my first eggin' disaster

Electric Don · November 2007

But it wasn't the BGE's fault. After six months of egging, I finally worked up the nerve to fix a pizza, and used Trader Joe's pizza dough. I carefully floured a granite countertop, rolled out the dough to the 12" size, and let it sit for maybe a half hour while the grill heated to the desired 550 degrees. When I tried to lift the uncooked pizza off the countertop with an aluminum pizza peel, the dough basically stuck to the countertop, and scrunched up badly. I went ahead an put the mess onto the grill, altered the cooking time to account for what now was a pretty thick piece of pizza dough, and cooked about 11 minutes. The result, I must say, was pretty bad. Where there was topping and properly cooked dough, it was delicious - so I think I see why everyone raves about pizza on the egg. [p]Undaunted, I'm going to try again Wednesday night, with another package of dough from TJ's. But any hints will be appreciated. Wednesday will make the second time in my life that I will have handled raw dough, so I'm sort of new at this aspect of egging. [p]Don B.

mad max beyond eggdome · November 2007

electric don,
very simply, you left the dough laying there long enough that it absorbed the flour on the countertop and then adheered itself tightly. .. next time, move it to the "peel" sooner, and use corn flour...should help prevent the sticking issue[p]and remember .. ."if it was all great, it would all be average" :-)

fishlessman · November 2007

electric don,
the longer it sits the more it sticks. when i get it stetched out i give it 3 or 4 min, then onto a lightly floured peel, then the toppings and onto the egg. the assembly process from putting it on the peel, to adding toppings, to getting it on the egg is maybe 2-3 min and i shake the peel a couple times during the assembly to assure no stick. im looking for super thin and the little sauce i put on will leach thru if i take any longer.

egret · November 2007

electric don,
You're not the first one that's happened to! I put a piece of parchment paper under mine while building, then pick it up with the peel and slide it onto the pizza stone (parchment paper and all). Easy-peasy...and the parchment paper stays under it during baking.

SuperDave · November 2007

mad max beyond eggdome,[p] He might have good luck till he gets the hang of it using parchment paper under the dough, then just move the whole thing to the egg on the paper and peel.
It's a great confidence builder. I make my own dough, and it's challenging getting the hydration level of the dough right. It's pretty much a hit and miss deal, but I much prefer my homemade dough to any store bought I've used.
Just FYI...[p]

The Naked Whiz · November 2007

electric don,
If you need to leave the dough sitting for any length of time, try putting it on a piece of parchment paper. Even if you leave the dough on a wooden peel that's been dusted with cornmeal, it will stick after some time. I recently grilled four pizzas and just stacked the pieces of rolled out dough with parchment. No problem. Good luck![p]TNW

Electric Don · November 2007

The Naked Whiz,[p]So the parchment can just go on the grill and won't be burned by the high heat? Or am I missing the obvious. [p]Thanks,[p]Don

Unknown · November 2007

electric don,
I'd give some store bought pizza crust a try. We sometimes make our own dough, but it really seems to increase the time and effort (especially clean up) for us. A store bought crust is super fast and easy and the issues with sticking pretty much disappear. I agree home made is preferable, but not at the expense of not having a pizza done on the egg.

The Naked Whiz · November 2007

electric don,
If you are cooking on a stone, yes the parchment can go on the stone. I was grilling them, so I removed the parchment and just slapped the dough onto the grid.[p]TNW

Cobbegger · November 2007

electric don,
Don, after several less then perfect pizza cooks, I've finally got it down. The secret that I've found is a pizza screen. I've got a couple of 13" screens that I bought online for a few dollars a piece. Roll your dough to your desired thickness, lay it on the screen and cut the excess off. You can now let it set there as long as you like with no worrys. Another secret that I've found is, is to use the place setter (legs down) ALONG with the pizza stone (preheated) to 550-600 degrees. This makes the pizza easy to get the in and out with the peel without half of the toppings slipping off. You can check it out thru the top of the egg without opening it up. It took alot of trial and error, but I'm very happy with this method. Hope this helps. Todd

Pdub · November 2007

egret,
After a few minutes you can remove the parchment paper if you want to get some direct stone to pizza action. My first time sounds about the same. Although my wife worked wonders saved the disaster by some how creating a calzone out of the mess. It was really yummy, i don't eat wheat so it is always a treat to get pizza....

Pace Yourself · November 2007

Hey Don,[p]For what it is worth, I get three pizzas from one pound of TJ's dough. I let it sit out in the bag for about 30 minutes then divide it up into three equal parts and work each into a small ball. All the while I have been using liberal amounts of corn meal on the counter, peel and dough. (If you don't like corn meal I believe flour works as well but you probably need to use more than you think.)[p]I let these three balls set while I get a fire going.... I then work each one out individually on the peel untill they are real thin and about 9-10 inches in diameter. )This will take a while and a little practice but I have found a consistency that we love - super thin with a good crunch and flavor.)[p]Next I use a fork and poke holes all over the dough, then a little olive oil, next is sauce (only about two tablespoons), then herbs, toppings and cheese (usually parmesan followed by mozzarella).[p]Once the fire hits at least 500 I start cooking them. They usually take about 5 minutes. (Last night I did some in the cold here in the Chicago area and I couldn't get my temp up as high as I liked but I did them anyway between 400-450 and they were the best crusts yet so for me it seems like I am all good as long as I get the crust real thin. Here are a few pictures of my set up on the small and some pizza.[p]Good luck and stick with it - pizza is one of our favorites on the Egg![p]Cheers[p]

[p]

mattyg · November 2007

electric don,[p]I am a big fan of the TJ's dough for convenience sake. One thing I've learned is that the dough needs to come up to room temperature before you make a pizza out of it. Take the dough out of the wrapper and knead it with a little flour a few hours before you're going to use it. Then, when it's warmed up the dough is much more pliable and bakes better too. I second (or third) the use of parchment paper. Much easier to slide, without the grittiness of cornmeal.[p]Don't let the egg get too hot if your using parchment paper though - I've had it combust within a minute when the temps were a little too hot (~700-800).

Jeeves · November 2007

electric don,[p]I've seen screens used - if you prefer direct, I would try adding a little corn meal.[p]If you have problems removing the dough from your surface, try the AB method - use a little 'regular' dental floss string, or fishing twine, and just like slicking cheese, separate dough from surface... flour top and flip or do whatever... Point is that the dough should come cleanly from your surface for the next step.[p]-Jeeves

GirlyEgg · November 2007

electric don,
I, too, use parchment under my dough. I also wonder if it was partially the dough. I used TJ's twice with not so good results. I've since been successful with Avondale Pizza dough and homemade dough - which is fairly easy to make.... Good Luck!

Jeff · November 2007

electric don,[p]Super Peel[p]Click the "home movies" link to the left.[p]Jeff
[ul][li]http://www.superpeel.com [/ul]

BBQMaven · November 2007

electric don,[p]Like you, my first few pizza attempts were "messy" - trying too hard... [p]My first "over the top" pizza crust was with a Kroger Brand packet of Pizza dough. It is in a packet that you mix 1/2 cup of warm water with. Let it sit for 5 minutes (in a warm spot) and then form your pizza crust. No brainer crust that is great![p][p]

my first eggin' disaster

Comments

Categories