First pizza attempt coming....

OttawaEgg

After seeing so many yummy pics and post of all you eggsperts doing zaza on the egg, I just have to give it a shot! :woohoo:

I have the stone (BGE) to put on the PS.

Got me a nice wooden paddle.

Got mom's zaza dough recipe (which makes great zaza in the oven btw).

Now I've seen a lot about temperatures and whether or not to use parchment. I've also had real wood-oven baked zaza before (in France no less!).

So, the plan is:
Season the paddle (I have some butcher block oil for that).

Make pie size a bit smaller than the stone. Not piled with fixins, just 2 or three with some good mozzie.

I'm going 'nekked' on the stone (no paper) - don't see too many zaza joints using paper. Making the pie on the counter, well-flourerd dough. Corn meal on the paddle and the stone.

Temperature: around 550-600, which is what my favourite zaza place uses. (5-8 mins?)

Comments? Anything else I should do or remember?

Cheers :cheer:

Firetruck

Sounds like you got it. Something you didn't mention...put a spacer between the ps and the stone. If the feet that came with your egg are available, you can use them. If not, go to the hardware store and buy (3) 1/2" or 3/4" copper plumbing elbows to set under the stone. The elbows will not roll around while you are trying to get the za off. (Learned the elbow trick from KSCheryl at OKC).

Bring all the cooking parts up to temp together. The stone will be really hot so I usually wipe it with a damp cloth to cool it as not to burn the bottom of the pie before the toppings cook.

Good luck

Fidel

Sounds like a good plan to me - but I have never oiled my peel. I've heard a few folks mention it, but between my time working in pizza joints many moons ago, and in cooking my own pies at home, I've never seasoned or oiled a peel.

Depending on your dough, your cook may take a bit longer than 8 minutes. Just make sure your stone is pre-heated for at least 30 minutes, 45 is better.

Don't get hung up too much on temperature. A range is fine. If you put on the pie and the temp drops, don't fiddle with the vents, let it come back on its own or you will potentially overshoot and wind up much hotter than you want to be.

fishlessman

i never oiled my peel either, i rub flour into it every cook and it sticks less and less each time. seems to work better after you cut a few pies on it as well. i dont use cornmeal, just flour. go real light with the sauce for the first few cooks as a lot of sauce can cause problems and once you start assembling work fast to get it off the peel so it doesnt start to stick

OttawaEgg

I'm pretty sure I still have the little feet that came with my egg (ask my wife - I don't throw anything out LOL).

So, I'll just them as spacers between the PS and the stone.

Thanks!

AZRP

The other thing you can do is put the PS in legs up with the grid on the legs and the stone on the grid. -RP

Darnoc

I have found that with the legs up and getting to the pizza cooking temp takes a long time to get there.I would suggest that you have the legs down and put a raised grid on top of the plate setter and then add your pizza stone on top of the grid.This will get your pie higher in the dome and cut your time almost in half to reach your cooking temperature which should be around 500/550.



Help this helps.

tarheelforever

Darnoc wrote:

I have found that with the legs up and getting to the pizza cooking temp takes a long time to get there.I would suggest that you have the legs down and put a raised grid on top of the plate setter and then add your pizza stone on top of the grid.This will get your pie higher in the dome and cut your time almost in half to reach your cooking temperature which should be around 500/550.



Help this helps.

WOW!! That is a great looking pie.

Unknown

The parchament is not so much for removing the Za (it does help sometimes tho) as much as it to get the assembled Za onto the peel.
In leiu if cornmeal, I like to use a sprinkling of kosher salt on the parchment, then lay down dough and build pie. Nice bit of salt on the tougue when you bite into the pizza, very good!

Unknown

The parchament is not so much for removing the Za (it does help sometimes tho) as much as it to get the assembled Za onto the peel.
In leiu if cornmeal, I like to use a sprinkling of kosher salt on the parchment, then lay down dough and build pie. Nice bit of salt on the tougue when you bite into the pizza, very good!