Pizza problem

Unknown

I tried pizza for the first time this weekend, with mixed results. The Pizza stuck horribly to the stone, and was underdone in the middle. After reading some posts, what is a "peel". I rolled out the store bought dough on the stone. Also, do you recommend a cold stone or heat the stone first.[p]

nikkig

Logger,
A peel is a pizza paddle (either wood or metal) that is handy for getting the pizza in and out of the egg. They can be found online, or at restaurant supply stores. If you do multiple pizzas, it helps to have two of them. We use one to make the pizza on (sprinkle cornmeal on it to keep it from sticking), and the other to take the pizza off the egg. Ours are both metal, and we have had no problems. I have seen where some people use a cookie sheet as a peel. [p]You really need to preheat your stone and plate setter before you put the pizza on. We heat ours up a good 5-10 minutes. This will help the crust not stick. Also, it helps to sprinkle little cornmeal on the stone right before you put the pizza on. As for the middle not getting done, what temp did you cook at and for how long? We do ours at 550 for about 8 minutes. [p]Hope this helps some. Keep trying, and one day you will get the hang of it. Pizzas and calzones are wonderful on the egg.[p]~nikki
[ul][li]pizza[/ul]

Unknown

nikkig, Thanks. I cooked them at 400 for about 15-20 minutes. The outer edges were good, but the midle did not crisp up.

Shelby

Logger,
I found pizza to be one of the hardest things to do. But once I switched to a good dough, used a peel, heated the setter and stone the pizza's, and life, got better.
The only thing I offer much different is that I've found with cornmeal on the peel, I don't need any on the stone as enough is transfered with the pie when I slide it onto the stone.
Keep trying!

Unknown

Logger,
I have a slightly different approach, I use a pizza screen. It is, as the name implies, a screen, or wire mesh, that you put the pizza on when you build it, and then put the screen on the pizza stone. I used them for years when I worked in pizza shops. The only problem with them is that they have to be seasoned, like cast iron, or thing will stick.[p]Also, as others have said, I would go with a higher temp. Keep trying, it is worth it!
[/b]

The Naked Whiz

Logger,
Absolutely heat the stone. Here is a link to my pizza page and my page on how to make your own peel. If you are within driving distance of Raleigh, I'll give you one of my home made peels.[p]Pizza Tips


How To Make A Peel
[p]
Good luck and keep trying!
TNW

Spin

Logger,[p]Peels come long or short handled (like large paddles or with 3-4' handles) and are wooden or metal. I prefer the long handle models as when in use, the handle runs under the forearm and provides much more leverage for lifting and controlling the pie than your wrist alone is capable of. The longer handle also keeps your hand out of the hot airstream. Both the wooden and metal peels work well with the wooden peels getting the edge in rustic appeal. The metal peels are thinner and easier to slide under the finished pie, but slippier when handling the finished pie.[p]Thoroughly preheat your pizza stone to the cooking temperature for your pie.[p]Spin[p]

WessB

Spin,
Hey Bud...been tryin to reach you...drop me an E mail.[p]Wess

char buddy

Spin,[p]I got a question. have you ever heard of folks using the non-bread flour for pizza if they want a really thin, crispy crust? I was watching a show about Pepe's up in New Haven and they said they weren't using a bread flour. [p]If this is so, what flour (and yeast) would you use?[p]Also,are you showing up at the Fest this year?

BluesnBBQ

Tis is going to sound blasphemous, but I prefer cooking pizzas and bread in my oven, using my baking stone. I always preheat the stone for at least a half hour before baking, and doing that on the Egg is (IMHO) is a waste of charcoal. I've had problems with the crust burning and the toppings being overcooked when cooking pizzas on the Egg. I never have that problem with the oven. I kow some of you use two stones, or firebricks to make sure the pizza comes out right, but I don't need to do that with the oven. Maybe I'll try it again one of these days, but for now I cook meat on the Egg and bread/pizza in the oven.

Painter

char buddy,
Monday nite I went to a cooking demo at the Wolf factory in Madison,Wis. Chef Rupert did us a couple of pizzas,pork loin, flank steak, filet mignons and pasta tortillini. Excellent program. I'm in the process of building a new home and this was an opportunity to see what they had to offer in their product line.
I was very impressed with their pizza stone setup and how well it worked. He did a 4lb. pork loin roast on a cookie sheet on parchment paper, put on the pizza stone at 500° and on the convection mode and it was 140° in 25 minutes.I have to admit it was good eats. Impressive but at a price of course.
Anywhoo, To stay on topic, here is a link and recipe for the pizza dough that he used and it was good.
Bob
PS They threw in some beer, wine and sodas.
Cost for the demo--$0.00

[ul][li]pizza dough recipe[/ul]

Spin

Hi char buddy,[p]One of my favorite flours is King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour. I would not hesitate to use it for the cracker crust pizza. Pillsbury unbleached all-purpose would be my second choice. There is no reason to not use whatever yeast you have grown comfortable with.[p]Unfortunately, we will not be able to attend Waldorf this year.[p]Spin

Julie

BluesnBBQ,
I also had troubles with burning/rawness when I egged the pizza above 500 degrees, so I lowered the temperature to 325 and just increased the time to 1/2 hour for single crust pizza and 45 minutes for Chicago style pizza with wonderful results. It also helps the smoke flavor really penetrate the crust.
Julie