Big Weekend: Pizza, Bread, Turkey Breast (Very Long)

Gretl

Hi All,
Saturday I tried pizza for the first time on the BGE. I felt "empowered" by all the helpful suggestions from recent posts. The results were amazing. The flavor was out of this world. I made two pies, each about 12 inches in diameter. I built up the base on the grill with firebricks after getting the fire nice and hot. Here's where I made a mistake: I got too carried away with covering the surface. I think partly I was afraid that when I slid the pie from the pizza peel, it would overshoot the pizza stone. So I had bricks on the side. Anyway, I was then unable to get the temp really hot; not over 400 and closer to 375. So the result was a thicker crust, which I didn't really want. But of course, now I know what I did wrong. Duh. I didn't allow a good draft through the egg. I'm hot to trot with another pizza and fewer bricks. I know the next will be thinner and crispier. BTW, the Adult Toppings were caramelized onion, anchovy, and capers. The kid topping was fontina and romano cheese.[p]Bread...I did a loaf Sunday morning in the egg, using a ceramic round pan I mail-ordered awhile ago from the BGE company. I didn't do anything to season it; I just dusted it with cornmeal and put the punched-down dough ball in it and covered it with a towel for an hour. After the second rising, I painted the top with egg wash, slashed it, and sprinkled it with some Kosher salt. I put it in the hot (450 degree) egg and was amazed that it took much longer than I thought to bake it. I kept peeing in the chimney top, not wanting to open the hinge. The color after about 45-50 minutes was sort of light brown, not the deep brown I was hoping for. I did need to run a knife around the side of the pan to loosen it, but it didn't stick to the bottom. Even though the color sort of disappointed me, the taste and texture were unbelievable. I think in hindsight that the heavy ceramic pan just insulated it very well and made it bake more slowly. Any ideas?[p]Turkey breast: While the Egg was hot from the bread, I just popped a 7 lb breast in immediately. Didn't have time to brine it; just slathered it with olive oil and salt, pepper, and thyme. I racked it over some white wine in a pan set on the bricks, and added some water about halfway through. I kept the heat about 350-375 and was called away unexpectedly. I asked Jim to keep checking it, but he forgot. When I got home, the polder read 186 degrees. The color however was lovely brown, not the forest-fire colored skin I experienced on
Christmas. I had added no wood flavor chips. The only negative comment I have is that it didn't have quite the juicy texture of previous meat. I think it was just a bit overdone. Which certainly beats underdone. But the flavor was just great, and I had some leftovers for lunch. As a sandwich on the bread, it couldn't be beat. Love that Egg.[p]Sorry for the long post; I was just really "cookin'" this weekend!
Cheers,
Gretl

Elder Ward

Gretl,[p]Great weekend wish I could have been there.[p]Elder Ward

Gretl

Elder Ward,
I wish you had been here, too. Both to give me the Best Advice and to share in the bounty!
Cheers,
Gretl

Spin

Gretl,[p]Thanks for the long post. It sounds like you had a lot of fun. Don't worry about your pizza sliding off of the pizza stone. If you don't sprinkle anything on the stone (I use a clean stone) the pie will stick on contact. As the crust develops it will slide off easily. I set one edge of the pie where I want it and slide the peel from under it.[p]I have had mixed results using a clay baking pan. I do much better using a metal loaf pan.[p]Spin

Gretl

Spin,
I was thinking that I'll use the pizza peel and baking stone for the next loaf. If the dough's not too delicate, it should work out. A nice, round, dark brown peasant loaf. That's what I'm after. Boy, that flavor's GREAT. The dough I made, btw, was one with milk and butter rather than the water/olive oil mixture I used for the pizza dough. The crumb is just great.

Frozen Chosen

Gretl, just wondering why you were doing bread in the BGE...were you looking for smofe flavor or something? We have a gas oven which seems to do bread fine. Maybe BGE is preferable to an electric oven...

Nature Boy

FrozenChosen,
The flavor of a wood fired oven on breads is excellent. No smoking woods are added, and at the higher temps, the smoke flavor is minimal. The hearth flavor that is imparted is unique, yet delicious, and not overly smoky. I am sure the gas oven bread is excellent also, but egged breads are unique and wonderful. Try it sometime if you haven't.
NB

BluesnBBQ

Gretl writes "...I kept peeing in the chimney top, not wanting to open the hinge."[p]That couldn't have been good for the bread! (I know, it was a typo, but I couldn't resist) :-)

RhumAndJerk

FrozenChosen,
The Crust. The Crust. The Crust.[p]Only a brick oven can produce a rock hard crust and soft moist interior.[p]When I get my kiln shelf setup down pat, bread and pizza will start to be egged.[p]Try it. You’ll like it.[p]RhumAndJerk[p]

Nature Boy

RhumAndJerk,
When I did pizza 2 nights ago, the family was munching while I prepared the second pizza. I walked inside for a moment, and thought it was a doritos commercial! The edges were so beautifully crunchy. You could hear it across the room.

RhumAndJerk

Nature Boy,
Speaking of crust, I think that some Char Crusted Something is sounding mighty good, maybe a sirloin.[p]We have always finished cooking Pizzas that we ordered on the bricks in oven. The best part is that little bit of cheese that touches the bricks and browns. [p]I must be hungry. I left work now; I could not cook everything that has my mouth watering. Oh well, I guess that I will just have to finish my Meat Patties. Oh Darn.[p]RhumAndJerk[p]

King-O-Coals

Gretl, Guru is going to go crazy, but we're going to try that next time. Do you have a large table or do you use ropes and pullies to accomplish it? HAAA!

Gretl

BluesnBBQ,
I'm blushing! Such a great typo, I had to post a new note to the whole crew with an apology. I'm still laughing out loud, which at work is a dead giveaway that I'm not doing company business![p]Aargh. I guess I should proofread more carefully. Don't want to jeopardize my credibility with exotic techniques![p]G.

Dr. Chicken

King-o-Coals,
Don't be too hard on her! We've all made typo's that came out as bad! Now, how many times will someone bring it up! I've heard of "kinky" tastes, but......[p]Dr. C[p]p.s.: I'll fire the rest of 'em back at you on notepad

Dr. Chicken

gretl,
We all got a laugh out of it! Even my wife heard me laughing and had to come see what I'd done! She laughed too, and said that's the kind of mess-up she'd make.
Hang in thar! Ain't none of us perfect![p]Dr. C

Elder Ward

Gretl,[p]Sounds to me like the only advise you needed was not to take it all before you passed the plate to me. %^)[p]Elder Ward

King-O-Coals

Dr. Chicken, I'm not going to be hard on her because I actually tried that too. I took a pee k down the chimney once and nearly burned all the hair off my f ace.

Dr. Chicken

King-o-Coals,
I almost made a simular mistake a week or so ago. You get to thinkin' and your brain is five steps ahead of your fingers! Whoops!
Gretl, you made all our days! Best laugh I've had in more than a few days! Hang in there though, typos and all. We still enjoy hearing whats's goin' on![p]Dr. C

Mary

RhumAndJerk,[p]Actually, I find it's trickier to get the crusts just right in the egg than in my oven. With a thick stone in the middle and a big pan of rocks under into which I pour boiling water as I slip the loaves into the oven and baking at 450-500F, I get perfect loaves. BUT, the oven doesn't give me that slightly smokey flavor that's so incredible in breads. [p]Try baking your breads at 550 (remember, the dome temp is about 50 degrees less than the stone temp.) for about 15-20 minutes with thick ceramic mass underneath that's been very well heated (30-45 mins at temp. before you put the loaves in. I find the reason it's harder to get the crusts just right is is harder to exactly control the temps in the egg. a little cheating trick I discovered is you can do it both ways - bake your bread in the oven, then let it sit in the egg for 10 minutes. It get the great egg flavor that way. Works for reheating frozen loaves too.[p]Mary