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Pizza help

Aron
Aron Posts: 170
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I made some pizzas last week that were the best I've ever done, and were very close to what I'd consider perfection. My only problem was that the bottom of the crust was a little too charred for my taste. I live in NY now and have come to love some char at the coal-fired pizzerias in NYC, but this was too much.

I lit the Egg and allowed it to preheat with plate setter (legs down) and pizza stone in place. I got the temp to just shy of 700 and let it sit there for about 10 minutes before putting the first pizza on (we did 4 personal sized pizzas). We cooked the pizzas one after another and each took about 2-3 minutes to cook (Neopolitan style--my favorite). The crust was perfect texture, and the outside of the crust and cheese both had nice blisters, but the bottom was completely blackened.

I seem to remember reading (can't remember if it was here though) about someone wiping the stone with a damp cloth just before putting the pizza on to prevent this problem. Before I try this, I wanted some feedback of whether this is a good idea, since I wouldn't want to crack my stone by changing the temp too quickly with water on a 700 degree stone.

Comments

  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
    Try cooking your pizza at 500. -RP
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Aron,

    700* is pretty warm. I used to try and do them that hot but ended up with the same problem you are having. Try lowering the temp a little at a time and see if you get the results you want.

    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • emilluca
    emilluca Posts: 673
    Is there sugar in you dough? That will burn quickly...
  • Aron
    Aron Posts: 170
    I'll check with my wife since she made the dough, but I'm pretty sure there's no sugar in it. There may be olive oil which perhaps could contribute.
  • 2bossy!
    2bossy! Posts: 48
    I recommend lowering the temperature and make sure that you have some airflow between the plate setter and pizza stone, ceramic to ceramic gets too hot.
  • Aron
    Aron Posts: 170
    What do you use as a spacer for airflow? I suppose I can put the regular grate in between. Or I can try flipping the plate setter to legs up if it'll still hold the stone in a stable manner since that'd allow a lot more airflow between setter and stone.
  • Aron
    Aron Posts: 170
    I'll try lower like you and AZRP said. In the past when I tried 500, the crust was more bread-like, although it may also be because we used to have too much flour:water and have since corrected our dough recipe.
  • bobSTL
    bobSTL Posts: 105
    If you still have those three little green feet that came with your Egg. That is what I use to give me some air flow between the plate setter and the stone, but if your Egg is sitting on those little green feet...... :(
    Bob
  • 2bossy!
    2bossy! Posts: 48
    You could use the egg feet if your egg is in a table or I had a pizza stone with carrying handles that we currently use.
  • Aron
    Aron Posts: 170
    Egg's in the nest so I can use the green feet--thanks!
  • civil eggineer
    civil eggineer Posts: 1,547
    I cook mine at 400 dome temp for 1/2 hour. I also load them up with toppings. The lower temps and longer cook times allows everything to get done to perfection at the same time.
  • 70chevelle
    70chevelle Posts: 280
    Aron - double check your wifes recipe. At those temps you want a simple dough of flour, yeast, salt & water. 700* is high, but Neopolitan pizza is cooked about 200* higher (900*). Prior to building my wood fired oven, I baked a few pizza's on the egg with good success. I normally got the egg 650* +-, platesetter, feet up, with the grate on top and then the pizza stone. I'm pretty sure I turned the pizza 180* after a minute or two since it gets a little hotter at the rear. If you have an IR therm, shoot the pizza stone to see what reading you get. You may have to go by stone temp instead of Dome temp. Good Luck and report back!
  • Pancakes
    Pancakes Posts: 45
    Aron,

    I get the same issue when it comes to pizza Friday. This past one was attempt #2, had the setup as dome temp at 550, platesetter legs down, ceramic feet and then the stone. Once it was stabilized we tossed on the first pie, dough from the pizza shop next to the house, and it came out pretty good. A little too much dough for me but a good balance between crispy and bread like.

    Put on the 2nd pie, temp had dropped to 515 so I tried to bump it up a little. This pie went at a lower temp and for less time and was really overdone on the bottom. Very well done and super stiff crust. Same thing happened on my first attempt. The first pizza was good, the third crust cooked way to fast. I am going to try the damp rag thing next friday on pizza number two. I will post to let you know how it turns out.

    Better luck to our pie cooking abilities in the future.
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,668
    this works, doesnt really matter which dough, i just use the cheap supermarket stuff which probably has few ingrediants. trick is to get the stone as high as possible and to put alot of heat mass underneath it, more than just a plate setter. the round head i have actually sends a fireball swirling abouve the pizza in the upper dome, its as hot as you can get and the stone is actually cooler than the fire which sits above it.
    http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&Itemid=55&func=view&catid=1&id=411252
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Aron
    Aron Posts: 170
    Those are some inspiring pictures--your pizza is exactly what I'm trying to create. Thanks for the tips.
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,668
    should also mention you need to rotate the pizza 180 during the cook, i dont time the pizzas i go by looks watching thru the open top vent.when i see the back edge start to char its time to spin. if you still have problems a damp, not wet rag helps but at these temps there is a chance the steam will burn you. be really careful with that dome falling out at these temps as mentioned, the band can get really loose after a couple of pies.
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Aron
    Aron Posts: 170
    I have an older egg with the autolock (not spring assist) band. I assume the problem is still the same since heat is going to expand metal on either band, but on one of your old posts you mentioned that older bands have a dome pin that helps some. Just wondering if I'm in better shape with my older band. I'll look into a dome clip as well to be safer.
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,668
    the pin will help, but avoid the tendency to catch the dome if it does fall out. it gets really loose over 900 degrees. wear heavey gloves, long sleeve shirt etc. you need to move fairly fast, no time for burping the egg etc.
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • PhilsGrill
    PhilsGrill Posts: 2,256
    450-500 like everyone says.