and in Kegland in general 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
HEREIf you have any further questions for me about the Pizza Porta, post them here!
