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Are they any better?

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chashans
chashans Posts: 418
in EggHead Forum
I have cooked pizza in my kitchen oven with great success for years.  On a recent trip to Las Vegas we ate a pizza that had been cooked in a Pompeli pizza oven and it was out of this world!  Since then I have been looking for ways to improve my home pizza's. That is one of the reasons that I now have a new LBGE.

Yesterday, for starters, I cooked my first pizza in my LBGE using my standard home kitchen pizza procedure.   http://www.eggheadforum.com/discussion/1159123/my-first-lbge-pizza#latest   and the results were comparable to those pizza's cooked in my kitchen oven.  I had hoped that it would knock my sock off. It didn't.

My question is…how much time and money (accessories) is it going to take to find that "perfect" pizza.  Is it ever going to be any better than those cooked in my kitchen oven?  What will make the difference…the lump, the temperature or what?

Shortcut suggestions appreciated, I hope to cut the chase.   Thank you in advance.
LARGE, MINI BGE    SAN DIEGO, CA            An alcoholic with a barbecuing problem.

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Comments

  • MO_Eggin
    MO_Eggin Posts: 282
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    Can you expand on what you're seeking by way of "perfect" pizza?  What style?  What are the shortcomings with your current pizza that you want to address?  

    FWIW, a significant difference between the Egg and oven is the Egg can reach substantially higher temperatures (most home ovens top out at 550), and ovens cycle the heating elements on / off so the temperature isn't as steady.
    LBGE - St. Louis, MO; MM & LBGE - around 8100' somewhere in the CO Front Range
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  • chashans
    chashans Posts: 418
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    I am looking for improved flavor.  I expected the lump, the temperature (new egg still using less than 500 F) or the BGE system to enhance the flavor (fired, smokey, etc.).
    LARGE, MINI BGE    SAN DIEGO, CA            An alcoholic with a barbecuing problem.

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  • MO_Eggin
    MO_Eggin Posts: 282
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    A few thoughts in no particular order.  As the egg gets more seasoned from low-slow cooks, I've found it imparts more flavor into cooks.  You want a clean burning fire, so the lump itself will generally add a very slight smokey flavor, although this is dependent on the brand / type of lump (eg, mesquite will be much stronger).  However, the BGE is not a wood fired oven, and it will be quite difficult to produce the flavor of a WFO (you may be able to replicate WFO temps for neopolitan style pizza, but your gasket will rebel).  Adding wood chunks to the Egg at pizza temps probably won't help, they're likely to burn up almost immediately.  

    I think the greatest benefit of the BGE for pizza is the ability to go over 550 (recognizing you're still getting through the break in period), which allows for shorter cook times and nice blistering of the dough.


    LBGE - St. Louis, MO; MM & LBGE - around 8100' somewhere in the CO Front Range
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  • Wolfpack
    Wolfpack Posts: 3,551
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    You need to get the pizza as high as possible in the dome- I use my plate setter legs up and then my spider (inverted) and pizza stone on top. Temps around 800. Make sure to let everything warm up for a decent amount of time (30 min at least). I like the wood smoke taste so I add a small amount of oak chunks. They cook pretty fast at this temp- you can watch them through the daisy wheel opening.
    Greensboro, NC
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  • Wolfpack
    Wolfpack Posts: 3,551
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    Pics I could find...first one was pesto sauce with asparagus and 2nd is plain cheese for kids
    Greensboro, NC
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  • Searat
    Searat Posts: 80
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    First things first, if you use the same dough recipe, it's going to taste the same. (My wife and son pick and prep the dough recipe. We’re still playing.)<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

    Second, if you’re not cooking hot (650 or higher), then you’re missing the great finish on the crust (blew my family away).  Toppings become what the family feels like from cheeses to pastes to veggies to dare I say salad. (Make multiple pizza solves the eating salad pizza.)

    Think about an IR thermometer. You can see if the stone has achieved temperature and, with a few reading around the stone, map the hot verses cool spots. (One trick I do is to shot through the chimney for early temperature readings before opening the BGE to load the pie on.)

     

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  • jhl192
    jhl192 Posts: 1,006
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    I see that you did not use a pizza stone.  A nice preheated pizza stone should provide better crust results than the aluminum pie sheet.  Also I would go to 650 or 700.  
    XL BGE; Medium BGE; L BGE 
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  • Hoov
    Hoov Posts: 264
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    I don't notice much wood flavoring from using the Egg at high temperatures. However, you get nice "oven-spring" when baking at 700 degrees.
    - Proud owner of a Large BGE
    - Norman, OK
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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
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    Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast... Get the book. Worth it.
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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