First Pizza Attempt - Now Questions

spbull472

Okay, I cooked my pizza at 500 for about 10 minutes. Straight lump, no wood chunks.

Issue 1: I had too much smoke going, even though I let the temp set for about 30 minutes before putting on the pie. I think my issue was there was just too many drippings from past chicken and pork cooks that the high heat was burning them off during the cook.

Solution 1: Do high temp ~600 burns on occasion just to burn everything off the platesetter and fire ring. Also, start using drip pans more often to catch that stuff.

Issue 2: while the outside of the pizza crust was done just right, the middle portion of the pizza was a little soggy.

Solution 2: Maybe I had too much sauce in the middle? Maybe Pilsbury pizza dough isn't the best? Could leaving the parchment paper on during the cook kept some of the moisture in?

So those were my two main issue, too much darn smoke during my cook and a soggy crust in the middle. The toppings were cooked perfectly. I normally don't experience the smoke issue, because normally I'm not going over 250 to 300 with my cooks. This was one of my first 500+ cooks since I purchased my egg over a year ago (so you know my gasket is good and set).

Wife doesn't like the "smoky" taste on the pizza, but I don't blame her as it turned out to be the bad smoke (grey, grease burning type) and not the good smoke (wispy blue).

Thoughts, suggestions?

Thanks in Advance.

vidalia1

Sometimes it takes a while for the smoke to clear...I mean sometimes up to 1 hr....so just be patient...

I do not use parchment paper but I do know some people say to pull it out half way through the cook...

I use an airbake pizza pan and put it right on the pizza stone...it works great...

spbull472

Well I think I have the smoke issue resolved. After I was done, I just really opened up the vents and let the egg burn (leaving the plate setter in). I did this for about an hour. My platesetter has white spots on it again. I also occassionaly opened it up and took my grill brush to the fire ring and the platesetter. All the grease has now burned off or flaked off, I'm still managing of temp of 450 with no smoke pouring out. So it appears to resolve my smoke issue, I just need to run high temp (foodless) cooks on occassion to burn off the grease and "clean" the inside. Is there a recommended temp level for doing this?

Now to solve the soggy dough issue.

Car Wash Mike

You need to go to maybe an hour like Kim said. I also went to an airbake pan and started having much better results. I still use the feet though.
You going to try and make Springfield?



Mike

Smokin' Domer

First pizza cook yesterday! We used a pizza stone directly on top of the plate setter (legs down). I had the egg in the 325-350 range for at least 15-20 minutes warming up the plate setter and pizza stone. Probably another 20 minutes at 425-450.

Sprinkled some corn meal on the stone so the pizza didn't stick. We used the Publix pre-kneaded dough in a plastic bag. Recommended oven temp was 450 for 20-35 minutes depending on thickness of the dough. Next time we'll probably let it sit out of the refrigerator for more than the hour stated on the package as it was a still a bit cool and sticky. Baked at 435-450 for about 22 minutes. Ingredients: sauce, cheese, sausage, pepperoni, olives, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and green peppers before a little more mozzarella.

It was delicious having homemade pizza in the summer without heating up the house. The crust was perfect doneness from the edges to the middle. I think the key was getting the stone and fire up to temp for a long time before cooking.





Paul

AZRP

The parchment paper didn't hurt you, I think you needed to let the stone heat for more like an hour before cooking on it, that would have helped clear the bad smoke too, don't give up! -RP

Eggtucky

Didnt see the other answers but here's how'd I summarize answers to your questions...
1. I do pizzas closer to 400 than 500..this allows a more even bake of the dough in my opinion and have done many successfully around this temp...also you didnt say what setup you used...try platesetter legs down, egg feet with pizza stone resting on top of egg feet...
2. I don't leave the parchment paper on during the whole cook...doubt this caused your problem but why would you leave it? Once the dough has begun to bake (after about 2 mins on the stone) the paper does no good..slide it out after a couple of mins and toss it.. if it catches on fire THEN you have some odoriferous emanations going into your pie ...hang in there and keep trying...'za's are fantastic on the egg when you get the hang of it!

spbull472

Oh I'm not giving up, I'm simply learning from my mistakes and learning from others.

My setup was platesetter feet down, then the 3 egg feet on top and then the stone on the feet. It was a good 30 to 45 minutes before I put the pizza on, the pizza stone was in there from the beginning. But it sounds like I should just fill up my lump to the top, start my fire earlier and let the whole thing burn for an hour or so before I put the pizza on. Like I said, my first cook above 300 so my timing on everything was a bit off. But this is why we do test runs, right?

As far as the temps go, you hear so many varying methods. You here the 400 for about about 20 minutes or more, but you also hear about others going for a really high heat and a quick cook. So I was shooting for something in between, which is why I landed on 500.

Here's my thinking, tell me if I'm wrong or if I should take a different approach. I have 2 neighbors and their families and we all love to cookout and spent some weekend nights together. I'm thinking as a fun change of pace, we should have a pizza night. Each family brings over their own pie and we bake each on the egg. At 500, I was thinking I would be able to crank a pizza out every 10 minutes or so. That way all the families would be eating at roughly the same time.

Anyone else ever do a multi-pizza night like this? If so, what are you ideas...what did you do?

Thanks for all the advice gang. Oh and regarding Springfield in Sept, who knows....depends on how things are going.

civil eggineer

I have found 400 dome temp for 30 minutes does the best job with my pizzas. Wife likes the crust a little crunchy and the top of the pizza gets a nice crust. I have tried higher temps but can't imagine how anyone can cook a pizza in 10 minutes.