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New Forum Member - More Pictures - Pizzas on the Egg

jfm0830
jfm0830 Posts: 987
edited October 2012 in EggHead Forum
The other day when I introduced myself I posted some pictures of some of my cooks on my new Egg. Folks on this board seem to like food porn more than just about any board I've seen. So here are some more pictures of pizza cooks on my new Egg. High temperature grilled pizza on the Egg has been a revelation. My wife won't consider ordering pizza out any more and we have pizzas once or twice a week now. In addition to the thin crust version I have also made thick crust pizza and Chicago Style Deep dish pizza They have all been excellent. One of the first lessons I've learned about my Egg is you should give it a good clean out before doing a 600 or 700 degree cook. I also heat the pizza stone at the target temperature for 30 minutes before putting on the first pizza.

I will also put a link underneath each group of pictures to the picture entry on my website where you will find more pictures of each cook. Please feel free to visit the rest of my site while you are there where you'll find other picture entries, a blog, tips. Please sign the guestbook and let me know what you think. 

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My favorite pizza from the local pizzerias is a Pepperoni & Ham Pizza.
Website Link: Pepperoni & Ham Pizza


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This is a  thick crust Italian Meatlovers pizza topped with pepperoni, salami, soppresata, ham,& 6 cheese Italian cheese blend. Thicker more puffy crust same amount of toppings as the thin crust pizza. 



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Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza. This was made in the BGE 7" ceramic deep dish pizza pan which is a discontinued item replaced by the newly released  14" ceramic deep dish pizza pan. As you can see, you get a nice even golden brown crust.

That's it for today. And don't worry I plan on putting the brain trust here to work soon. I am having some direct grilling problems that I need some help resolving. But I figured I'd feed people a bit first before putting them to work :-)

Jim
Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.

Comments

  • The pies look great!

    I would say to try and turn your plate setter legs up to save your gasket, but it's too late now! Welcome to the gasket free club.

  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    edited October 2012
    Way too late, but thanks for thinking of me. My first pizza cook took out my gasket. I bought the High Que Nomex gasket, but let my wool gasket burn some more before replacing it. I finally replaced it 2 weeks ago before the temps dropped below 50 degrees. That is said to be the minimum install temperature. I've done at least a dozen high temperature cooks since then and the gasket looks about as good as new. Someone else told me this weekend to do pizzas with the platesetter legs up as you describe and put the pizza stone on the stainless steel grill grate. They said the same thing: it will help save the gasket. I definitely plan to try that, thanks again for the suggestion.
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • dlk7
    dlk7 Posts: 1,053

    Most direct grilling issues I've had have been fixed by using a raised grid.

    Beautiful pizzas - great photos!!!

    Two XL BGEs - So Happy!!!!

    Waunakee, WI

  • KingRover
    KingRover Posts: 115
    Great pics and great website. Is that the Emile Henry pizza stone? How do you like it? It seems like it would be easier to clean than a traditional stone.
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    edited October 2012
    KingRover said:
    Great pics and great website. Is that the Emile Henry pizza stone? How do you like it? It seems like it would be easier to clean than a traditional stone.

    Yes good call on that one! That is indeed the Emile Henry pizza stone. I wrote a blog entry on it when I first got it, so I'll put a link here where you can read more about my opinions on that specific pizza stone. As far as using It on the Egg, I started using it for the first 3-4 pizzas I cooked, but I soon became concerned because the pizza stone overhung the platesetter and the flames would sometimes be licking at the underside of the pizza stone particularly at the back of the Egg. I was already cooking at 600 or 700, which is far hotter than an oven, and I wasn't sure what the high-end operating temperature of the Emile Henry pizza stone was. It didn't appear to get damaged, but I didn't want to take a chance. So I invested in a BGE pizza stone and have been using that ever since and it is smaller in diameter. The comment about inverting the platesetter on this thread sounds like it would also solve some of the flame issues. It is interesting, because the thing that makes the Emile Henry pizza stone easier to clean also affects it's cooking. The glazed finish allows you to put it in the dishwasher, but it doesn't seem to crisp up the pizza quite as good as the BGE stone. You can't use soap on the BGE stone because you don't want to soak it in the pores of the ceramic. But those pores are said to draw some of the water out of the dough and help crisp the pizza. I also reduced the cooking times using the BGE stone by about 30 seconds. The pizzas were cooking faster and crisping up more. So the BGE stone is harder to clean, but it gives me a crispier pizza on the Egg. I will continue to use the Emile Henry stone for indoor baking. I am happy to have both. Here is the link for the blog entry I wrote when I first got my Emile Henry pizza stone: http://blog.grillinsmokin.net/blog_main/blog_2010/files/emile_henry_pizza_stone.php
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • KingRover
    KingRover Posts: 115

    @jfm0830

    Great review, thanks for the insight! Sounds like the BGE stone is what I'm after then.

  • Griffin
    Griffin Posts: 8,200

    Looking good @jfm0830.

    What finally got you to start posting over here? You gonna still post over at the other bbq site (which seems to be dieing a slow death)?

    Rowlett, Texas

    Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook

    The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings

     

  • r270ba
    r270ba Posts: 763
    @jfm0830 thanks for the awesome photos once again!  I wish I had the time to dedicate to some better food photography of my own.  I bought my wife a Nikon D7000 a year and a half ago and it sadly sits unused while my iPhone 5 is doing all the cooking pictures.  You may inspire me to bring it out and do some actual photography (or let my wife do it and teach me)!  

    Pizzas a couple nights a week...wow!  Do you have a quick dough recipe or just make big batches and use them through out the week?
    Anderson, SC
    XL BGE, Father's Day Gift 2012 (Thanks Fam!!!)
    Webber Kettle and Webber Summit Gasser
    Want List: Thermapen, Small BGE, Wok, Adjustable Rig, Food Saver, More $

  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987

    Looking good @jfm0830.

    What finally got you to start posting over here? You gonna still post over at the other bbq site (which seems to be dieing a slow death)?

    Thanks Griffin! In between trying to keep my website up which at times be a lot of work (as you know yourself with your blog site) and posting on the other message board I really didn't know whether I could actively participate in this board too. Most of my questions about using the Egg were answered by researching old posts here. But I did want to be able post a couple questions if I couldn't find the answers. And the only way to do that obviously is to join. If I was to join I wanted to participate, I don't want to just take, I also want to give back when I'm in a position to do so. As for the other board I don't know. You've probably noticed that it's about the same six of us posting all the time. I don't ever remember it being quite this bad ever before. And it's not that I don't like what those six people do, but it's far more interesting to see a diverse group of people posting. You certainly have that over here. What are your thoughts on the matter? What are you thinking of doing?
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    edited October 2012
    r270ba said:
    @jfm0830 thanks for the awesome photos once again!  I wish I had the time to dedicate to some better food photography of my own.  I bought my wife a Nikon D7000 a year and a half ago and it sadly sits unused while my iPhone 5 is doing all the cooking pictures.  You may inspire me to bring it out and do some actual photography (or let my wife do it and teach me)!  

    Pizzas a couple nights a week...wow!  Do you have a quick dough recipe or just make big batches and use them through out the week?

    There is an old saying in photography: The best camera is the one you have with you. I really do believe that. I used to have a very complicated set up with two SLR bodies and over a dozen lenses. But at some point I realize things were getting too complicated. I had to think about what lenses to pack before I went out and I was lugging this Big bag of gear around. Sometimes that would discourage me from even taking photos. When I got my first G series camera to start doing food photography, I found I was having a lot more fun. All I have to do is have my camera there and have a flash for it and I was good to go. I was surprised about the quality of the photos it took. And I know what you mean about the iPhone. I have my iPhone with me all the time and there is no excuse not to take photos. So I'd say keep shooting pictures with the iPhone if that's what you enjoy doing, and see if you can't get some good food photographs while your at it. If you're having fun getting decent photographs there may not be any need to learn the DSLR. But then again if you want to be able to do more have your wife teach you like you say. The point is just start shooting! I've been using the pizza recipe out of the BGE cookbook for a lot of my crusts and that has about one hour rise. I also have a pizza grilling cook book that has a recipe that you can either give a one hour rise to or a very quick rise it takes less than a half hour from when you start making the dough to cooking the crust. The Chicago style deep dish pizzas are from a recipe on the BGE site. That dough has about an hour and a half worth of rise time. But it is very good and does taste very authentic. One advantage I have now is I'm now on my own and working from home. The two hours I used to spend commuting into Boston every morning and then another two hours commuting home that night are mine to use for other tasks. Such as cooking. You can also make your dough the night before and refrigerate or freeze it and use it up to a few days later. Most of the recipes I use make several crusts so I end up refrigerating or freezing the rest. I can never tell the difference between the ones I make and use right away and the ones that have been refrigerated.
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • r270ba
    r270ba Posts: 763
    Yea the iPhone makes it so easy to be able to actually do something with the pictures.  I take a picture and it is automatically on my iPhone, iPad, MBA, iMac, wife's iPhone, wife's iPad, etc.  Then I just typically post it up to the site here and let people look :).  I might try the iPhoto app i bought for $5 and never use.  It might make the pictures look prettier :))
    Anderson, SC
    XL BGE, Father's Day Gift 2012 (Thanks Fam!!!)
    Webber Kettle and Webber Summit Gasser
    Want List: Thermapen, Small BGE, Wok, Adjustable Rig, Food Saver, More $

  • Budgeezer
    Budgeezer Posts: 669
    Nice looking za and website.  I added it to my food favorite folder.
    Edina, MN

  • Those pizzas look awesome!  Thanks for sharing!
  • Griffin
    Griffin Posts: 8,200
    jfm0830 said:
    As for the other board I don't know. You've probably noticed that it's about the same six of us posting all the time. I don't ever remember it being quite this bad ever before. And it's not that I don't like what those six people do, but it's far more interesting to see a diverse group of people posting. You certainly have that over here. What are your thoughts on the matter? What are you thinking of doing?
    Yeah, I've noticed that. I've been over there for 7 years just like you (I just checked, I've got seniority over you by a month ;) ) and I don't recall it ever being this slow. Dyal and I discussed it this summer and we thought maybe it would pick up as it the weather cooled off, but it hasn't. I hate to abandon ship on something I've been a part of for so long, but if something doesn't change soon and things don't pick up, I might.

    Rowlett, Texas

    Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook

    The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings

     

  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    Griffin said:
    Yeah, I've noticed that. I've been over there for 7 years just like you (I just checked, I've got seniority over you by a month ;) ) and I don't recall it ever being this slow. Dyal and I discussed it this summer and we thought maybe it would pick up as it the weather cooled off, but it hasn't. I hate to abandon ship on something I've been a part of for so long, but if something doesn't change soon and things don't pick up, I might.
    It's funny I don't remember you from back in the days when the board was busy, not saying I doubt you, it is just odd it was only in the last few years our paths seemed to have crossed. The board was like this at the end of last summer too. Both years I had some IM discussions with several of the moderators and they don't seemed to be real concerned. For me I only have so much time to devote to this type of activity and this place is thriving, Like I said over there it seems like it is the same small group of us posting lately and there isn't enough diversity to hold my interest. And most of us have Eggs anyway other than say Brad. Is Dyal a member over here? He should be.

    Jim
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.