First Pizza on Egg

jhoward82

Had a bunch of small pieces of lump and still am using up some leftover hickory briquettes so filled up the firebox, and ran the BGE up to 600. Got it leveled off, but didn't let it stay there too long as I was running behind on making dinner. Nothing on top, bottom vent wide open to start, then edged it shut just a tad.

While Egg was heating up I used a Harris Teeter pizza dough blob and made a 1/2 cheese (for our daughter) and 1/2 prosciutto, goat cheese, and basil for us. Got it on the Egg when it was stable at 600 and then let it cook 5 minutes. It wasn't quite cooked to where I wanted (again, the pizza stone was cooler than the 600 dome temp) so I closed the dome and opened the bottom vent, ran it up to 650, and after maybe a minute or so I checked again and it looked like it was done enough for what I wanted. 

Closed her down, and brought the pizza in. The bottom was definitely crisper on the bottom than what we have done in the oven in the past, top was tasty, and all in all it was considered a success. 

And I LOVE the smoky smell of the pizza, reminds me of brick oven pizza from a place we used to eat at in the Boston area.

Cookinbob

Many of us on this forum are trying to cook our own version of the "perfect" pizza, you will find many ideas and opinions, all of which are right, so find what works for you.

Having cooked a few pies on mine, here are a few unsolicited tips:

1. If you can manage it, giving the stone more time to preheat will make a big difference.  You would be surprised how long it takes a stone to heat.  
   
2. I use all purpose flour for my crust, try to keep the stone to 500 or less so that the bottom does not burn before the top is done.  600+ dome is fine though.   An IR thermometer is the easy way to measure if you have access to one.  Others take it up to 700 or so - I am not comfortable at that temperature.  Other flours can take higher temps.
3. If you can raise the stone up higher in the dome (I use flower pots between the grate and the stone), the top will cook faster relative to the bottom crust.

With all that said, if the pizza is done, you will not have a bad pizza off the egg.

JohnInCarolina

The dough from Harris Teeter isn't meant to be cooked over 550 or so - it will burn.