Pizza bottom burned

boboegg

Friday night I did a pizza, but on my Large BGE. I had a raised rack, direct, with a pizza stone. I got the egg up to 600, and preheated the stone. I cooked it for 8.6 to 9 minutes. The outside crust was browning, but not burned. I used parchment paper to move the pizza from the kitchen to the egg, using a wooden pizza peel. I made my own dough. The pizza looked GREAT on the top, but the bottom was black. Was the egg too hot, the stone too hot, something about my dough, or the fact that I used parchment paper?

Little Steven

Did you have spacers between the platesetter and pizza stone?

boboegg

I didn't ,use my platesetter, I went raised direct.

tjv

600 is to hot for single stone, try the conventional 425ish baking temp in the dome on the next one.  

t

Little Steven

boboegg said:

I didn't ,use my platesetter, I went raised direct.

That is your problem. Use lower temps for the stone alone. I always go north of 700* with the adjustable rig, indirect piece, spacers (1/2" copper tees) and pizza stone

double

I use platesetter and raised pizza stone at around 500.

EggHeadinFlorida

What kind of temperature are you looking for on the pizza stone while its sitting above the plate setter? I have one of those IR temperature readers and would like to get my stone to temp before putting the pizza on it.

ejs190

Couple comments. 1. I always use plate setter legs down and raise the pizza stone 2-3" using a metal ring. It helps charring the top and helps the bottom from burning. 2. Caputo 00 pizza flour. It handles the higher temps like a champ. 2-3 times more expensive and hard to find but you will be glad you found it. 3. I use sugar but a minimal amount. Sugar burns at lower temp. 4. I also increase water and decrease the amount of olive oil in my dough. Again I find it helps with higher heat. I use enough for flavor. 5. I add basil or thyme to dough for flavor. 6. I do pizza between 600-800 degrees on my XL!

ejs190

I also recommend getting a GI Metal pizza peel. The holes allow excess flour to drop off the dough before it touches the stone. Burnt flour gives your crust a sour taste.

jack8820

Awesome pizza with homemade dough and parchment paper.   Use platesetter legs up  with pizza stone on the grid at 500 degrees. 

bjadams

I did this one just as you see with Plate Setter and stone placed directly on top. This one cooked at 600-650 for ten minutes and was perfect for us but we have always likes "well done" pizza with a generously charred crust. We cooked the second one for  8 minutes for a less well done pie.

gdenby

If you had a dome of 600, and pre-heated the 'setter and stone, there's a good chance the pizza was on a very hot stone. If the parchment blackened, the heat from the stone was at least 650F.
 
My pizzas aren't so good IMO, but I've had better  results when the dough has higher hydration than average, and the toppings are thin. Use good toppings that have lots of flavor to make up for a lesser amount.

Botch

The thickness of your pie will make a difference too.  I'll use Papa Murphy's pizzas as a reference:  any "heavy" pizza, like their stuffed or Cowboy, I do at 425.  Their DeLites, which are much thinner, I get the Egg up to 600.  If I'm making my own, margherita-style, I'll raise the temp to 900 and the pies cook perfectly, top and bottom, in about 90 seconds.

It takes some practice, but that's half the fun!