Pizza: The Final Frontier

Newsguy

By far the most challenging Egg cook for me has been pizza. I have finally mastered good sauce and good dough, and I've produced some very good stuff, but every time I conquer one part of the process, and new problem (usually relatively minor) pops up.

Last night's three pizzas were all very good, but rather than the usual challenge in getting a crust that is adequately browned on the bottom, this time there was a tendency for the crust in contact with the stone to burn before the toppings were really cooked. I used to use the feet that came with the Egg to provide space between my stone and the plate setter, and I didn't have this problem. I used the feet under the base of setting for the Egg on my newly completed table, though, and I'm wonder if the direct contact made the stone too hot.

Any ideas on pizza stone arrangement that might let me get a nicely browned, crisp bottom crust while letting the toppings stay on long enough to cook better? Also does anyone know where I might buy another set of the feet that they no longer provide with the Egg?

jtcBoynton

People use the feet because they have them and will work. But if you need to buy something, I would get a fire brick and break it into smaller pieces. They will give you a flatter surface to work with. Some people get feet for flower pots from the home improvement stores to use as spacers. If you have a pottery supply store near you, they sell small ceramic spacers for use in kilns that work great.

Newsguy

jtcBoynton said:

People use the feet because they have them and will work. But if you need to buy something, I would get a fire brick and break it into smaller pieces. They will give you a flatter surface to work with. Some people get feet for flower pots from the home improvement stores to use as spacers. If you have a pottery supply store near you, they sell small ceramic spacers for use in kilns that work great.

This is helpful. Thanks.

jtcBoynton

Until you get new spacers, you could use the plate setter with legs up and then the cooking grid and place the pizza stone on the grid. Should get you results like you were getting before.

Newsguy

jtcBoynton said:

Until you get new spacers, you could use the plate setter with legs up and then the cooking grid and place the pizza stone on the grid. Should get you results like you were getting before.

That's a good idea. Thanks. BTW, I just order some Caputo 00 flour from Amazon. I'm hoping for miraculously great dough when I next venture forth.

blind99

jtcBoynton said:

Until you get new spacers, you could use the plate setter with legs up and then the cooking grid and place the pizza stone on the grid. Should get you results like you were getting before.

That's how I set up, and it works well. 

What temp are you cooking at?  How thin is the dough rolled out, and how heavy are the toppings?

I get the dome to 650 and let it stabilize.  The dough is rolled pretty thin, and the toppings are put on lightly.

Each pie takes about 10 minutes.  I usually check it at about 7 minutes, and rotate it if it's not cooking evenly.

Let us know about the dough and how it turns out.  I've gotten lazy and have been buying it from Trader Joe's.

good luck!

blind99

By the way, that cedar table you made is spectacular.  Great work.

Newsguy

blind99 said:

jtcBoynton said:

Until you get new spacers, you could use the plate setter with legs up and then the cooking grid and place the pizza stone on the grid. Should get you results like you were getting before.

That's how I set up, and it works well. 

What temp are you cooking at?  How thin is the dough rolled out, and how heavy are the toppings?

I try to get the temp to 650 or so in the dome. I try to go light on sauce and topping, but sometimes I get carried away with toppings. The dough is fairly thin. I'll try the grid with the place setter legs up.

Thanks for the compliment on the cedar table. It was a labor of love that was very rewarding.

SMITTYtheSMOKER

I agree with placesetter feet up with cooking grid with grid extender to get the pizza stone up in the dome.  Be careful with those ceramic feet under your Egg, we've had two large Eggs in the last month become cracked using that set-up because of stress points on the bottom. 

SMITTYtheSMOKER

Here's a pic of our pizza set-up. We cooked at 550/600 for 5 hours.

Shiff

I have found that the high temperatures don't allow the toppings to fully cook. So, wherever possible, we par cook the toppings - not the cheese, obviously - but any vegetables.

Yoiu can also use copper pipe elbows as a spacer and some people have used crumpled aluminum foil balls.

Grillin_beers

Hey man as others have stated legs up is a great way to go. I also use a piece of parchment paper to keep the dough from sticking and it takes a little longer to brown the bottom of the crust. Last time I used my cast iron grate on top of the plate setter legs up with the pizza stone on top. I don't know why it would matter(maybe greater heat retention) but it was absolutely perfect. Good luck!

tonyled

check the plumbing section of your hardware store.  i bought some copper end caps and use them for pizza stone, drip pans, etc . . .

just like these:  http://www.amazon.com/Elkhart-CP61712-Copper-Tbe-10pk/dp/B000YSRD5I

TTC

I go with platesetter legs down and use firebricks to raise the stone.

I get much better results cooking 500-600, or even 475 if I'm using Publix dough (which despite my love for 00 flour I mostly use Publix)

But I agree with you that Pizza on the Egg is an adventure, sometimes I am not real happy with the results and sometimes I kill it. Each time is different

Hairless_Hand

X2 on the copper elbows. I was a fan of the green feet but now I actually prefer the copper elbows.

Carolina Q

Shiff said:

I have found that the high temperatures don't allow the toppings to fully cook. So, wherever possible, we par cook the toppings - not the cheese, obviously - but any vegetables.

Yoiu can also use copper pipe elbows as a spacer and some people have used crumpled aluminum foil balls.

During one of my 900* pizza cooks, the top wasn't done, but the bottom was about to burn. 12" pie. I grabbed one of my 8" pizza stones (cold) and slid it between the pie and the hot stone. Worked like a charm. Bottom stopped cooking while top finished. Just an idea if you find yourself in that situation. I don't cook that hot any more.

TTC

Quick thinking @carolinaq

Maccool

Newsguy said:

Any ideas on pizza stone arrangement that might let me get a nicely browned, crisp bottom crust while letting the toppings stay on long enough to cook better? Also does anyone know where I might buy another set of the feet that they no longer provide with the Egg?

I cook platesetter feet down with the cooking grill between the platesetter and the stone. Provides enough of an air gap that I've never had trouble with timing the crust vs toppings at 550-650 degrees.

Newsguy

Great stuff! Thanks so much. It is all helpful. Thanks so much. I did find some terra cotta feet that I'm going to try next time. I like the copper elbows idea too. It also sounds like using the cast iron grate would be worth trying...if I had a cast iron grate. I am not using the BGE feet directly under the Egg. I have a table nest under it which rests on a piece of granite. For extra space between heat and wood, I rest the granite on the BGE feet. The feet look kind of cool that way (pic below).

Maccool

I'm sure that a cast iron grate would work fine, likewise ceramic feet or copper elbows. I just use the plain ol' cooking grate that came with the egg. Sits on top between platesetter and stone. 550-650 dome temps with a good heat soak for the ceramics and I get a great pizza every time. I see a lot more flexibility in done-ness of the topping than I do in the crust...much narrower window between soggy crust and burned crust. Dome temps are key.