Advice on dual probe thermometer & akorn pizza stone

I went with the maverick 732. For my Akorn I got the weber charcoal grate for the 22.5 kettle and it fits the spot where the Akorn stone goes. Then placed a cheap aluminum pizza pan as a diffuser. Also use a couple fire bricks for added thermal mass/diffuser.

maverick 732 has worked great for everything I do

I'm one of the ones where my Maverick remote would not stay working, so I gave up using the remote part. Actually gave the thing away. Back to the Acorn, I went with the 17 inch Weber grate and cheap pizza pan as a deflector. I added 3 inches of expanded metal to the edge of the grate to make removing/containing the coals much easier. The 15 inch pizza pan fits inside, some guys use a 16 inch pan, I found that blocked to much air flow for my style cooking. Your choice. I also made a basket for the Acorn coal grate which again for me helps when removing the coals to clean and refill. Plenty of room for any long smoke you would want to do. I also made my own S.S. main grate with handles for easy removal. For me I do not care for cast iron, heavy and a PIA to maintain. You should be able to see the pizza pan under the main grate. Another 17 inch grate with 4 inch carriage bolts for legs works great when the swing grate is a bit too small to handle a lot of chicken parts/monks etc. Just a few of my mods if your interested.


https://imageshack.com/i/mjb0y5j

I forgot to mention about when cooking pizza, most use either bricks or like my extension grate to get the pizza up about 4 inches higher into the dome so the top of the pizza cooks about the same as the bottom of the pizza. Some prefer a pizza stone, some of us just use the pizza pans with the air holes. This is also using the deflector on the 17 inch Weber grate. You will have to experiment to see what you like better. If you don't raise the pizza higher in the dome you will need to add either a cast iron pan or another stone on the swing grate to radiate heat back down to get the top of the pizza to cook as quick as the bottom. In my experience.

Thanks for the mod ideas. There's been talk around here that Santa may bring me one too. Fingers crossed!

Like others I've added the Weber charcoal grate but I'm using a round cast iron griddle from Academy Sports for the diffuser and even add a deep dish pizza pan on top of it for a drip pan on long cooks.

While I haven't done any pizza cooks yet I have an eye on kiln shelves for a pizza stone in the future. Same material as many of the high priced pizza stones from cooking stores at much cheaper prices.

http://www.axner.com/cordierite-kiln-shelves.aspx

I have had the ET-733 for almost a year now and have had no issues with it. The probes need a little care, but other than it works great for what I want it to do. It lets me know if the pit is within 25* of my target temp and when my meat gets close to it's target IT.

Gripes81 said:

Still undecided on a diffuser, anyone try the actual charbroil stone that's made for the akorn? I'm looking forward to working out the kinks on this whole Komodo thing:biggrin1:

Click to expand...

You might want to check out the Kamado Guru site that has a section just about Acorn. There have been more than half of the pizza stone owners where they cracked, a lot of guys go to other pizza stones. Just a note, if you use a stone, I found the bottom of every pizza after the first one would burn before the top could cook due to the high temps, but I'm no expert. That is why I use the cheap pans, for me, much easier to remove each pizza and slide in another pizza on a cold pan.

http://www.kamadoguru.com/forum/18-char-griller-akorn-kamado-king-griller/