First Time Pizza Problems/Questions

daveyray72

I ordered and received a 12.5" pizza stone to use on my Small BGE.  First try was Sunday night.  Had a great thin crust recipe that turned out great, but my problem was with getting the egg/stone hot.  I lit the egg and let it get up to about 350deg empty, then put in the platesetter with feet down/grate/stone on top of grate.  The lid temp never got over 300 degrees with the vent and daisy wheel wide open.  Let it "warm up" for almost an hour.  Should I try a smaller stone that has more clearance around the edge?  This stone plops down and only has about 1/2" clearance around the edge.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions/tips.

gerhardk

Remove the daisy wheel vent completely, I bet you will get to your desired temperature.  I, like many on this forum, bake pizza without the daisy wheel vent.

Gerhard

Randy1

I always heat up the egg without the platesetter. Heat the stone in the oven( plate setter too if you want) @ 500-550 while the Egg is heating up, this will help starting to get the stone hot. To get the stone to the point it will crisp the crust it needs to be in the egg at least 30 min at 600.  The egg gets hotter quicker without the plate setter and stone in. Once you reach  the desired temp it is easier to maintain you can put the stone in then. The oven starts the process of heating the stone the Egg finishes it.  I havent timed it but it probably takes 45 min to heat up stone to the point it will make the crust crispy. In my opinion, the egg should be@ 600 to cook pizza. I noticed the crispier crusts have been the second pizzas to come off. I hope this helps

Chubbs

I noticed the crispier crusts have been the second pizzas to come off. I hope this helps

+1. My crust usually gets crispier the more pizzas I cook.

daveyray72

Thanks for the feedback.  My second pizza last night was crispier, but it took forever to cook.  The first one was finished in the oven.  

Good tips on using the oven to heat the stone/setter.

FlyingTivo

Why not fire up the egg with the platesetter and pizza stone in place???

Then everything gets up to temp together??

Felipe

Randy1

The temp you must achieve to cook pizza is high (600).  You reach it much faster with platesetter out. With it heating in the oven it gets started heating up the stone and setter. Once the temp is reached the egg will maintain it with the setter and stone in the egg.You finish heating the stone and setter in the egg. This is just how I do it. I love to cook Pizza!  P.S. I like the idea of cooking pizza with dixie wheel completely off...it  never occurred to me.

Jesg1224

Make sure all of the holes (below the lump charcoal) are open and you have properly stacked the lump to have the larger chunks on bottom.  If the holes are clogged up with ash or small pieces of lump, you'll never get your egg up to higher temps and it will take forever to get the fire really going.  I've made a "poker" out of a wire hanger that I use to reach through the bottom vent and poke the holes in the grate to open them up.

Eggbertsdad

Thanks for the tips. I haven't had much success with pizzas, either. I think I was a little too impatient in letting the stone sit on there for at least 30 minutes to heat up.

cortguitarman

I've found that store bought dough burns very easily. Especially the type in the roll. Too bad because they are so easy to work with. The dough in the BGE cookbook works great on the egg.