Going to make my 1st Pizza soon - lots of questions coming

Wood. Yes. 3 inches above felt line to cook/melt the toppings. 10, 12, 8.78 inch oblong/squarish pie shape is required for this forum. Others need not apply.

I use a metal peel, a XL BGE stone, raised off the XL (legs down) platesetter using 3/4 inch copper tees.  Key for me is using parchment to transfer the pie to the stone.  I pull the parchment after 3 or 4 minutes of cooking.  Be sure to allow the stone to get to temp.  I bought a infrared surface thermometer and that helps know when I'm ready. Good luck! 

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1186974/which-raised-rig-is-the-best-way-to-go/p1

Good of inexpensive solns in that thread as well.  Also that AR thing will come up again. Lol.  You're pretty serious about this stuff so never say never about the CGS stuff.  No need to leap too soon though.  There appear to be many inexpensive solns to get you up higher as well.  

Btw, What did u decide on with regard to your temp control for the low/slows. Just curious. Answer in a message if u prefer so I don't derail your thread.  

I have both a wooden and a metal peel.   If you only want to get one, start with a wooden.   Better to prep the pizza on as the dough is less likely to stick to it (condensation of cool dough on metal).   However, I sometimes get break-throughs on my crust...went that happens the pizza may be glued to your stone in one or more places by cheese that leaks through and burns.   A metal peel is like a giant spatula and makes quick work of getting your delicate pie off that 600+ degree stone.

Standard weber grate 18.00 walmart
4 u bolts stainless 2 nuts 2 washers each leg

If the stone you have is not at least 1/2" or more thick it will likely be in pieces after the first or second cook. My wife's Pampered Chef bit the big one on the second try. The BGE one has held up well as I am sure CGS will also. If the AR is not a viable choice, I would consider several fire bricks laid flat (not on edge) to elevate the stone. These will also add thermal mass if you are cooking more than 1 pizza. I recall someone putting enough fire bricks down to fully cover the bottom of the stone. Plan on preheating the stone and bricks for an hour before your cook to allow for proper temperature stabilization it will reward you with a nicely baked pie.

A cheap stone will break in a hundred pieces.  I started with a Pampered Chef stone, and it lasted 1 cook. I use the BGE branded stone, and it has worked fine ever since.

Temper expectations for the first pizza. I think most would agree if takes a few attempts to get it where you like them - well cooked and good presentation - and they're predictable (to show off) - frozen out of the grocer's freezer not included assuming you don't burn them, 

I go raised indirect with a BGE stone at 450-500 for 8-10 minutes. I buy dough from a local mom and pop, sauce, cheese and pepperoni from a small Italian market.

the bag of cheese usually has cornstarch added to prevent sticking, it also prevents melting, you can buy deli mozz and shredd your own. usually brown raw meat unless its smaller pieces. italian deli pepperoni with the white mold gives a nice cup that browns on the edges unlike presliced. i find the pizza sauce near the paste and canned tomatoes, not near the spagetti sauce section, just chopped up whole or stewed tomatoes work well as a sauce

Tier1Terrier said:

NEW QUESTION!

I'll be making my first pizza with pre-made dough from Publix.  What do I need to be prepared to do?  How much prep time is needed prior to loading with toppings and throwing into egg?

Also... When I'm rolling out the dough into the shape of a pie, do I use flour or cornmeal on my prep surface?  I always thought it would be flour but it seems I keep hearing/reading to use cornmeal.  Same on pizza stone, right?

Any other tips on prepping the pizza, egg, or stone before putting it in the egg?

YAMV (Your Answers May Vary) but here is what I do...

Light your egg and do what is needed to get it stabilized to temp fully loaded with plate setter, pizza stone, whatever.   While that is happening you can do everything else.  I'm sure some people start this process days earlier.  You don't have to.

I use store bought dough also (the higher end of the two choices Harris Teeter carries, it's one made with 00 flour).  I treat my prep surface with flour and will occasional add flour to the outside of the dough if it is sticky.  All purpose flour.  Let the dough rest between working with it.   It rests a bit, and it will then become easier to stretch.

You don't put flour or cornmeal on your stone. It'll turn black immediately at these temps and does you no good.  What you see is that many people, me included, put corn meal on their wooden pizza peel where the pizza will be prepped.  (some use parchment, others use a fancy conveyor belt peel, etc.)

The corn meal acts like little ball bearings that make it easier to slide your pizza off the peel and onto the stone with a little shake.  It works well as long as you don't have this prepped pizza sitting on the peel for too long. If you leave it setup too long, some condensation will form between the pizza and the peel and it'll stick.  That's because you just added a lot of cold ingredients to your dough.  The more things at room temp the better, but don't stress about it. 

It's not hard, just don't have multiple pizzas queued up and waiting.  I make a pie right before I put it on the egg or while the prior pizza is cooking.  (Parchment guys do it different.) Important thing is to not ignore the cooking pizza as it'll cook much faster than you think.

Have all your toppings sliced ahead of time.  As others have said, thin sliced items are better.  If I use raw meat (I like shrimp) I slice it thin so that there are no worries about it cooking.  A halved shrimp for instance (so it's half the thickness) will cook just fine.   A full mushroom will not cook, you have to slice those.

Don't use too much sauce.  That is a common mistake.  One ladel full of sauce is enough to spread around to an entire large pizza. Personal size pizzas use much less.  You're not painting the sauce on...every piece of dough need not be covered with sauce.  That'll make for a sloppy wet heavy pizza.  You can do that if you make a pan pizza, though.  That's another topic...

Half of you reading this disagree with everything I said.    I'm okay with that.   Because I really like my egg'd pizzas! 


hand tossed deliciousness


all good on these crispy bubbles!  pizza was great.  bubbles relax as soon as you take it off the grill but make for nice pizza parlor texture.

Tier1Terrier said:

NEW QUESTION!

I'll be making my first pizza with pre-made dough from Publix.  What do I need to be prepared to do?  How much prep time is needed prior to loading with toppings and throwing into egg?

Also... When I'm rolling out the dough into the shape of a pie, do I use flour or cornmeal on my prep surface?  I always thought it would be flour but it seems I keep hearing/reading to use cornmeal.  Same on pizza stone, right?

Any other tips on prepping the pizza, egg, or stone before putting it in the egg?

First, do not roll out the dough. Stretch it out. Rolling it will drive out the air bubbles that are in the dough. Its the expansion of the air bubbles during cooking that give the dough its lift.  Make sure you bring the dough up to room temp before trying to stretch it (about 2 hours). 

When stretching the dough, use a floured surface.  The corn meal / semolina / flour / parchment use is for providing a slick surface between the raw dough and the peel. Raw dough directly on a peel will not slide off onto the cooking surface.  Do not put any of these on the pizza stone.  Once the pizza dough cooks a bit, it will set and release from the pizza stone (it will however stick when first put on the stone - so make sure your placement is accurate, because you cannot move it until it sets).   Corn meal is used a lot - it works well for allowing the dough to slide and is a common pantry item.  Semolina works just as well and matches the flavor profile of the pizza dough better than corn meal, but it is not a common pantry item so many people are not familiar with it.  Parchment is great if you are prepping multiple pizzas (allows you to move them around on the kitchen counter as you want). It slides off the peel nicely. You do need to remove it part way through the cook.  Flour is the best in matching the taste and texture of the dough. You do need to work quickly because it will adsorb moisture from the dough and stick to the peel.

Another tip on prepping the egg is to make sure the ceramics have been thoroughly heated before cooking (at least 45 minutes). 

Looks excellent!