Calzone Pictures?

Mike Oelrich

<p />First try at getting pictures posted. Here's some output from my new Olympus C2020z![p]MikeO

djm5x9

MikeO:[p]Looks good, Mike. Nice pictures. Is that a kiln shelf that you are cooking on? How thick is it?

King-O-Coals

MikeO, great pics. I needed that. The only calzones I'v ever seen before yours,,, are mine. It looks like your stuffing is in large chunks. Mine were in smaller chunks and the dough was rolled out a little too thin. Mine were neat square little things full of goodies. The small ones (hand size) worked out just fine, but the big one busted a gut and some really good cheesy stuff ran into the coals. The giant calzone was still good,, but the next day, I cleaned the firebox out by just lifting the charcoal out in one piece. That cheese really binds.:)

Mike Oelrich

djm5x9,[p]
Yep, you got it. It's about 15 1/2" across (measuring from flat side to flat side) and 1/2" thick. It's sitting on top of the new BGE large-size plate setter. I had some trouble with normal pizza stones (before the plate setter) that couldn't stand direct flames -- the kiln shelf seems a bit sturdier.[p]MikeO

Mike Oelrich

King-O-Coals,[p] Yep, the sausage in there was in chunks. I've found that preheating the stuffing and poking holes in the dough before cooking helps to avoid ruptures. As for the cheese epoxy, I'll second that. I made some smoke burgers (smoked them at 225 for about an hour over hickory) once and made the mistake of adding lots of cheddar to them while they were still in the BGE and leaving them sit too long. By the time I got back, I had cheese everywhere! After everything cooled off, I had to pry the fire ring off of the firebox. Thought I might break something! Despite the fact I thought i scraped most of that stuff outta there, you should have seen the smoke the next time I fired up my BGE!!![p]MikeO

MAC

MikeO,
You be cookin' man. Looks GRRR...ATE !!! Nice Pics. Do you use the wall paper scraper to clean the stone? Can't wait to try one.[p]MAC

Mike Oelrich

MAC,[p] Wall paper scraper? From left to right: flashlight for peering into the dome through the top vent, ash tool for stirring up the coals before lighting, BGE ;-), spatula in case I messed up with the pizza peel. Which is the thing that looks like a wall paper scraper (don't know that I've ever seen one!)?[p]MikeO

King-O-Coals

MikeO, I poked plenty of holes in mine, but they healed up during the cooking. Next time I will re-poke about half way through.

Mary

MikeO,
Nice pics. did you cut down a square stone to get that octagonal shape?[p]Mary

Mike Oelrich

Mary,[p] No, just went to the local ceramic supply place and started browsing. Got to the kiln shelves and thought, "Wow, that would make the perfect pizza stone!" At first I thought it might be a bit too big, but once it's set up on the plate setter or firebricks, there seems to be enough room around it for proper convection.[p]MikeO

Smokey

MikeO,[p]That looks great. I had a Calzone the other day and it look about the same. I have to give it a try!

Mary

MikeO,
Now, you've got me intrigued. I'll have to find a ceramic supply house. How thick is it? diameter?[p]Mary

MAC

MikeO,
The thing on the right looked like a wall paper scraper. They hold a blade in the top. Thought you might have used it toscrape the stone after use. My mistake[p]MAC

Mike Oelrich

Mary,[p] 15 1/2" across measured from flat-side to flat-side (about 17" corner-to corner). 1/2" thick. I just looked in the Yellow Pages under "Ceramics" and took a little drive.[p]Mikeo

Mary

MikeO,
Thanks!