Indirect heat and a preheated stone

Yes, but the trick is you are not cooking the pizza over the coals — you are cooking it beside them.

Set up a two-zone fire: pile all your lit charcoal on one side of the kettle, leaving the other side empty. Put your pizza stone on the empty side before the kettle gets screaming hot. Let the stone preheat with the lid on for at least 10–15 minutes — you want it ripping hot, around 500–600°F.

Then slide your pizza (on parchment or a well-floured peel) onto the hot stone, close the lid, and let it cook with the heat from the stone and the radiant heat bouncing off the lid and coals. Rotate once halfway through if your kettle has hot spots. No flames licking the crust, no burned bottoms.

You get a crisp bottom without char because the stone is hot but not directly over coal. The top gets bubbly from trapped heat. If you want a little more top heat, crack the lid slightly or finish with a quick minute over direct heat after the bottom is set.

First pizza is a test. Eat it anyway.