Pizza at 900 degrees??

BeecaveKitchen

So I usually do our pizza between 550-700 but want to try to make real Neopolitan style at 900. Have lovely dough fermenting for two days and would hate to ruin it if it burns. Has anyone done pizza at 900 and for how long? 60-90 seconds? Just don't want burned bottom and uncooked top! Thx!

10Driver

Get your stone high up in the dome and make the crust as thin as possible.  I don't know that I've had it quite that hot.  Partly because my BGE thermo is crap!  But it was over 750 when I put my first one in.  I find that the temp won't hold that high for too long.  By my third pie the temp is starting to come down.  Partly with all the opening and closing of the dome and also I think there's just not enough lump in the egg to burn that hot for that long. 

BeecaveKitchen

Thank you 10! We have the stone high up in the dome and must have some little chips as the temp is rising slowly even though we leaned it. May have to settle for 650 :-(

BBQMaven

Wiggle rod the grate holes and stand back!

SamFerrise

If you jack your temps to 900 often enough you will have a limited life on your Egg.  The pizza ovens designed for true Neopolitan style pizza are massive chunks of fire brick built around a form and designed to hold the high temps from hot wood fires.  I will get my Egg up to 700-750 for steaks for maybe 10 - 15 minutes and then I shut it down.  My gasket never fries, however the original one was history after my first pizza cook.  I switched to Nomex and I am on year 2 so far with it.

fishlessman

SamFerrise said:

If you jack your temps to 900 often enough you will have a limited life on your Egg.  The pizza ovens designed for true Neopolitan style pizza are massive chunks of fire brick built around a form and designed to hold the high temps from hot wood fires.  I will get my Egg up to 700-750 for steaks for maybe 10 - 15 minutes and then I shut it down.  My gasket never fries, however the original one was history after my first pizza cook.  I switched to Nomex and I am on year 2 so far with it.

the egg has a lifetime warrantee and from experience the ceramics handle 1200 degree pizza cooks just fine. the firebox and ring will crack, and you need to watch out for the bands loosening. and unlike a real italian pizza oven your up to those temps in under an hour

SamFerrise

I always use a 3 foot pipe on the end of my wrenches for that extra oomph!!  If you buy a Ferrari and drive 200 mph all the time you will have a very short life span.  Ferrari comes with a good warranty as well.

jafenske

I have measured 900ish degrees with a IR thermometer on my pizza stone. You will torch your gasket but your egg will survive. Make sure your toppings are thin or precooked and the pizza will have a nice char in about 60 seconds.

fishlessman

ferraris dont come with a lifetime replacement warrantee, and thermal expansion on the bands makes them loose no matter how tight they were put on. the egg isnt a cheap firebrick, it takes the heat, well atleast mine does


cookin pizza at 1200

kevinmac200

One of the big thrills I was looking forward to when I got my first BGE (an XL) was getting to make pizza on it. I had done a few on a friend's large BGE which we cranked to about 800 and turned out amazing. However I've had little luck in reproducing the same results. The first time I got the XL above 750, the gasket fried right out so I replaced with a Nomex. I still haven't gotten it right since. If I use a baking stone on the grill over a plate setter, I have trouble getting much above 500 - if I don't use a plate setter, I can get the temp up to 750 pretty easily but then the dough burns within a couple of minutes. I think I may have to settle for a lower temp and more experimentation as the XL seems to be quite a different tool than even the large one as the volume of air to heat is considerably larger.

Hi54putty

@fishlessman
It's not worth the effort. Save your energy for a better cause. Reason and logic do not apply.

fishlessman

Hi54putty said:

@fishlessman It's not worth the effort. Save your energy for a better cause. Reason and logic do not apply.

  everyone has their favorite pie, 1200 degrees is mine.  well actually i like them all, why deny my self a delicious.53 second pie on occasion

Hi54putty

@fishlessman, I should have been more clear, I meant the argument with @Sam wasn't worth the energy. He knows everything. I have no opinion on your pizza cook technique other than to say that I am all for Egged pizza in any fashion.

BeecaveKitchen

Bummed I missed this string as I've been busy out of town lately, but...we said screw it and threw a pie on at 850 for about 2 minutes, it came out AMAZING!! I use the dough recipe from A 16 in San Francisco and tried their pie while visiting last weekend and I think ours actually tastes better??

jbajor

Bee cave, that looks fabulous! Could you share the dough recipe? Smoke on!

Little Steven

SamFerrise said:

I always use a 3 foot pipe on the end of my wrenches for that extra oomph!!  If you buy a Ferrari and drive 200 mph all the time you will have a very short life span.  Ferrari comes with a good warranty as well.

Just three feet? I'm in the pedal to the metal club. Shop vac hose on the output and in the lower vent. Haha

SmokingOzarksBBQ

@beecavekitchen - did you pull the parchment paper during the cook or leave it on? I made pizza yesterday and started with parchment then pulled it halfway through. If I had a peel I would not have used parchment paper since I think it takes away from the crispness of the crust.

Adamd

No real reason to cook your pizza at such high temps. 

Just cook at around 500-650 and you will get a great turnout. 

JerkChicken

BeecaveKitchen said:

Bummed I missed this string as I've been busy out of town lately, but...we said screw it and threw a pie on at 850 for about 2 minutes, it came out AMAZING!! I use the dough recipe from A 16 in San Francisco and tried their pie while visiting last weekend and I think ours actually tastes better??

jbajor said:

Bee cave, that looks fabulous! Could you share the dough recipe? Smoke on!

DO TELL! [-O<

VMC

Beecavekitchen - are those bricks on top of your plate setter?

TUTTLE871

fishlessman said:

ferraris dont come with a lifetime replacement warrantee, and thermal expansion on the bands makes them loose no matter how tight they were put on. the egg isnt a cheap firebrick, it takes the heat, well atleast mine does


cookin pizza at 1200

That looks like the Night Of Fire at a Balloon Festival.

Ricklesss

fishlessman,  That's a great photo! Reeally cool!

 Whats the story behind it?  That blue....way cool!!

RIcklessssS in Oregon

SamFerrise

Check your medication.  You may need to up your dosage.

BeecaveKitchen

Sheesh, I need to check in the forum more often! I've tried several pizza dough recipes and we think the A16 is the best. Here's a link: http://www.beecavekitchen.blogspot.com/2012/05/a16-pizza-on-big-green-egg.html?m=1 We put two bricks under the pizza stone. While I loved cooking it at 900- don't want to risk breaking the egg. So 600 for about 5 mins does the trick and I pull the parchment out after about a minute.