Pizza,,,,Burned

flajoker

Ok what did I do wrong? Got cooker up to 550'. Put pizza on stone. Bottom burnt bad after 8 minutes. Also cornmeal that was on pizza and peal burned. What a bummer.

ChefRD

flajoker, hello, did you you two stones like Spin says? When I tried to use one, I normally had problems with burning the crust also. With bricks and a stone I can prevent the burnt bottoms. (Usually!;)) Explain your set up and methods and I'm sure Spin can fix it for you.
later,
ChefRD

Tim M

<p />flajoker,
What other ceramic did you have other than the one stone? [p]You need 2 of them, or a plate setter and stone or firebricks and a stone.[p]Burnt crust means that the bottom was not protected from the heat. Two layers of ceramic shields the crust and allows it to cook slower than the toppings. You can try no preheating of the stone so that it is going to absorb the heat and not pass it along to the dough as fast, but two layers of ceramic is better.[p]Tim
[ul][li]Tim's Cookbook etc[/ul]

GaDawg

flajoker,
I use a plate setter, then an old 3/4 inch square stone,
then the bge stone all stacked up. Let everything heat up at 500-550 and you'll be fine. Spin has a better and longer description of this down in the archives. Lot's of ceramic mass fixes this problem, plus adds the benefit of staying hotter for the 2nd and 3rd pizzas. Before I went to this setup I would sometimes burn the first one, then have an undercooked second pizza. You don't need a plate setter to accomplish this. Firebricks work fine too. Just get lots of ceramic hot. Also, if you have a pampered chef pizza stone, throw it away. It's junk.[p]Chuck

Wise One

Tim M, I finally bought a pizza stone and was going to place it on the grill extender with two half-height firebricks underneath. Do you think that setp will work OK?

WessB

<p />flajoker,
when I did mine I had 3 firebricks laying flat and 2 on there edge..the normal indirect drip pan method as explained on Tim M site with a BGE pizze stone set on top of the 2 on edge...stabalized at 550° nothing on top of the dome I used only the lower vent to regulate temp..this is the first one..the second was a little more "burnt as you say" but not burnt to the point of tasting bad they were on for approx 10 minutes..didnt really time them just peeked thru the dome vent and pulled when they looked done..hope this is of some help...the pizza was AWESOME...

flajoker

I used cooking instructions from New York Style Pizza. Must have misunderstood preparation directions. "Set the firebricks in a Y pattern and set the stone on top of them." I will order stone holder or lay down firebricks for indirect method next time. I'll get this right yet. Thanks for all the help. I do have to say the pepporoni and cheese had a great taste.Jack

KennyG

WessB,[p]Sensational looking pie! Half and half mushroom and pepperoni eh? I'll take a slice of each.[p]K~G

RhumAndJerk

flajoker,
There was one thing that I noticed about your post. You put the pizza stone on after the egg was heated. I feel that that is not a good idea. You have a potential to break your stone from thermal shock. [p]As everyone has stated, the double layer of ceramic mass is optimal for baking. The only thing that I would add is to light the fire and put your ceramic mass on then. Let the egg come up to temperature and hold it there for about thirty minutes. This way, all is heated properly to cook a pizza. Also, you should not experience a great loss in dome temp thereby cooking your toppings and crust evenly.[p]Hope this helps,
RhumAndJerk[p]

Spin

flajoker,[p]Sounds like the timing of the cook was a tad long for the pizza stone you are using. How were the toppings and the upper crust?[p]I suggest you give it another try using the same setup. If you have a second pizza stone, add that directly on top of the first one. Install the bricks and pizza stone(s) as soon as you start the fire and regulate the dome temp using only the top vent. Leave the bottom vent wide open. Open the top wide after insertion of the pie to quickly regain cooking temp.[p]The cornmeal is only needed to help the raw pie slide off the peel. It will always burn. Use as little as you can on the peel and none on the pizza stone. Giving the peel a slight jerk during pie construction will verify the pie is not sticking and help prevent it from sticking. The raw pie will stick to the stone on contact (set it where it needs to be), but will slide easily as the crust forms.[p]To shorten the learning curve try making several smaller pies (6" dia.) in a row, adjusting the cooking time to create a nice crust (I would start at 6 minutes). Once you can cook the crust properly, everything else can be adjusted for.[p]A single pizza stone will slowly overheat on a multiple pie cook. A cool stone will slowly heat up on a multiple pie cook, requiring adjusting the cooking time down. Two stacked pizza stone will cook as many as 20 14" pies in a row with no adjustments to cooking temp of timing of the cook.[p]You are close to making some seriously great pizza.[p]Spin

Spin

WessB,[p]I agree the KennyG, I'll take a slice of each.[p]I suggest that you regulate cooking temp using the top vent only and leave the bottom wide open. Open the top wide to quickly regain cooking after insertion of each pie.[p]Regulating using the top vent forces the heat down on the top of the pie, cooking the toppings and allowing a shorter cooking time to finish them. Shorten your cooking time to create a great crust. Everything can then be adjusted to make great toppings with it.[p]Spin[p]Spin

Spin

Wise One,[p]That setup will make great pizza.[p]Spin

Spin

Spin,[p]Foot note: There is no difference in cooking time or temp when making a 6" pie or a 14" pie. They cook the same.[p]Spin

flajoker

Spin, Topping where wonderful, not overcooked. I will lay down bricks for indirect method this weekend. Maybe that will cool off stone enough not to burn bottom.