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Getting the hang of pizza

hogaholic
hogaholic Posts: 225
edited February 2012 in EggHead Forum

Pizza night on St. Valentine's Day.

Keys to success:  Lots of lump, cooked at 575-600 with the pizza stone elevated off the platesetter by the egg feet.  I preheated the stone in the oven then let it come up to target on the egg.  We built the pies on parchment paper in the pan shown, transferred over to the peel then onto the egg.  Removed the parchment paper after a couple of minutes.  Works like a charm and no burnt cornmeal to mess with.  Cooked four of these puppies which took only 6-9 minutes per pie.

Home made dough, light sauce, fresh grated mozzarella, pepperoni, shallots, bell pepper, mushrooms, Kalamata olives, basil and baby spinichimage

Jackson, Tennessee. VFL (Vol for Life)

Comments

  • jerryp
    jerryp Posts: 232
    did the same thing. tried caputo flour and didn't care for it. i prefer san felini flour.
  • hogaholic
    hogaholic Posts: 225
    edited February 2012

    We used plain ol' all purpose flour, salt, touch of oil, yeast and water.  Kneaded in a Kitchen-Aid mixer with the dough hook,   We made two batches of dough and proofed it using the proofing setting on our ovens.  We let it rise twice.

    Making dough is totally new to me - I was just following the wife's instruction which is all I ever do anyway.

    Jackson, Tennessee. VFL (Vol for Life)
  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669
    hogaholic we do the same. Parchment paper is your friend....
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • Nice job hogaholic! Great looking pizza :-bd
  • Chubbs
    Chubbs Posts: 6,929

    Hog, looks great. I think the key to homemade dough is exactly what you said. Letting is rise twice. I usually let it rise an hour or so covered in a slightly oiled bowl, then knead a little more and divide into my dough balls and leave in fridge overnight for final rise. Works every times.

    The only issues I come across is I usually have to use more flour than any recipe calls for to get it past the sticky phase. The results, however, have been really good.

    Columbia, SC --- LBGE 2011 -- MINI BGE 2013
  • Thanks Chubbs. 

    While I'm no rookie at egging pizza, I freely admit to a steep learning curve regarding homemade dough.  My wife, on the other hand, is a great baker and it was fun yesterday bringing the yeast to life, mixing and kneading the dough and watching it rise (twice). 

    I kept adding flour, as you point out, until all the dough got "unstuck" and became one big ball kneading around the dough hook.  Really cool, and so much more fun than just whopping open a can of store-bought dough.

    These pies were a good bit smaller than my stone so they didn't brown around the edges as larger pizzas normally do.

    On another note, I am still using the Pampered Chef pizza stone that everyone told me would crack if I used it on the egg.  Three plus years of use and still going strong.  I like it because it is relatively thin and reheats quickly between pies.  The key to keeping it in one piece is avoiding thermal shock by preheating in the oven then I move it to the egg while wearing welding gloves.
    Jackson, Tennessee. VFL (Vol for Life)
  • GrannyX4
    GrannyX4 Posts: 1,491
    Chubbs

    I have baked many loves of bread - one right after the other and when I switch to a new bag of flour it might
    take a little more or less flour. The trick is finding the texture you like and then tweak the dough.

    Hogahoglic,

    Great looking pizza.

    For 2012 I am going to learn to post just as soon as I learn to cook. ;;)
    Every day is a bonus day and every meal is a banquet in Winter Springs, Fl !
  • I use parchment paper too, but I leave mine on for the whole cook.  Works for me.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Thanks Granny

    VI - Leaving the parchment paper obviously doesn't leave an "off" taste?  I watch it turn brown around the edges after just a couple minutes and I'm thinking that if I leave it on there any longer it might catch fire.
    Jackson, Tennessee. VFL (Vol for Life)
  • Hog,

    The parchment that's outside the pizza does tend to burn, especially if it hangs over the edges, but not the parchment under the pizza.  So, I don't get any burnt taste on mine.

    Here's the pics from last month when I was experimenting with using egg roll wrappers for a crust.  You can see the burnt paper outside the pizza and the stone, but the cruse wasn't affected.
    image

    image
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Jer_inva
    Jer_inva Posts: 109
    I'm with VI in that I keep my parchment paper on till I pull the pizza. One less opening the lid and messing with the pizza as it cooks.  Jer
  • hogaholic
    hogaholic Posts: 225
    edited February 2012
    Thanks VI and jerinva. Good to know that. I never stop learning something new here!
    Jackson, Tennessee. VFL (Vol for Life)
  • Hogaholic how many sheets of egg roll wrappers are you using, looks like a couple per pizza. Did you put anything between them to keep them together. That thin crust looks awesome. We have a Pizza House that has super thin crust and we just love it.
    Any info on this would be great. We have enjoyed a lot of pizza on the egg, this crust sounds like a winner.
    TIA
    Large, small, and a mini
  • gerhardk
    gerhardk Posts: 942
    I think you have a great looking pizza there.  I am of the pull the parchment camp, I have left it before and there was moisture on the paper so now I always pull it.

    Gerhard
  • Sniffer,

    I think you were talking to me.  I used two eggroll wrappers.  I didn't do anything to keep them together, but they stayed put.  It made for a very thin crust and very crispy.  My wife likes to keep the carbs down, so she liked it too.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669
    Gary I still have to try that. Sounds too good. Like your new picture.....
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • Sorry about VI. Thanks, plan is to try this tonight. Maybe do some of the apple pie in an apple thing for desert. Will post some pics later. 
    Large, small, and a mini
  • Gato
    Gato Posts: 766
    @ hogaholic

    Pizza looks great! One of my favorite things to cook on the egg. Plus it's a great way to clean out the egg. I tell you after some pizza and stir fry cooks my egg is almost white again. Guess it's time for a low and slow. Hate for it to start looking like the pics in the bge cookbook. :)
    Geaux Tigers!!!
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,432
    I've been a pizza fanatic for seven, eight years now, have only been an Egg owner for less than one.  My single happiest discovery was to not punch the dough down and let it rise again; if you do, the dough develops an elasticity that's very difficult to work with.  If I knead the dough for twenty minutes, divide into balls, let rise in the frig for one to three days, and warm up on the counter, then I can pick up a ball and it pretty much forms itself into a perfect disk across my knuckles, stretching (I'm 6'5", my kitchen has an 8' ceiling, and I'm very uncoordinated, so "tossing" is out).  If I punch the dough down, even once, and let it rise again, I have a terrible time stretching it out to full diameter, even with a rest period.
    Most of the posters here, though, punch it down at least once.  Are you able to stretch the dough out without difficulty?  
    _____________

    "I mean, I don't just kill guys, I'm notorious for doing in houseplants."  - Maggie, Northern Exposure