Pizza in the egg

njl · February 16

I've done pizza in the egg twice now, and they've been edible, but I'm not happy with the results. I make pizza from scratch once a week, every week, and have for the past couple years...so I'm pretty comfortable with the recipe and cooking it on parchment on a stone in the oven. I make a roughly 16" pizza from a little more than 2.5 cups of flour / 1 cup water, and in the oven, I do a 2 minute pre-bake, top it, and then 14 minutes, all at 425F.

In the egg, I've been using the plate setter, legs up, cooking grid, and 2 narrow bricks to raise the stone above the gasket. From what I've read, people tend to cook pizza in the egg at higher temps than standard ovens can do, and after getting things going, and the stone heated up, I've generally had the dome temp up around 500-550F.

Last week's pizza, I didn't adjust the cooking time down enough, and some of the bottom was burned. Still edible, but a bit more charred flavor than I like in my pizza. This week's, I adjusted the time down "enough". When I pulled it, some of the edge and some of the bottom were starting to to get overdone, but most of the top outer crust looked under cooked. The leftovers, warmed up on the rack in the toaster oven, the crust is fine...though some is a bit overdone on the bottom.

My stone is a 16" round Old Stone Oven. What am I doing wrong, that I can't seem to get the top cooked without burning the bottom?

onedbguru · February 17

Cooked a couple of pies last night...

full firebox
platesetter LU
grate
cheap (broken) BBB pizza stone (have not ordered the BGE Pizza stone yet)
Temp: 550-600

This time I used the new Reynolds "pan liner" (foil on one side, parchment on the other). a liittle spray oil on the parchment then rolled out the crust and added sauce (homemade from EVOO, garlic, and 28oz can of peeled plum tomatoes - cooked then crushed - VERY GOOD!!) MozCheese, pepperoni, sweet italian sausage, red onion, mushrooms, green peppers. Pre-heated for about 1/2hr so the stone was good and hot. Cooked until veggies were done and cheese was good and melted. At this point the bottom is barely done. Removed the stone and the parchment/liner and directly on the grate. Cooked another 3-4 minutes and bottom was perfect golden brown. Has got to have been the BEST pizza yet. (second pie was just 1/2 pepperoni, 1/2 italian sausage. Also VERY good!!!

This was maybe the 5-6th time we have tried this, so, it just takes some time to have it turn out right. I will try this method again.

double · February 17

I find getting the stone as high as possible in the dome helps.

onedbguru · February 17

keep in mind that you really need the BGE (or similar) pizza stone. the Pampered Chef/BBB stones cannot take heat > about 450 or so...

Doc_Eggerton · February 17

double said:

I find getting the stone as high as possible in the dome helps.

I agree. I do PS legs up, grid, upside down Woo, and another smaller grid with the stone. Also let everything heat sink for a good long time.

njl · February 17

My 16" stone is probably a little oversize for a LBGE. I don't think I can go much higher in the dome without interfering with air flow.

Skiddymarker · February 17

njl said:

My 16" stone is probably a little oversize for a LBGE. I don't think I can go much higher in the dome without interfering with air flow.

Yes, because high in the dome is restricting air flow now. Try dropping the heat a little, reproduce what works for you in your oven until you get an acceptable wood fire pizza. Also, if you raise a 16" stone in a LBGE you are right about the airflow. Try cooking at the felt line. If your stone is thinner than most, it might be overheating. Try putting it in 15 minutes before you drop the pie in. If crust is still burning, try 10 minutes before. etc...

500 · February 17

Skiddymarker said:

njl said:

My 16" stone is probably a little oversize for a LBGE. I don't think I can go much higher in the dome without interfering with air flow.

Yes, because high in the dome is restricting air flow now. Try dropping the heat a little, reproduce what works for you in your oven until you get an acceptable wood fire pizza. Also, if you raise a 16" stone in a LBGE you are right about the airflow. Try cooking at the felt line. If your stone is thinner than most, it might be overheating. Try putting it in 15 minutes before you drop the pie in. If crust is still burning, try 10 minutes before. etc...

The thin stone could be part of my problem. I go PS legs down, cheap pie pan, Egg feat, then thin 14" stone with parchment under pie. Gets the pie high in the dome, but I still would like to get the toppings more cooked before I have to take it off when the crust is done. Maybe I need to get a BGE stone.

Lowflyer · February 17

I did deep dish in cast iron for the 1st time last night, and hit a HOMERUN.

njl · February 18

I thought the whole point of a stone was you wanted it hot and were supposed to pre-heat it to the point that the stone is at oven temp.

danv23 · February 18

Make sure your thermometer is accurate. Do the boiling water test.

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Pizza in the egg

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