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Prepping for my first try at Pizza

Dan in StL
Dan in StL Posts: 254
edited September 2012 in EggHead Forum

I've been egging now for 5 years and I'm almost embarassed to say that I've yet to do a pizza.  Gonna go for it tomorrow.  I've done some research here, but wanted to get some advice before try the pie.

First, how important is it to have a BGE brand pizza stone?  We have a pizza stone, but it's significantly thinner that the BGE variety.  Any cause for concern or advice about the stone?

Next is temp.  I've seen a variety of temps used.. everything ranging from 450 to nuclear for the dome.  And I'm also assuming that it's important to get the stone up to some specific temp???

Last and not least - the setup.  Planning on going with legs down on the plate setter with some separation between the plate setter and the stone. 

Any advice, including what toppings to go with first, will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

 

 

I've seen a variety of setups and temps recommended

 

Comments

  • Pizza on the BGE has to be the one of the more fun dishes. I get my girls to select their toppings and all. They design the pizzas and I slide them on the egg. They don't want pizza any other way now. 
    Large BGE as of Father's day '12 http://www.jwhit.com
  • I set up with plate setter legs up and I use the BGE pizza stone. I like the thickness and the way it retains heat. Very good quality! I like the temp at around 600* but I've cooked at 500 and 700 with good results. 600 is my preference but I'm fairly new to egging.

    My family prefers a simple Margherita style pizza with light sauce, fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil.

    Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos
  • I used a thinner stone that we had for awhile, the only issue was it broke.  My personal best tip is use the temp that is recommended by the baker or the recipe for the dough.  Don't try to do an 800 degree cook with dough made for 400.

    I use parchment paper, which makes me a heretic.  Turn every 5 minutes until done to avoid hot spots.

    If you have a Woo, here is my set up, PS legs up, grate, Woo upside down, and stone.  I use the Mavrick to sort of monitor stone heat.  I let everything heat soak for an hour until the dome and stone temps are about the same.



    XXL #82 out of the first 100, XLGE X 2, LBGE (gave this one to daughter 1.0) , MBGE (now in the hands of iloveagoodyoke daughter 2.0) and lots of toys

  • Duganboy
    Duganboy Posts: 1,118
    Do some research on the Lodge CI pizza pan.  I use it more than a pizza stone because it is my wife's favorite way to do pizza.
  • Aviator
    Aviator Posts: 1,757
    Do some research on the Lodge CI pizza pan.  I use it more than a pizza stone because it is my wife's favorite way to do pizza.
    Good one, but it is not 16". BGE pizza stone is 16" and nice to have.

    ______________________________________________ 

    Large and Small BGE, Blackstone 36 and a baby black Kub.

    Chattanooga, TN.

     

  • bigphil
    bigphil Posts: 1,390
    i do place setter legs up grate on top of that then i have 3 four inch tall round pieces of 316ss i set my stone on to get it high in the dome my dome temp runs about 500/550 nice fire going for about a hour pre-heating the egg and stone . then parchment paper under the pizza for the first few minutes and then removed to finish the pie 
    Large Big Green Egg , XL Big Green Egg . BBQ Guru, Weber Kettle, Weber Q grill for road trips.
  • Best advice I can give is about sticking, or more to the point avoiding it. First time I tried I had no peel and didn't use cornmeal or parchment paper and had a ton of troubles. Long story short, my planned pizza turned into more of a calzone or stroboli because I ended up folding it while trying to more it. Tasted fine but it was ugly as hell.

    Now I'm using a thin metal peel with plenty of cornmeal on the peel and the stone and things are working great. I do spin the pie once during the cook and have not had any sticking problems.

    Good luck, I'm sure it'll be great.


    Cheers -
    B_B
    Finally back in the Badger State!

    Middleton, WI
  • I use a pampered chef stone . I cook at about 450. And I agree with my fellow eggers that once you have done pizza this way you will never do it any other way. This pizza crust was a premixed 
  • Duganboy
    Duganboy Posts: 1,118
    Aviator said:
    Do some research on the Lodge CI pizza pan.  I use it more than a pizza stone because it is my wife's favorite way to do pizza.
    Good one, but it is not 16". BGE pizza stone is 16" and nice to have.
    Yep, the Lodge pan is 14".  I have a 16" stone also and a perforated pan that makes a nice crispy bottom to the crust.
  • Thanks everyone for the good advice.  Looking forward to taking a run at this!