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papa murphy's pizza

uncledave
uncledave Posts: 90
edited December 2011 in EggHead Forum
I got a pizza stone for Christmas. I have not cooked a pizza on by xl bge. I got a papa murphy's 12" with the works. Do I put it directly on the stone or leave it on the baking tray that comes with it? I assume I do an indirect set up and heat to 425 like the baking instructions say. Do I place the stone on the cooking grid? I am going to cook this tomorrow nite. Thanks for any help I get.
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Comments

  • We cook pappa Murphy's all the time in the egg. We takeit off the tray but you can leave it on. We ask that they sprinkle some flour on the tray prior to making our pizza so it slides off easier. Without flour it is very difficult to get it off without ruining the pizza. Good luck.
  • I do have a place setter. How hot do you go and how long usually?
  • I didn't get green feet with the xl. You think just set the pizza stone on the plate setter. How long of cook?
  • I cook pizzas on my large BGE with an inverted plate setter and pizza stone on top. I use some corn meal to keep the dough from sticking and cook at 550 degrees.  Once you have pizzas on the BGE, you will never want to make them any other way.  Below is a pic of my pizza set up.  Good luck.

     

    image
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,427
    I put the pizza on with the paper tray, then use my metal peel to separate them and put the pizza directly on the stone at about the halfway point; if I leave it in the tray it scorches pretty badly, not the kind of smoke I'm looking for.  
    _____________

    "I mean, I don't just kill guys, I'm notorious for doing in houseplants."  - Maggie, Northern Exposure


  • uncledave,

    Put your platesetter in feet up. Put your grid/grill in and place your pizza stone on the grill. Stabilize your BGE about 25 degrees(dome) above the instructed cooking temp. This accounts for the difference in temp from the dome to the grate. Cook as instructed. I use the paper tray.

  • tfoutch
    tfoutch Posts: 76
    edited December 2011

    Here's how I take a PM pizza off the pan without tearing it up.

    Turn it upside down while still in the plastic wrap.  Cut the wrap with scissors.  Gently peel the pan off.  Dust the exposed crust with corn meal.  Place the Pizza Peel on the crust.  Place your hand under the pizza keeping the wrap in place, and flip it over!.  You may loose a couple of toppings, but this is the best way I have found.  Sliding the peel  between the crust and pan seems to tear it every time. 

    I asked the PM people to flour my pan before making it.  Told me they didn't keep any at the store since their dough comes premixed.  (Not too helpful!).

    TFOUTCH Algood, Tennessee
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,427

    Here's how I take a PM pizza off the pan without tearing it up.

    Turn it upside down while still in the plastic wrap.  Cut the wrap with scissors.  Gently peel the pan off.  Dust the exposed crust with corn meal.  Place the Pizza Peel on the crust.  Place your hand under the pizza keeping the wrap in place, and flip it over!.  You may loose a couple of toppings, but this is the best way I have found.  

    Oh, I'll have to try that next time.  I have two peels (one metal and one wood) so I'll use the metal peel under the toppings, hopefully that'll keep it mostly together.  Thanks!  
    _____________

    "I mean, I don't just kill guys, I'm notorious for doing in houseplants."  - Maggie, Northern Exposure


  • Well I cooked my pizza. Did it with the plate setter legs up and the pizza stone on the grate. I had the dome at 500 degrees. It was a papa murphys favorite. It had alot of toppings. I cooked it for 16 minutes and the cheese never did start to brown but the crust was almost burnt so I quit. It tasted good but would have liked the toppings more done and the crust less done. Should I lower the dome temp next time?
  • I invert my place setter and put the stone directly on the grid... (I remove the paper tray).

    I think the key is to pre-heat the stone for about 20 minutes before throwing on the pizza.... and using corn meal on the stone is a must to avoid the tear when pulling off the 'Za.

    PM is a great way to make pizza on the egg...but don't get intimidated about making your own dough and sauce, it isn't too difficult or time consuming... and you're in control of all of it!

    BOOMER!
  • tfoutch
    tfoutch Posts: 76
    edited December 2011

     

    TFOUTCH Algood, Tennessee
  • tfoutch
    tfoutch Posts: 76
    edited December 2011

    Don't know why this posted twice - sorry.

    Best I can tell with the PM pizza is to cook at the temp on the package.  I too, tried it hotter and ended up with burnt crust and underdone toppings.  Doing it at the temp and time on the package results in a better pizza than you can ever get in the oven.  The other thing is it seems that you need a  little clearance with the crust from the edge of the stone, or the crust will burn around the edges. 

    TFOUTCH Algood, Tennessee
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,427
    I keep seeing "cornmeal is necessary on the stone to keep the pie from sticking".  I've been making pizzas for years and have never put cornmeal on the stone; once the pie rests on the hot stone a minute or two it never sticks.
    On the peel, yes; its required.  But not the stone.  
    _____________

    "I mean, I don't just kill guys, I'm notorious for doing in houseplants."  - Maggie, Northern Exposure


  • tdbmd
    tdbmd Posts: 46
    What is the pizza peel mentioned in this thread?  Thanks from a newbie.
  • tdbmd
    tdbmd Posts: 46
    What is the pizza peel mentioned in this thread?  Thanks from a newbie.
  • tjv
    tjv Posts: 3,830
    image



    I do the thin crust, delite, PM pizzas directly on the cardboard packaging.  I find doing them on a stone, the dough gets crispier than doing them in the oven.  I use a 16" stone atop the adjustable rig's rig extender. No  other stone involved, so minimal impact on the felt lining.  tom
    www.ceramicgrillstore.com ACGP, Inc.
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,427
    What is the pizza peel mentioned in this thread?  Thanks from a newbie.
    Basically its just an oversized spatula to place the pie on the stone, and retrieve it:
     

    _____________

    "I mean, I don't just kill guys, I'm notorious for doing in houseplants."  - Maggie, Northern Exposure


  • jaydub58
    jaydub58 Posts: 2,167

    We do PM take-n-bake about three Saturdays a month.  After some struggling getting the pizza off the tray, my local BGE dealer got me straightened out.

    Now when I go to PM's, I ask them to flip the pizza crust over, "sticky side up".  That is done before the pizza is assembled..

    Now, when the pizza stone is up to heat, I sprinkle on some corn meal, and unwrap the pizza, and gently start picking it up from the edges.  It gets gathered up, a bit like a big tortilla shell cooked to serve taco salad,  Then transfer it over to the stone and smooth out.  Some toppings will need to be smoothed out also, but that's okay.  All by hand, don't use a peel.

    Cook to directions on package.  Wonderful!  And easy..................

    John in the Willamette Valley of Oregon
  • I have had a heck of a time getting a PM's pizza to come out well on my L BGE. I always end up with an under-done crust that is still raw and doughy inside, but toppings that are cooked well-done. 

    I have tried pre-heating for an hour, to get the stone good and hot, but even that doesn't seem to help. (Check the stone temp with an infrared thermometer, you'll be surprised how long it takes to heat that thing up!)

    Honestly I have never had as much trouble with anything in my BGE as these pizzas! I don't know what I am doing wrong. Any ideas? I have a platesetter, stone, and raised grid available to me. 

  • ChokeOnSmoke
    ChokeOnSmoke Posts: 1,942
    edited December 2011
    I have had a heck of a time getting a PM's pizza to come out well on my L BGE. I always end up with an under-done crust that is still raw and doughy inside, but toppings that are cooked well-done. 

    I have tried pre-heating for an hour, to get the stone good and hot, but even that doesn't seem to help. (Check the stone temp with an infrared thermometer, you'll be surprised how long it takes to heat that thing up!)

    Honestly I have never had as much trouble with anything in my BGE as these pizzas! I don't know what I am doing wrong. Any ideas? I have a platesetter, stone, and raised grid available to me. 

    I have the same feeling about pizza on the egg.  It's the only thing I can't figure out.  Thing is, I have the exact opposite problem as you.  More times than not I burn the crust!
    I have an XL and go plate setter legs up, grid, then pizza stone on the grid.  I can put the pizza stone in for as little as 20 minutes and it will still burn the bottom.  Really pisses me off.

    Packerland, Wisconsin

  • jaydub58
    jaydub58 Posts: 2,167
    The way I have always done it is, plate setter legs down, 4 half-inch nuts on setter, pizza stone on them, and a dusting of corn meal on the stone,  Bring the stone to about 380-390 degrees and cook.  Never been anything but great.
    John in the Willamette Valley of Oregon
  • talltrevor
    talltrevor Posts: 54
    edited December 2011
    I agree with jaydub58 & NotoriousPAT,
    Legs down with the stone right on the platesetter (raised with nuts so your stone doesn't get too hot with induction.)  I would also guess that pre-heating the stone would be counter-productive to not burning the bottom of the pizza.  I mean, I would think you would want the top to get a running start before the bottom started to warm up.
    My mistake on my first cook was that I was too ambitious - I did homemade pizzas two at once.  They turned out fine (I'm pretty sure I cooked them at 375) but the bottoms were a little extra crispy for my liking - just a little too brown.  I cooked it on the grate so I could use the double rack - next time I will stick to one pizza and invert the place setter and do it proper.
    Also, not sure the quality of the BGE Pizza stone but we do 100% of our baking (in the oven and BGE) on StoneWare.  It's expensive but nearly impossible to burn anything on them.
    image
    I love my egg.
  • I finally busted my bad luck streak with PM pizza on the Egg. ChokeOnSmoke, you said you always burned the crust, and I have the opposite problem so I tried your technique... Plate setter, legs up, grid on that, pizza stone on that. I cooked at about 400-450F (I let it increase a bit at the end) and slid the pie off the paper tray after about 10 minutes. 

    Total cooking time was about 25 minutes. That seems long, and I would suspect my thermometer of being off if I had not calibrated it recently. 


  • We bake PM delite pizzas weekly on a large BGE and have gotten pretty consistant results through some trial and error. Plate setter legs down with pizza stone directly on it cook  pizza still in paper tray and have never burned one yet. Preheating 30 min is critical as is a clean firebox (as usual). It takes maybe 20 minutes cook time at 425F, but check on it at 10min and rotate pizza 180dg. The first pizza takes a little longer than successive pies so a higher temp up to 500F seems to help attain a crispy crust. You just have to keep an eye on each pizza and be flexible, you'll get the hang of it.
  • tdbmd
    tdbmd Posts: 46
    I just did my first PM pizza yesterday with essentially the same method as byrdmann outlines above and we had great results as well.  Only my second cook on the Egg, so still learning as I go.  
  • Canary
    Canary Posts: 37
    I'm embarrassed to say that I will make frozen Red Baron pizza tonight on my first cook on my Egg (XL). I've never even seen an Egg in operation so I am more interested in firing it up and seeing how it works, heats up, etc. and figure I might as well throw a pizza on it not to waste the lump.

    Will have a plate setter legs up, grid and an XL BGE pizza stone on top of that. Hoping to cook at 500ish. Wish me luck.

    My wife doesn't know what the fuss/concern is about. Maybe much ado about nothing but I've gone from a Weber kettle to the BGE. Kind of like going straight to the pros from high school. Not many can pull it off. I'm going to make a million mistakes. And that's fine by me.
    If Canary can do it you can too!
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,427
    Read thru this thread again on Sunday, got hungry and went and got a PM (I usually make my pizzas from scratch, with dough left in the frig overnight).  When I do buy a PM, I usually get the deLITE style (very thin) and have excellent results with legs down, stone on green feet, preheat at least 1/2 hour to 550.
    HOWEVER, my Mom suggested I try the "Cowboy", her favorite; that thing is THICK and HEAVY.  I thought maybe I should try a lower temperature, but in the interest of science I didn't modify the technique I use with the deLITEs.  
    Sure enough, by the time the toppings were cooked, the bottom crust was toast and really ruined the whole pie.
     
    In retrospect this makes sense; just as you sear a 1" steak over really high heat, but cook a 10-lb brisket "low-und-slow" over low heat, the pie thickness will dictate some how you cook the pie (I imagine PM's "stuffed" pizzas would be cooked at an even lower temperature).  I'm wondering now if PM's instructions have you "oven-bake" the pies at different temps, depending on their thickness; will have to remember to check that next time.  
    _____________

    "I mean, I don't just kill guys, I'm notorious for doing in houseplants."  - Maggie, Northern Exposure


  • tfoutch
    tfoutch Posts: 76

    Yes, the instructions are different temps for different crusts.  Cooked my last one at their prescribed temp, (stuffed crust) and worked out good.

     

    TFOUTCH Algood, Tennessee
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,427
    Thanks, tfoutch!  
    _____________

    "I mean, I don't just kill guys, I'm notorious for doing in houseplants."  - Maggie, Northern Exposure


  • The Cowboy is my go-to pie there... well, I have them put on extra cheese instead of sausage. But yeah, that is a pretty thick pie which may be why I had have a problem with an under-done crust.