Charred Pizzas

AJ · June 2000

I have had my lg Egg for about 16 months and have been successful cooking many of the things listed in this forum with the exception of pizza. Every time that I attempt to cook a pizza (from scratch, pre-made refridgerated, frozen ) I end up with a charred piece of junk. The latest episode was last night. I have pre-heated the Egg to 550' with the firebricks flat in a "Y" configuration and I have placed the pizza stone on top of the bricks. I cook it for 20 minutes and it is thoroughly charred. I usually add a fair amount of lump before I cook the pizza since I need to get up to a higher temperature. Any suggestions before I bag the pizza experiment (failure) for good. Thanks, AJ

Char-Woody · June 2000

AJ, you betcha..your doing wrong on your initial set up. Put the firebricks on edge..and raise the stone to the bottom case level of the BGE..Much easier to enter the pizza and remove it. Second..if your using a frozen pizza, I thaw em out to where the become limp..then cook the prescribed time as a fresh one. A few minutes in the micro wave is about right.
Next,,,check that thermometer.. If its accurate, lower the temp to 500 for the next one..and work up to 550 as you need to. Pre heat the stone and your in business. I have yet to have a failure..
Cheers..C~W[p]

Char-Woody · June 2000

AJ, I forgot to add..12 to 15 minutes should have your pizza ready to eat..check thru the dome with a flashlite and watch the edges..When the cheese is fully melted and the edges are turning brown, your done.
Also, I use the top solid cap, and the last time I cooked pizza, I was topping out in temps at 500, and putting the cap on and letting it drop to around 4 to 425F..then take the cap off again and let it rise. This helps to prevent a over heating of the ceramic and a dark underside crust on the pizza. See if it helps..You can alternate 550 to 450 also if you like..Experiment.. You will find the right combination.
Cheers..C~W[p]

KennyG · June 2000

AJ,[p]C~W has provided all the advice you need to do perfect pizza each and every time. To obtain the comfort level you need, try building your own pizzas from scratch using a Boboli pizza crust and your favorite sauce and toppings. The thin ones work well and will give you a great pie in about 10 minutes.[p]K~G

Tim M · June 2000

AJ,[p]I bet you will burn it. Put the firebricks in a U (|__|) config not a Y pattern. You want as much ceramic shielding the pizza stone from the infrared radiation comming off the fire. A Y pattern lets that radiation directly hit the stone. A better pattern, that is only obtained with a plate setter, looks like an upside down U (or a box without the bottom) and then the stone on top of it. [p]If you're doing large pies, try not preheating the stone, just the firebricks. Add the stone 3-4 min before the pie goes on. [p]Tim

Fritz · June 2000

AJ,[p]A properly heated stone will cook that pizza at 550* in six minutes.[p]The advice a bout a plate setter is good. The main idea is to get that stone to the height of the lip of the egg.[p]Fritz

Gretl · June 2000

AJ,
After charring several pies, I have come up with my own setup that works. In fact, it works so well that the Collinses are bordering on being tired of pizza! Not. Anyway, I use three thin firebricks flat, topped by one crappy thin pizza stone topped by one good thick pizza stone. I get the lump going, then add the ceramic and let it rip for about 1/2 hour with temp about 500 to get the stone nice and hot. The pizzas are done in 10 minutes; perfect crusts and toppings. My error in the past was not having enough shield between the heat and the crust. My thin pizza stone just was not enough.[p]Hope that helps you. Really, once you get a good one, there's no turning back![p]Cheers,
Gretl

BluesnBBQ · June 2000

I have another way of doing pizza. I put the stone directly on the grid (I've had my egg for over a year, and I still don't own any firebricks), then I put the pizza on one of those aluminum pizza pans - the kind that has holes poked through it. I put that on the stone and cook it until the cheese is melted. It's always turned out great that way - not quite the same as brick oven pizza, but very tasty.

Nature Boy · June 2000

AJ,
Kinda fun to see all the different ways people do pizza!
I set it up just like you described. Firebricks on their sided in a Y or triangle shape, stone on top. My stone is about the same thickness as the BGE stone (says Tim). I preheat everything at 500. Usually make the pies about 12 inches round. Consistently takes about 12 or 13 minutes. Haven't burnt one yet.[p]Are you wacthing thru the top with a flashlight?? 20 minutes sounds like a long time at 550. Is the bottom burnt, and the toppings not done?? Or is everything toasted??[p]NB

AJ · June 2000

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I can see that I have been doing a number of things wrong. I will distill all of the info and give it another try tomorrow night. Thanks. AJ

Spin · June 2000

AJ,[p]While you are eggsperimenting with the setup to cook pizza, I suggest that you cook several smaller pies in sequence. This will allow you to perform several cooks to find the timing for when the crust is perfect. Six inch mini pies are great for this.[p]Reconfigure your setup to place the top of the pizza stone slightly above the opening lip. This will allow moving the pies in and out with ease. It is also a better placement of the stone even if you use a pizza pan (widest part of your and best airflow for heat).[p]Cook the first one for six minutes and remove. Place on a wire rack and then visually judge the crust. Now cut and taste the crust for texture. Cook the next one for 7 minutes and so on. Cook the last one for six minutes again. The last cook will give you an indication of how your stone is performing over use time.[p]I'd recommend that you stick with cooking at 550F. This is the temperature that every pizza oven I know of uses. I have attempted cooking pizzas using temps from 350-700F. It is much easier to burn a pie using lower cooking temps.[p]Don't judge your pies by the toppings. Pizza is doing two cooks at once, the crust from the bottom and the toppings from the top. You need to get a handle on the crust - then adjust for the toppings.[p]When this marriage comes together (it will!), you will be sold. Please feel free to email me.[p]Spin[p]

Charred Pizzas

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