First Pizza Cook.... almost awry

Boccie

<p />Tonight we did our first pizza's. We used ready-mix dough, which was fine. The trouble was the packaging said it will do a 12" pizza. At 12" the dough was quite thin and wanted to stick rather bad to the mat we were using. It became apparent the dough wasn't moving from the mat to the paddle (and we already added the toppings). Now I started to feel bad that I couldnt even make pizza without messing it up, forget moving on the bigger things like ribs! My wife said the thought she saw where it should have been made right on the paddle... well ok... so what do we do with this one? We'll just add a few toppings and fold it over (still wanted to stick though) and call it a calzone! It was better than throwing it away in disgust.[p]The second try we made it right on the paddle (after adding a nice coating of corn meal to the paddle first). That did the trick! Made a couple pizza's like that without any problem.[p]The actual cooking on the egg itself went without a hitch. We just followed what we read here on the forum.[p]Except now we see why some people have two paddles... you need the extra for the next pizza being prepared.[p]So we cooked and learned and had fun with it.[p]Oh, and the "calzone"? Well, it turned out so good I am going to make it on purpose next time. :-)[p]-Boccie
[ul][li]First Pizza's[/ul]

jwitheld

Boccie,
Do you need a place setter and a pizza stone? seems the place setter would do the job alone or you could put the pizza stone on the grid and do 2!
[ul][li]Old Faithfull[/ul]

Puj

Boccie,[p]Good call on the calzone and I suspect that you reached hero status with your kids.[p]Puj

Spin

Boccie,[p]Congratulations! A little burny bits is a good thing :-).[p]To cut down on the cornmeal use, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, fold in half, and then transfer to the lightly cornmeal dusted peel prior to constructing the pie. Give the peel a shake now and then to assure that the pie does not stick. Wipe any excess cornmeal off the peel prior to insertion to your Egg. No cornmeal is necessary on the pizza stone as the dough will stick anyway with the cornmeal only adding a grittiness to the dough. A couple of minutes into the cook and the dough will crust over, making it non-stick.[p]Rice flour also works well to help prevent the dough from sticking to the peel.[p]Spin

Spin

jwitheld,[p]Cooking on the plate setter or a pizza stone alone does offer the possiblity of a successful cook. The single layer setup tends to overheat from direct exposure to the hot coals. The lower stone of the double stone stacked setup absorbs the direct heat and prevents the transfer of the excess heat to the top (cooking) stone.[p]I have not been successful at cooking multiple pizzas at the same time - simply too difficult to maneuver the setup to gain access to each of the pies and still retain proper cooking temperature for each pie. Using two pizza peels and cooking the pies individually is the way to go for a multiple pie cook.[p]Cooking at the grid level makes the insertion and removal of the pie ackward as the pie must be dropped into and then lifted out of the hot Egg. The diameter of the Egg is also considerably smaller at the grid level than at the opening lip level. Raising the cook to the opening lip level provides a more convienent position for the insertion and removal of the pie, along with the ability to use the largest diameter pizza stone without limiting airflow needed to make the heat required for the cook.[p]Spin

Boccie

Spin,[p]Thanks, I will do it next time without anything on the stone. We are having fun learning all the different things to do on the egg. Hopefully it will all be second nature before long, lol[p]-Boccie

Shelby

Boccie,
The pizza looks mighty fine. Has me thinking I need one for dinner myself. I found mastering pizza to be one of the hardest things. But once you do, it's a great thing. One of the best is to tell your friends you made pizza on your grill and watch their faces.
Next step...make your own dough. I've begun using the bread machine and it really makes a great dough easily!

Ellen aka Gormay

Spin,[p]Congrats Boccie! I concur with all the good advice that has been given, but here are a few more thoughts.[p]Prepared doughs tend to be extra moist and sticky. You may want to work in a small amount of flour to make it more like a homemade dough. The operative word is small as you don't want a heavy, doughy brick.[p]If you are a handy man type, it is easy enough to fashion a second peel. In a pinch, you could place your dough on an overturned cookie sheet that has been liberally sprinkled with cornmeal. It will work just as well to support your dough and you just use the same quick pull back motion to deposit it on the stone. I don't bother to wipe off the cornmeal as I like it's flavor/texture and include it as an ingredient in my bread sometimes. I guess I am just a gritty girl or is that a girl with grit? :-)[p]One last point and this is FYI. The tricky part of pizza baking in any apparatus, is that the dough needs to be well baked and the toppings plus cheese take less time to cook. It's sort of like poultry where the breast is done before the other parts. Thinly rolled pies have a better chance of being done at the same time as the toppings. A thicker dough may need some precooking to give the dough a headstart before adding toppings. The stone is helpful because it evens out the heat and helps cook the dough from underneath while the rising heat cooks the toppings. [p]Hope this helps,[p]Ellen
The bread baking (and now BGE) fool.....:-)

Boccie

Shelby,[p]Hey I like that idea. We have a bread machine also, maybe it is time to dust it off and put it back in use.[p]Thanks![p]-Boccie

The Naked Whiz

Ellen aka Gormay,
I have plans/instructions for making a peel on my web site...[p]TNW
[ul][li]The Naked Whiz's website[/ul]

Boccie

Ellen aka Gormay,[p]I liked the texture of the crust also with the cornmeal, I am sure we will use it again. Thanks for the tips. I will also give Naked Whiz's pizza peel plans (a toungue twister there!) a look at.[p]My youngest son said that pizza was better than Pizza Hut, LOL... I think he was just building me up so I will make them again :-)[p]-Boccie