First Pizza, not the best.

bgebrent

First shot at pizza.  Thought I'd be smart and tried the first two of five doughs previously made.  A 00/Bread dough and a 00/AP dough.  Stabilized at 500 with a ceramic stone elevated over a drip pan over the PS.  Pizza turned out ok but with 00 four needed 20 + minutes on the stone to get the crust good.  I'm wondering if simple ap flour recipes are better.  Also think higher temps necessary with the 00flour.  As always I greatly appreciate the thoughts, comments and criticism!  Happy Memorial Day to all! doughs are best at lower temps.  Happy Memorial Day to everyone!  

Class_of_75

That's a nice looking pie, especially for your first effort. I have used the 00 flour with success and with the same setup you described. I don't think it requires higher temp or other special handling. You're off to a good start. Stay with it. 

CPARKTX

Hum shouldn't take nearly that long, how long did you let the temperature and stone stablize at temp before putting the pizza on? I try to give the egg a good hour to stabilize and it really helps with pizza. Mine usually take about 8 min (at 600-ish). Don't give up, you'll nail it soon. 

bgebrent

@CPARKTX, I of course was impatient, probably waited 25 minutes after reaching 500.  Encouraged to hear more about your 600 and your dough recipe!

SGH

They look darn good to me. I would devour them. 

bgebrent

@SGH as you know looks can be deceiving!  They certainly were edible, what advice can you share on pizza dough at 500 degrees?  Always love your input!!

SGH

bgebrent said:

what advice can you share on pizza dough at 500 degrees?  Always love your input!!

Thanks for the kind words. As to the pizza, brother this is honestly my weakness. I'm not worth a flip at it. There are many others far more qualified to help with pizza than me. I really wish that I could help but I honestly can't with pizza. Hopefully others will see this and help out.  

bgebrent

@SGH, humility is a gift, honesty is requisite, thank you for responding and answering so many questions on this forum.  You've helped all of us newbies more than you know.  I hope to buy you a beer one day.  

CPARKTX

By trial and error I've found that 550-650 works best for me, with plenty of time to stabalize.  When I make homemade dough I use the recipes from Flour Water Salt Yeast (great book). Sometimes I'm pressed for time and use store bought dough which is actually decent. It took a while, but I've been getting pretty consistent results now and the family loves it...stick with it and good luck. 

bgebrent

@CPARKTX, thanks for the reference book and temp recs.  Appreciate your advice!

okie

I used this recipe which uses a 50/50 00 flour and regular flour, and it was fantastic, cooked at 650-700F for about 3-5 minutes in my large BGE. You can buy 00 flour on-line http://www.amazon.com/Antimo-Caputo-Chefs-Flour-Pound/dp/B00BR0K62E/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1437079302&sr=8-5&keywords=caputo+flour and some stores carry it (Whole Foods, but it is pricey).

Dough: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016230-robertas-pizza-dough

Sauce:  http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/10/new-york-style-pizza-sauce.html

The final combination:  http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016231-pizza-margherita

It makes 2, 12" pizza's which was easy to handle. For the second, I added mushrooms, black olives, and fresh basil.

It worked fantastically, was easy to prepare, and was as better than any pizza I've ever had in any restaurant.  Sometimes, simple is best.

Enjoy!

 

bgebrent

Thanks @okie I'll give it a try!  I have the 00.  Also welcome to the forum!  Thanks again!

okie

I might add I started out with a clean egg and filled the egg almost to the top of the second ring with BGE fresh lump, let it burn wide open the whole time, placed the place setter legs down, and used some ceramic blocks to raise the BGE pizza stone about 2" above the place setter. I placed the stone on the supports about 15 minutes before it reached 700F and put the pizza on.

It was perfect.

bgebrent

Sounds good brother okie!  You should introduce yourself to this amazing forum!  We greatly appreciate help from the eggspeienced!

Hawkchief86

I cook mine at about 600-650 stone has got to be hot makes a huge difference I think.  I try to let at least 30 minutes for the Stone to get warm.  Also I use parchment paper and trim right around the pizza so it doesn't stick to the stone.  Not a fan of cornmeal...looks like good pizza though trial and error will get you there!  Here is one of my attempts at it.  Also I don't gap the pizza stone I go right on the plate setter maybe not preferred method but works well for me.  I will have to try the gap.

bgebrent

Interesting @Hawkchief86, that's a fine looking pie and calzone!  I also like to use parchment paper.  So you're pizza stone sits right on top of your plate setter?

YukonRon

I use cans, to place the pizza stone on, to elevate. I do let the stone go 30 minutes at temp prior to bake at around 500F, then let it bake for about ten minutes. It seems to work very well.

Hawkchief86

@bgebrent yeah I put it right on the plate setter legs down and then pizza stone right on top call it ignorance when I got my egg a year ago, been doing it that way ever since.  Read about the gap but if it ain't broke don't fix it I figure.  I will probably try the gap at least once just to see. By the way my egg us always this clean......here is a pic of what I do.

stv8r

Legs up...then grate.  Foil ball spacers then pizza stone.  Preheat 30-40 mins at 500-525   Parchment paper trimmed slightly bigger than pizza (which I build the pizza on) then slide on stone.  2-3 mins and paper will slide out leaving pizza directly on stone.  Total cook maybe 8 mins. But seriously yours looks pretty good too

bgebrent

Lots of great ideas brothers!!  Thank you for the help and the delicious looking cooks!  I'll soldier on with all the great advice and post once I nail it.

Begger

I believe in KISS.  No fancy dough recipe for me.   
4c all purpose flour
1 3/8c water.   I use DI water, not tap water
Salt
Oil…..I use olive oil
 

And I put it in my bread machine and 90 minutes later?   a 2lb loaf suitable for a 20" pizza or so.  

an overnite 'rest' in the fridge seems to help, too.  

I install a 2nd pizza stone ABOVE my plate setter and use some ceramics for about 1/2" additional air space.   No burned crust for me!

THe result?   A fine pie and the area below the plate setter is CLEAN.  

bgebrent

@Begger, fine lookin pie there brother!  Thank you for the input and great looking cook!

blind99

Cook time shouldn't be that different with 00. My two cents (fwiw not much!) is get a dough recipe you like and keep using it and standardize your egg setup and cook time and temp, otherwise you'll never figure out what's working and what's not. Lots of ways to get great pizza on the egg!

ive used the KA Italian-style flour, not sure it was worth the extra money.

bgebrent

@blind99, appreciate the worthy two cents!  So what about your experience with different doughs and temps?  Therein lies my confusion.  Thanks to all in advance!

dldawes1

I can't be much help on pizza. Yours def looks great to me.  I've fixed a few but have used dough from a can. Pizzas have turned out great, but I guess I'm actually cheating the process.  I have just never "gotten into" dough making yet !!

Keep egging and you'll work out any bugs and be consistent. It has worked for me on everything I've managed to get awesome results on.

I appreciate your post....it will help me when I start eggsperimenting with pizza dough.

Go Cats !!!!  -  Hope we can meet up someday.

blind99

bgebrent said:

@blind99, appreciate the worthy two cents!  So what about your experience with different doughs and temps?  Therein lies my confusion.  Thanks to all in advance!

My feeling is that you have to figure out how to balance the cooking of the crust and the toppings. If you have delicate toppings on a thick crust and a blazing hot egg, you may burn the toppings before the crust is done. 

I stick to the same recipe every time. Occasionally I'll try some different type of flour but almost always use unbleached KA AP. 

I always make a double batch of dough. Anything left over keeps fine in the fridge or the freezer. 

bluebird66

Dang, they look super to me!

paqman

Good looking pies!

You need higher temps when using 00 flour to make your dough.  I also raise the stone as high as I can in the dome.  You should use the recommended temps for your dough recipe.  Usually for regular flour it is between 425 and 500F.  With 00, it is much higher in the 600-800F range.  Sugar and oil content also has an impact on the recommended temps.  No sugar/oil means higher temperatures.

You can have a look here for my setup: http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1141565/finally-the-pizza-dough-recipe-i-was-looking-for

A31unit

Looks good to me!

bgebrent

dldawes1 said I can't be much help on pizza. Yours def looks great to me.  I've fixed a few but have used dough from a can. Pizzas have turned out great, but I guess I'm actually cheating the process.  I have just never "gotten into" dough making yet !!

Keep egging and you'll work out any bugs and be consistent. It has worked for me on everything I've managed to get awesome results on.

I appreciate your post....it will help me when I start eggsperimenting with pizza dough.

Go Cats !!!!  -  Hope we can meet up someday. 


Appreciate that Donnie!  Would be great to meet another Kat fan and Egger of your caliber!  If you're ever down Atlanta way give a shoutout!  Go Cats!!

bgebrent

Thank you @paqman, makes good sense!  Appreciate the set up info!!