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3 Labor Day cooks... Wings, Pizza, Salmon (PICs)

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KiterTodd
KiterTodd Posts: 2,466
in EggHead Forum
I didn't have time for any long primal cooks this holiday weekend, but I did get to fire up the egg a few times...

FIRST up was Friday evening to kick off the weekend, the kids and SWMBO wanted burgers but I wanted to play with flavors so I threw some wings on at the same time.  Just rubbed them in EVOO, rosemary, S&P (and a little Mediterranean rub).  Came out awesome other than that I overcooked the small ones.

I tossed half of them in a new type of wing sauce I made up.  Just wanted to freshen things up a bit and try something other than my standard buffalo.  I mixed fresh squeeze lime juice, green jalapeno salsa and chopped cilantro together.  Tossed that with the wings after they were cooked.  Excellent!  The sauce put a flavorful bite in the wing but didn't overpower the grilled flavor.

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NEXT up PIZZA! 
I have come to accept that I have great beginner's luck on the BGE, but then spend several cooks trying to repeat the results I got the first time around. Does this happen to anyone else?
 I nailed my first pizza cook and have been struggling to get back.  This is probably my 4th or 5th cook of pizza.  I had the egg up to 650-700, stone at the felt line.  Burnt the bottom of the first one.  Second one came out fine. And the 3rd was mostly good.  Still, I think I determined that temp is too high for however I have things setup and I'd do better in the 550-600 range.  The tops of the pizza were perfect.

I tried the parchment paper this time for the kids pizzas.  It did work to let them make pizzas and easily transfer.  But at 700 degrees that paper is black in a minute and you can just barely slide it out without it crumbling.   I think I'll let it go no longer than 30 seconds in the future which should be enough to yank it.  Two out of 3 pies were edible.   I think I know what to do now...

1st pizza.  Kid pizza.  Flavor was great.  Bottom was black.
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2nd kid pizza.  Great top and bottom!
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#3rd Za!  Pretty darn good, bottom was a little burnt, but not awful.
Pizza is red pepper, shrimp, basil and black pepper.  Yummy!

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FINALLY some SALMON! 
Grilled up some fresh wild salmon tonight on my new CI grid.  It was awesome.   I used OO lump and put a couple Hickory blocks in.  I knew the salmon would only cook 10 minutes or less so I wanted a strong smoke that could put some flavor on in a short time.  Fish was awesome...moist, juicy with just enough of a smokey flavor that knew it was cooked on the egg.  I'd make this again in a heart beat!

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Grilled salmon with some hatch chili green salsa which kicked butt.  And some canned veggies as we didn't have any fresh.  Did the trick for me! 
LBGE/Maryland
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  • GalanteNate_OneEa
    GalanteNate_OneEa Posts: 967
    edited September 2014
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    Nicely done! Now I want pizza lol
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  • Grillnugget
    Grillnugget Posts: 71
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    It all looks super tasty, is your pizza dough homemade?
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  • SGH
    SGH Posts: 28,791
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    Wings, pizza and salmon. Three of my favorites! Excellent cook. Those pizzas are calling to me!

    Location- Just "this side" of Biloxi, Ms.

    Status- Standing by.

    The greatest barrier against all wisdom, the stronghold against knowledge itself, is the single thought, in ones mind, that they already have it all figured out. 

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  • KiterTodd
    KiterTodd Posts: 2,466
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    Grillnugget  - nope, store bought.  Harris Teeter has two doughs in their deli case.  One is generic and the other is a brand name and is 50 cents more a bag.  They're both good but the brand name one is more elastic and chewy.  I like it.  Don't know the brand.

    Worth pointing out is the GREEN CHILI sauce on the fish which was great!  It's the one I reference in this thread.  When I opened the jar to first try it I found it kind of bland and uninteresting...it was room temperature, but something happened when I refrigerated it because the flavor pops now and it has a nice crisp heat to it.  It may be my new secret sauce...
    LBGE/Maryland
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  • Griffin
    Griffin Posts: 8,200
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    Some good looking meals for sure. I like the sound of that wing sauce for sure.

    I'd like to offer some advice if I may. When using a store bought pizza dough, its best to follow their instructions on cooking temp. Not all pizza dough is the same. Some have more sugar, some have less and that should be taken into account. Seems like a popular notion around here that pizzas on the Egg should be cooked at 550F +. That's great and all if you are using the correct dough for that temp, not so much if it isn't. I "cheated " last night and used store bought dough. Cooked it at 425F (or was it 450?) just like the instructions said and it came out great. Next time, go with what the dough instructions say and see what happens. Might take longer per pie, but it will be worth it.

    And let your pizza stone pre-warm for at least 30 minutes.

    Rowlett, Texas

    Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook

    The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings

     

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  • blind99
    blind99 Posts: 4,971
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    Everything looks great. I wouldn't call that a pizza fail! FWIW SWMBO insists I cook them at 600-650. Thin crust and light on the toppings is key. Heavier toppings need a thicker base and a lower, slower cook. I have yet to do wings. I really liked them on my weber kettle, it was easier to have 2 zones of cooking.
    Chicago, IL - Large and Small BGE - Weber Gasser and Kettle
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  • apfroggy0408
    apfroggy0408 Posts: 99
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    If you got any hatch green chile's left over throw them on a pepperoni pizza, that was one of my favorite combo's at the local pizza joint back in New Mexico.

    Another great was a white pizza with pepperoni and green chile.
    A zen powerlifter with a medium BGE.

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  • jcaspary
    jcaspary Posts: 1,479
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    Great weekend of food, looks fantastic.
    XL BGE, LG BGE, and a hunger to grill everything in sight!!!
    Joe- Strongsville, OH
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  • KiterTodd
    KiterTodd Posts: 2,466
    edited September 2014
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    apfroggy0408 now you've done it.  Pizza this week and one of them is going to have a hatch green chili sauce.  I'll have to start making smaller pies so I can eat a bunch of different varieties.


    Griffin, thanks.  I didn't even think about different doughs needing different temps.  It would make sense that any store bought dough is going to be "designed" to work with household oven temps which usually top out around 475 or so.  I think that'd work well for me as the top would brown a little more with the reflected heat off the top.

    I did let this one pre-warm 30 minutes...to a fault.  I think the reason my 650 cook worked last time is because I hadn't let it warm up.  :)  So the air was probably at temp and the stone was lower and everything evenened out by luck.  I'll do the next one at lower temp.  Maybe sooner rather than later...
    LBGE/Maryland
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  • KiterTodd
    KiterTodd Posts: 2,466
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    By the way, regarding shrimp on pizza, I filet it in half to make a thinner piece, toss it in some EVOO and seasoning, and it cooks perfectly!  Give it a try.
    LBGE/Maryland
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  • KiterTodd
    KiterTodd Posts: 2,466
    edited September 2014
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    Update on this -

    Made 'za again and I think for me a dome temp of 500 to 550 is the sweet spot.  I had RO lump on there and was actually having trouble getting it up to 550 for some reason, but, I believe the grate temp was much hotter than the dome temp was showing (Based on how clean and white the lower egg was after cooking two pizzas!)

    Anyway, I cook at the gasket level and this temp was perfect for a crisp crust and perfectly cooked ingredients.  The cook at the beginning of this thread was a little hot and I had to watch the pizzas and rotate them.  Not so here.  2 perfect pizzas in about 5 minutes each and my new favorite pumpkin ale!

    Kids pizza - (half meatball)
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    Adult pizza - (meatball and lots of crushed red pepper)
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    LBGE/Maryland
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  • blind99
    blind99 Posts: 4,971
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    Looks perfect. I'm going to try the lower temp next time. I'm still cooking at 650+ and the pizzas turn out well but I almost melted the gasket off the other day.
    Chicago, IL - Large and Small BGE - Weber Gasser and Kettle
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