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Newbie pizza questions

An Egg Downunder
An Egg Downunder Posts: 152
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I’m a newbie wanting to try pizza for the first time on my large BGE later this week. I’ve been trawling through the archives in regard to egging pizza and now I’m confused.[p]There seem to be a couple of schools of thought. One suggests it is best to take the temp right up (600+) and cook in a very short time. The other appears to advocate lower temps and a longer cooking time.[p]Some of the pics of pizzas cooked by method #1 do seem to have slightly undercooked toppings (at least, in my opinion). [p]My thought was to go for 450-500 degrees and adjust the slider/daisy wheel to keep as much heat as possible in the dome to cook the top as well as the bottom of the pizza. Is this likely to result in an edible pizza?[p]I have a 15 inch diameter ¾ inch thick ceramic disk to use as a 'stone'. I’m not sure whether to place it on top of three firebricks standing on edge on the grate (as per Mercedes-Benz star) or use 4 bricks - two lying flat on the grate and other two on edge supporting the stone. [p]No one has heard of a place setter in Australia, so that’s not an option. Any advice on how to configure the stone/bricks and controlling temps would be greatly appreciated.[p]

Comments

  • Lucky Duck
    Lucky Duck Posts: 80
    An Egg Downunder,[p]I did a Great Barrier Reef Scuba tour some years ago and had a terriffic time...down under. [p]Re: Your Q, Don't worry... No matter what config. you have, Think logically. Got heat? A place to set the pizza in the heat? Go for it! No one has your specific conditions, so what comes from them is they're experience from where they are or have been. Just do it! [p]

  • CT Grillguy
    CT Grillguy Posts: 149
    An Egg Downunder,[p]Pizza joints run their ovens at 500+. For me, it's all about the "finish" of the product. You can cook a pizza at 275, but the finish won't be what you want. 500+ will give you a nice crispness to the crust, will finish the cheese very well and will give you a bit of that pizza parlor char. Go for it.
  • FatDog
    FatDog Posts: 164
    An Egg Downunder,
    I tend to be in the camp of lower temp pizza cookers. Generally around 450 (f) will get the crust crisp enough for me while letting the toppings get done.[p]As for the brick setup, I use a secondary grate (from an old Webber that finally rusted out) on top of three fire bricks set on edge. That is topped with a 15" ceramic pizza stone.[p]Good luck ... let us know how the pizza turns out!

  • SSN686
    SSN686 Posts: 3,500
    Morning An Egg Downunder:[p]I tend to cook pizza in the 450 to 500 range. I just did seven on Monday evening and all of those came out just fine (except for the one, #6 I think, that got just a little overdone on the bottom, but disappeared just as fast as all the others).[p]As for the fire brick setup, I would lean to the three in a "star" pattern with the stone on top.[p]Have a GREAT day!
    Jay

    Have a GREAT day!

       Jay

    Brandon, FL


     

  • icemncmth
    icemncmth Posts: 1,165
    An Egg Downunder,[p]I did 40 pizzas on Sat night...all were great..[p]One thing you will have to look at is what you are starting with...[p]If you are starting with a pizza crust that is half cooked..like the one's you get in the store ..then I would go with 400 deg...[p]If you are working with fresh dough..then 500+ will do..[p]The reason is water...fresh do has more water in it and you will need the higher temps to bake the dough. [p]If you want a crunchy botton crust and you are using fresh dough then 550 deg works great...[p]My set up is plate setter and a pampered chef pizza stone..and I have had it to well over 600 deg without any problems..But it has been used for years. [p]If you really want to get the "wow" factor in on your pizzas then get some munster cheese and use it along with mozzarella. [p]Most brick oven pizzas are baked at 800+ temps...[p]But the best advice I can give for a trying a new pizza is just have fun with it..[p]If you want to try something good get the pillsbury pizza dough..it is in the same place as the pillsbury rolls in the refridge section..[p]That way you can see how fresh dough works out..[p]If you need a great dough recipe let me know..
  • An Egg Downunder,[p]A couple of more thoughts...[p]I don't close the daisy wheel all of the way (closed top, but wide open petals) as this, IMHO, would actually limit heat flow to the top of the pizza and inhibit browning of the cheese. Just my experience, I certainly haven't done any computer modeling, nor have I cooked 40 pizzas in a weekend.[p]A tip I got from the forum at some point (maybe it was the Whiz's site?) was to wipe down the stone with a damp cloth immediately before placing the dough. This cools down the stone enough to allow for good top browning/melting without overdoing the bottom. I shoot for a dome temp of around 600, and this setup has worked for me.[p]-Jeff
  • An Egg Downunder, I read on the Naked Whiz's site (and I hope I am remembering correctly) that some dough, such as the premade doughs you by in stores have a cetain type yeast in them that rise at low temps like 400 or 450 degrees. If you bake them at hi temps it probably would not work well. Aside from that, it appears that most people prefer baking their pizza at temps over 500. Hope that helps.
  • Thanks everyone for your input. I'll try to take a pic of the end result and post it here.

  • icemncmth
    icemncmth Posts: 1,165
    Carolina Caniac,[p]The water trick..is kind of like what I was tlaking about when it came to fresh dough......[p]I have seen guys/gals do pizzas with the half cooked store bought but they would put spacers between the pizza stone and the plate setter..