pizza problem

wattwizz · October 2010

Using BGE charcoal one inch or so above fire ring vent holes with both top and bottom vents wide open with plate setter and pizza stone raised slightly above plate setter. Let it heat up for around 30 minutes and could only get dome temp up to 400. Pizza took over 30 minutes to cook and I couldn't get the stone hot enough to crisp the bottom before the top was done. Tried cooking with the stone right on top of the plate setter before but it burns the crust. Do I need more coal? Any help would be appreciated. My wife won't let me use our oven for pizza anymore.

G

Florida Grillin Girl · October 2010

You could definitely have used more lump. If you are going for the high temperatures, fill up the fire box. Place 3 green feet, or small rolled balls of aluminum foil on top of platesetter, then place pizza stone on top of those. Legs down on platesetter. Preheat your stone.

fire egger · October 2010

I usually start pizza cooks with lump at leat halfway up the fire ring.
may also be a clogged firegrate, or ash build up behind the firebox

Bobby-Q · October 2010

Fill the lump to the top of the firebox. Put the plate setter legs up with the cooking grid on top of the legs. Place your baking stone on the cooking grid.

Doing it this way will provide enough airflow to prevent the crust burning without providing a false reading in the dome. Stabilize the temperature at about 550 degrees and you should be good to go.

Bobby-Q · October 2010

Try putting the legs up and then the grid and then the stone. It will work much better. Let the plate setter provide the air gap you are looking for.

Desert Oasis Woman · October 2010

Doing it this way will provide enough airflow to prevent the crust burning without providing a false reading in the dome.

Bobby-Q, please explain the false reading in the dome.
thanks

Bobby-Q · October 2010

When you have the legs down you are trapping the bulk of the heat higher towards the dome and there is less time for the heat to equalize. When you lower the point where the heat is trapped it will have more time to equalize before it hits the dome.

Airflow around the baking stone is as important as air flow around your food on the grid.

Give it a try.

wattwizz · October 2010

Thanks all for the help. Never thought about the plate setter with the legs up creating more air flow. Makes great sense. Like cooking in a standard oven. So much for using the suggested method from the BGE company. Hope their reading this.

G

Desert Oasis Woman · October 2010

we used to use that set up, then switched to the higher-in-the-dome method to try to get the toppings cooked quicker (don't add too many 'cause don't like soggy crust

)
may switch back to compare results -- seems like more flames licked over the pizza with the plate setter closer to the fire :S

Bobby-Q · October 2010

Going forward all of our literature and art work will reflect the more proper way to cook with the baking stone.

Bobby-Q · October 2010

With the legs up you can also use the grid extender to get even higher in the dome, not an option with the legs down.

Cagey · October 2010

As a newbie, I would like also ask a question/comment. This is about my 4th cook on the BGE. I was using a large, with a spider (in low position) with 13 inch stone and drip pan on top of that, the adjustable rig, with BGE grate on top with a 16 inch stone on the very top.

I have calibrated my BGE thermometer. I preheated the whole unit to 500 degrees. I ran it with the top cap removed, and the bottom door mostly open. The stone read slightly under that temperature. Sorry, but I do not remember it. I should have noted it in my notebook, but forgot.

I used pre-made Publix pizza dough, as the kids said they wanted pizza while at the store. The first pizza burned on the bottom before the top/middle was fully cooked. I used a good bit of corn starch to ensure I could slide the pizza off the cookie sheet I used to transport it to/from the egg. Even burned on the bottom, the taste was good. Though the kids would not eat it.

I cooked the next pizza for less time, and watched the bottom more closely to pull it before it burned. I also made sure that I stretched the dough a little thinner to ensure that it cooked faster. It turned out great. The kids really ate it up.

During this cook, I measured the outside BGE temperatures, because I was getting some rather bad smells from the egg. The outside dome was in the 440 degree range. The lip was at close to internal temperature of 500 degrees, and read in the 490 range around the egg. The lower unit by the fire ring outside came in at 430 to 420 degrees. The felt now appears burned/blackened. I do not think it will survive many more pizza cooks. I do not know how it would handle a 700 degree steak searing.

The next pizza; a white, I lowered the temperature to approximately 450. It took longer to cook, but it turned out better cooked in my opinion. My wife suggested the lower temperature to get it more inline with the inside oven she is used to.

The last pizza I cooked was a heavy pepperoni without cheese, as one of my kids will not eat cheese. Again the egg was at 450. The pizza turned out great. It took a little longer to cook, and some of the oil from the pepperoni dripped on the stone, the pizza did not survive the night.

For me, it appears a slightly lower temperature is a better way to cook pizzas. I will just have to read more here, and experiment on my own using home made pizza dough, and trying different stone placements.

Cagey

pizza problem

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