Pizza crust burned

Meinbmw · February 2006

First pizza attempt ... flopped ... need advice.
Bought a thin crust pizza shell from a local take 'n bake joint. Took home and loaded it up with various goodies.[p]Platesetter inverted - then grid - then pizza on top of mesh pizza screen. Cooking at 500 degrees. All appeared to be going well as I was periodically watching the under crust. Checked again a few moments later and it was BLACK ... bigtime BLACK.[p]Did I not have enough buffer from the heat? Perhaps I should have done platesetter inverted/grid/pizza stone/pizza and forget about the mesh screen?[p]Advise would be appreciated.

The Naked Whiz · February 2006

meinbmw,
I think most folks put the plate setter in legs down, put a pizza stone on top of that, and then either put the pie on the stone or on a screen on the stone. Here's a link to my pizza hints and tips page.[p]TNW
[ul][li]Pizza Hints and Tips[/ul]

Trouble · February 2006

meinbmw,
That's pretty disappointing. As TNW said, I've always done (all ten of) my pizzas with the plate setter legs down. With and without the pizza stone. That is, I do Boboli right on aluminum foil on the plate setter. I received a pizza stone for Christmas and I set that on top of grid which is on top of plate setter. It's hard to see what the difference would be between legs down or inverted--thicker ceramic mass? Anyway, try again. It's really good when you get there.[p]Was the pizza crust pre cooked? You might want to do that higher and hotter and maybe don't let the stone preheat quite as much. Just guessing, but there may be a really small window with a crust that doesn't have to bake but only has to get hot.[p]Good luck.[p]J

tach18k · February 2006

meinbmw, The bottom of the pizza needs to cook on a solid surface, thus the plater setter being legs down, then your screen, with your screen just subspended the flow of heat acted more like a toaster than an pizza oven

Spin · February 2006

meinbmw,[p]Use the plate setter, legs down, with a pizza stone directly on the plate setter. Cook the pie on the pizza stone when all of the pieces are very well heated. The plate setter helps insulate the pizza stone from the excess heat of the fire.[p]Did you have way too many toppings? Too many toppings take longer to cook and often result in the bottom burning.[p]A pizza cook is a two step cook both done at the same time. The bottom must cook from the heat of the stone and the top must cook from the heat in the upper part of the egg. If the bottom finishes before the top, the top is too cool and the cooking temp needs to be risen and the cooking time reduced. A cook of 550F for six minutes shpuld bring you close. You need to cook strickly by time as you cannot see the bottom (peeking vents the top heat) of the pie.[p]I have cooked pizzas as high as 900F, a 2 minute cook. Don't recommend that, although it was very good. Have cooked 26 of them in a row at eggfest.[p]Congrats on your first attempt. Cooking pizza requires a different idea of how to use your egg. You are very close so don't give up. Once you get it, it is easy to repeat it again and again. It is also very much worth it.[p]Spin

RhumAndJerk · February 2006

Spin,
Well Hello Stranger!!!
I can taste the Clams Casino now.
How are things going… Any chance that you make any of the upcoming Eggfests?
RhumAndJerk

rondo · February 2006

I have been experimenting with pizza on an XL using a plate setter and pizza stone. My experience so far has been, that when I approach 500F there are flames that flow around the plate setter and start to burn the gasket (I am using the BGE gasket). I am curious as to how you reach 550, let alone 900, without scorching the gaskets.
Thanks

Meinbmw · February 2006

Spin,
Thank you (and the others who commented) ... making some sense to me now.[p]Gonna give it another go soon ...[p]Curt Hills

Spin · February 2006

RhumAndJerk,[p]
Hi! We are definitely looking at making Waldorf. Still getting better a little each day and very thankful for it. Hope you and yours are doing well.[p]Spin

Spin · February 2006

meinbmw,[p]Just remember that it is two cooks. The dough has moisture in it that prevents burning. That means there is so much time before burning. Higher cooking temps increase the cooking of the top of the pie directly whle the bottom of the pie cooks relatively the same because the moisture tends to be contained under the pie.[p]Spin

Roadkill · February 2006

meinbmw, for those who don't have a placesetter,I found I can use 3 half-firebricks on the grid set upright in a "Y" formation and place the pizza stone on top. Time and temps are the same as in the other posts.

Smokin Bob · February 2006

meinbmw,[p]My particular method (one of many) is:[p]Platesetter (feet down), pizza stone on top, preheat egg to 550 for a constant 15-20 minutes, place pizza on stone, drop temp. down to 425-450 and wait 12-14 minutes. DONE![p]Good Luck! You'll get it![p]B o B

Wise One · February 2006

RhumAndJerk, I'm sorry but I'm having trouble tasting those Clams Casino. Every time Spin took a tray out they were gone in 15 seconds. I don't know if they were good or not but they sure were popular. Hopefully Spin can bring a few more to Waldorf. [p]And Spin, glad to hear you're up to possibly attending a few fests soon. It'll be good to see you again with or without the Clams Casino.

Wise One · February 2006

SmokinBoB, I pretty much follow your method. I have had only one crust to burn. I think I just left it on too long. (it was the last in a series of pizzas and I think the stone had heated up completely while the dome temperature was down a bit).

Spin · February 2006

Wise One,[p]For you I will do clams casino this year at Waldorf. I'm sorry you missed them and I will make sure a few have your name on them.[p]Spin

RhumAndJerk · February 2006

meinbmw,
One word … Cornmeal.
It just dawned on me what the issue was, since you did not use a screen and I am not sawing that you should you should have sprinkled some cornmeal on to the pizza stone before placing the pizza on. As the crust bakes, the dough will rise off of the cornmeal allowing just enough airflow under the pizza to prevent burning and allow for a crisp crust and moist interior.[p]Also, cornmeal functions to help the pizza slide off of a pizza peel.[p]Also, Spin always suggested a double layer of ceramic or a total of one inch of ceramic mass. This should also allow for proper cooking of the crust without burning. For those of you who do not know, Spin is one of the original contributors to this forum and has long been considered our resident Pizza Expert. I am glad to see him post.[p]Hope this helps,
RhumAndJerk[p]
[ul][li]New York Style Pizza[/ul]

Unknown · February 2006

meinbmw,[p]I'll throw in a vote in for Naked Whiz's tips. My very first pizza I followed his directions to the letter, including the damp rag part, made my own dough and sauce and it was incredible.[p]Thanks to the Whiz for the help.
C

Unknown · February 2006

meinbmw,[p]I usually put the pizza stone right on the grill and I cook it at around 350 dome temp for around 30 minutes.[p]I'm not sure what difference it makes to put the stone on a plate setter and cook at 500. Comments would be appreciated.[p]thks

Pizza crust burned

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