First Time Doing Pizza (Pic Heavy)

Ladeback69

I got break in my new XL pizza stone and pizza peel today since it was almost 60°. Some neighbor's came over to play guinea pigs. I was told to set the legs on the plate setter down, the the grate and then the stone. I got the egg to 500° and after it had had been there for about 45 minutes I put a pepperoni pizza on. I turned it after 4 minutes, then turn it a half turn. I took it off after another 4 minutes. The bottom was burned a little more than I liked or my kid. I shortened my time to 3 & 3, but it burned again. So I had my neighbor help me add my easier grid while removed the stone. The next 4 pizzas got better and the last 2 were the best. I did a BBQ pizza with Firebug BBQ sauce, smoked sausage, smoked bacon, smoked chicken, sun dried tomatoes, red bell pepper and cheese. I finished it with some Plow Boy BBQ rub on top. Anouther pizza I used crushed roasted garlic and olive oil as the sauce, BBQ chicken, sun dried tomatoes, red bell pepper, mozzarella & provolone cheese. The last one I used ranch dressing as the sauce and used the same toppings as the last one plus sprinkled italian seasonings on the cheese. I learned a lot will be doing it again. I made my own dough too. I found out the "00" flour is the best and can be made and used the same day. The other is a combination of the "00" bread flour. Here are some photos of it. I also tried cookies, but they burned. The egg was too hot for them to bake right.

blind99

Pizzas look great. I'd like to try the OO flour at some point. Those poor cookies didn't stand a chance!

Ladeback69

blind99 said:

Pizzas look great. I'd like to try the OO flour at some point. Those poor cookies didn't stand a chance!

Ya, the cookies tasted ok, but the ones my wife made in the oven were better.

Legume

Nice job - way to jump in the deep end with the first pizza cook, they look great.

You may want to consider legs up on the platesetter for high temp cooks, legs down seems to melt the gasket.

Ladeback69

Legume said:

Nice job - way to jump in the deep end with the first pizza cook, they look great.

You may want to consider legs up on the platesetter for high temp cooks, legs down seems to melt the gasket.</blockquote

I was told to put the legs down for pizza. It seems ok for now. Next time I am going to cook at 450 to see if that makes a difference in burning the crust. I'm pretty sure not having much of an air gap between the plate setter and stone was an issue. I was pleasantly surprised with my first time and something about making the dough and next time I will have them premade to speed up cooking. The wife wants me to add some flavor to the crust next time like brushing it with olive oil and garlic or adding italian spices into the dough. My next challenge is Chicago deep dish pizza. Thank you for the kind words everyone.

UrbanForestTurnings

I do mine legs up for the same reason of the gasket. Burnt mine up before my first pizza :-? . Nice job on yours love the way you just jumped in. Could play hockey with them cookie pucks . Just egg and learn

KiterTodd

Pizzas look great!

Cookies...not so much.