Fourth cook First Pizza

itguywithanegg · January 2013

Made a deep dish Pizza last night using this recipe (http://www.greeneggers.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=1106526&catid=1 ) and the 14" BGE Deep Dish Pizza stone.

All things considered it turned out very well and wife and mother in law asked for seconds and to cook it again. Win.

Lessons learned:

Make your own sauce next time. The store bought stuff I used was way too thin.
Stone needs seasoned more
Consider using place setter with legs down instead of legs up. don't think the pizza stone was getting enough heat.
I am really bad at controlling temperature. No idea what I am doing wrong but either the temp is going up or it is going down. I am unable to hold a constant temp.
When it is cold out nd you open the green egg it cools the dome temp down quite a bit. (Do you open up your vents little more to get it up to temp faster?
When you put a non preheated pizza stone with pizza in a pre heated Egg it really drops the temp a lot and fast.

All that said I can't wait to do it again.

Eggcelsior · January 2013

How long did you preheat your grill? As the egg heats, the ceramic absorbs and holds onto the heat. This allows the heat to quickly return to the pre-opened level(conversely, it makes it really hard to lower the temp if you overshoot). Cooking a deep dish is closer to baking a traditional pie than it is a high-heat thin crust pizza. That is why it is a a relatively low temp for a longer time. I would preheat for up to an hour before cooking.

You still want that air gap between the place setter and the pizza dish. If it is directly on top, the heat transfer could burn the bottom before it is cooked through.

ptmurphy · January 2013

You last bullet point indicates you are putting a cold pizza stone in a pre-heated egg. I never do this - I always let the pizza stone heat up with the egg.

Griffin · January 2013

@ptmurphy - it looks like he was using the deep dish pizza stone not a regular pizza stone.

Looks tasty. I agree with you on making your own sauce. I'm sure you would be happier with the results. Did you have a problem with the pizza sticking to the stone?

itguywithanegg · January 2013

thanks for the comment. I actually overshot the preheat by a lot. I lit the lump an hour before I started cooking. it got to 700 in about 10 minutes. Wow does it light fast with no cap and bottom vent all the way open. By the time I put the pie in the BGE dome temp was just under 500. When I put the pie in it dropped to 400 quick which is what I was aiming for all along. I would rather be lucky than good. I only opened the egg 3 times once to turn after 15 minutes the other 2 times to check to see if it was done. Each time it took about 5 minutes for the dome to get back to 400.

itguywithanegg · January 2013

Yes it was very good. Cannot wait to eat leftovers for lunch. Yes it stuck to the stone more than I would have liked. probably did not use enough Crisco. I am sure after using another couple times it will be seasoned enough for the pie to come right out.

caliking · January 2013

That's a great looking pie! I miss the deep dish from the time I lived in Chicago.

Be careful about putting a cold stone in a hot cooker. You risk cracking the stone. But I'm not sure how you would preheat the stone, since I assume that the deep dish pizza has to be assembled in the deep dish stone. Maybe you can assemble on parchment paper and just drop it into the stone when you are ready?

As mentioned above, ceramic cookers take a while to soak up enough heat to stabilize. You will find that the temps swing much less if the cooker is heated thoroughly.

I have been making pizzas for a little while, recently on the egg. Homemade sauce beats anything commercially available. If you can find San Marzano tomatoes, they are a real treat.

Fourth cook First Pizza

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