Pizzas are getting better - slowly

BConk

I'd mastered the setup for perfect 2-3 minute Margherita pizzas on my Primo Oval XL when it cracked - all on its own. I'm still waiting for the warranty part replacements but that's another story.

Relegating the Primo to lower temp baking and roasting chores I bought a BGE medium for those high temp pizzas. So far, however, with about 5-6 tries behind me I have yet to match the results I was getting on my Primo.

I'll keep tweaking the setup because I'm confident it can cook pizzas at least as well as the Primo. I'd think with its smaller size it can probably cook them even better. I just have to find the right setup.

This latest setup yielded the best results so far:
∙ dome at 700° and stabilized for 20 minutes
∙ plate setter legs down
∙ BGE feet on top of the plate setter.
∙ BGE 12" stone on top of the feet.
∙ Stone swiped with damp cotton rag before peeling the pie onto it.
∙ Top vent closed as soon as the pie went on.

Though it was the best efort so far the toppings are still taking too long to melt and so the crust is getting too crisp for my taste. It's taking probably 5 minutes to cook the top and even then they're not caramelized at all.

I'm thinking I want the stone even higher up in the dome to get more top heat from the ceramic. Next time I'll try the same setup but put the stone on inch and a half copper couplings instead of the feet. That will get it a good inch higher up. Hopefully that will do the trick.

anyway - here's tonight's Margherita pizza - it took about 4-5 minutes to cook. Good char marks but the crust is still too stiff for my taste.

Fire Walker

I to have been experimenting with pizza at high temps, then I found a recipe in an old Cooks Illustrated about Margherita pizzas, I found that it's the dough that creates the perfect pizza. Cooks recommends using a 2 parts all purpose flour to 1 part cake flour,This formula made it possible to bake a perfect M-pizza at a lower temp around 500 degrees, it allowed the pizza to cook a little longer about 8 minutes without loosing the great crust. I tried it and it worked great there is no need to run the Egg at such high temps as people who have caused damage to their eggs and gaskets can attest to.
FireWalker

Fidel

I agree that getting it a little higher in the dome will help cook the top faster.

I have one question - why do you shut the top vent when the pie goes on? I would think that leaving it open/off then the airflow will continue and the chimney effect will bring more heat and flame up above the pie and cooking your toppings a bit faster.

BobS

BConk,

I have a Lg BGE and I use 1 1/4", copper couplings to push the plate setter up about 1 1/2" into the dome.

I have done pies very successfully at 700+ but fine that it is just as successful at 650 and the cook is just a little more relaxed.

I have heard of people closing the dome, but I don't get that. The temp in the dome is the temp in the dome and I would rather have the fire chugging than smothering -- especially when there is another pie to go on later.

BConk

Fire Walker wrote:

I to have been experimenting with pizza at high temps, then I found a recipe in an old Cooks Illustrated about Margherita pizzas, I found that it's the dough that creates the perfect pizza. FireWalker

I agree entirely - it is the dough that makes a great pizza - I use a wild yeast dough at 65% hydration. All that's in it is water, salt and flour. I have heard about mixing in cake flour. I think that might bring the gluten level down to something more like the Italian Tipo 00 flour. But I generally use all purpose flour. It's easy to hand shape and when everything is right it makes a nice tender crust. This exact same dough was consistently yielding incredible pizzas on my Primo in 2-3 minutes at 650° - 700° but until I get the setup right with the BGE it's cooking too long and that perfect crust I used to get just isn't coming out perfect anymore :S

BobS wrote:

BConk,

I have a Lg BGE and I use 1 1/4", copper couplings to push the plate setter up about 1 1/2" into the dome.

I have done pies very successfully at 700+ but fine that it is just as successful at 650 and the cook is just a little more relaxed.

I have heard of people closing the dome, but I don't get that. The temp in the dome is the temp in the dome and I would rather have the fire chugging than smothering -- especially when there is another pie to go on later.

Hi Bob - you were the one that taught me about the couplings I think - Great tip!

It's just the wife and I so it's always just one pie. The problem I'm having is that the toppings aren't cooking quickly enough. My thoughts behind closing the top vent are that if the grill has heated up enough, then closing the top and leaving the vent on the bottom open traps that heat in the dome rather than letting it whoosh out though the chimney. The pie isn't in there long enough to drop the temps all that much and the hot air stays put in the dome to cook the toppings more quickly.

I think the solution is getting the pie higher. I'll find out next time if it helps

I do think I'll hold it back to 650° like you say though. Once I get the right stone placement I can always sneak it back up to the max

Sooner Egg

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