My husband has strongly resisted making pizza on the egg for unstated reasons. I finally talked him into a stone. I made cold fermented dough for the first time, got the egg up to 550-600, and cooked the best pizzas we have ever made. But I had two variables -- new dough and the egg -- so I couldn't make any conclusions. Yesterday, after the remaining dough had been in the fridge for three days, I cranked the oven to 550 and heated our old pizza tiles for a half hour. Made the same type of pizza, light sauce, pepperoni and moz. And they turned out just as good. Really. In the same amount of time. So in my view, the only reason to use the egg is if you don't want to heat up the kitchen.
*******
Owner of a large and a beloved mini in Philadelphia
Comments
Neither the wife nor I felt like cooking last night, so we picked up Papa Murphys. Thought about putting it on the Egg, but realized I would have to add mroe charcoal, wait for the VOCs to burn off (20 to 30 minutes) before even starting the pizza. Ended up cranking the oven and tossing it in there. Was it better? Not sure, but it was less work and neither of us felt like doing any work last night.
Another reason to do it on the Egg is to impress friends. Don't overlook that one.
Rowlett, Texas
Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook
The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings
Just my $.02 but I think you can definitely taste the egg flavor. It tastes like a pizza cooked from a wood fired oven. That's not to say the same pizza couldn't be just as good in the oven, but I do think you will notice a difference in flavor.
Never add wood to our pizza cooks. To me the lump gives off just the right amount of smoke to
make pizza from the Egg a little better than the oven. I agree with Griffin, if tired the oven works.
Damascus, VA. Friendliest town on the Appalachian Trail.
LBGE Aug 2012, SBGE Feb 2014
I've never noticed a huge difference in flavor, but the recovery time is much better on the egg - meaning we can cook more pizzas faster. I keep the egg at 550-600 for pizzas, while our gas oven maintains a constant 500 about as well as a non-commercial oven can.
we have done pizza nite for years on fridays,got the egg at christmas and there is no doubt its better on the egg!nice crisp crust,little smoke,just like wood fired! i cook mine 600-650! 7-8 mins
\:D/"Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity, and are able to turn both to their advantage."
What do you mean by cold-aged dough? Is that dough from a sourdough starter? I've made pizza with my sourdough starter and while the crust was certainly crisp (we like thin crust) it didn't seem worth all the work and wait involved. We've made our own pizza for years and have the recipe down pat cooking in the stove oven. Couldn't see an appreciable difference as far as crisp.
But the person above is right--it is impressive to make pizza for friends on the egg.
turn sugars into carbon dioxide as quickly, causing better flavor development.
I wouldn't do that. I imagine the flavor would be horrendous. You'd prolly have problem getting it up too
@mickey
I've always gotten just enough from the lump. I think it has more to do with temp than anything
Thin crust Pizza Dough
Ingredients:
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup warm water (about 105 degrees)
1 cup cake flour ------------- I used King Aurthers Bread Flour
1 cup - plus three tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
In a small bowl, wisk together the yeast, sugar and warm water and let stand until foamy, about five minutes.
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough blade, combine the cake flour, all purpose flour and salt and pulse 3 or 4 times.
Whisk 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the yeats mixture.
With the motor running, slowly add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding more.
Pulse the machine 10 to 15 times to knead the dough. The dough should clean the insides of the bowl, but will be slightly sticky.
Coat the inside of a large bowl with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil.
Dust your hands with flour and remove the dough from the food processor. Form the dough into a ball and place in the bowl. Cover the bowltightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until it doubles in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Divide the dough in half and roll out as directed in the pizza recipe. Makes two 10 inch thin crust pizzas.
Steve
Caledon, ON