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Pizza rookie needs help!

Hey, everyone -

The plan is for a pizza + a deep dish pizza this evening.  I'm asking you good folks to make sure I'm doing this right;

I am planning on doing the deep dish first (in a BGE deep dish stone) @ around 400 degrees for, I'm guessing, about an hour?
Then, I'm planning on letting the temp rise to about 700 degrees to do the "regulard" pie (on a BGE flat stone) for about 15 minutes?

I wasn't planning on using the Plate Setter...just a raised grid at the temp's above.

Thoughts?  Any advice you can give is, as always, very much appreciated!

Thanks!

Comments

  • TexanOfTheNorth
    TexanOfTheNorth Posts: 3,951
    I've never done a deep-dish before so I can't help you there. However, Id suggest getting as high in the dome as you can. I do mine between 5-600 and it only takes about 10-12 minutes so your time seems a little long to me at 700.

    Some people have trouble transferring their pies onto the Eggg. I guess you won't have this problem with the deep dish? I assume that you'll put the baking stone in before the regular pizza so that it warms up (i'd suggest you do that if you weren't planning on it). Make sure that you use some corn meal on your peel to help keep the dough from sticking. I like to transfer my rolled dough onto my peel before adding my sauce, toppings and cheese. I make sure to turn the pie several times during this process to make sure it is not sticking.

    I've also seen posts where people mention a hot spot towards the back of the egg that requires them to rotate the pie during the cook. I've never had this issue myself but you may want to take it into account.

    And, remember, pictures or it didn't happen.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Well, "spa-Peggy" is kind of like spaghetti. I'm not sure what Peggy does different, if anything. But it's the one dish she's kind of made her own.
    ____________________
    Aurora, Ontario, Canada
  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    I don't have a BGE deep dish stone, I use a 9" cake pan instead. 475° for 37 minutes. Platesetter, legs down, spacers on top to raise the pizza stone about 4" above the PS. Cake pan on the stone. If using the ceramic dish, I'm guessing it will take a bit longer, but you still need to go indirect.

    As for the regular pie, same setup. Depending on the dough you're using, 700° might be too much. Most go around 500° for 8-10 minutes. At 700, maybe 4-5 minutes. HAS to be indirect though! And raised as mentioned above. If you go 700° direct for 15 minutes, your pizza will look like your lump. :)

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

  • grege345
    grege345 Posts: 3,515
    I've done pizza twice so take it for what it's worth. First time I did a raised grid no platesetter with a pizza stone. Crust was golden brown and crispy. I loved it. Yesterday I did with platesetter feet down and pizza stone resting on 1/2 inch nuts on top of platesetter. Temp around 500 same as without platesetter. With the platesetter it didn't seem like the ston got hot enough. In curious what others will say but I'm going back to raised grid,stone, no platesetter.
    LBGE& SBGE———————————————•———————– Pennsylvania / poconos

  • SaltySam
    SaltySam Posts: 887

    We do deep dish in a well-oiled cast iron skillet, at 400 for about 30-40 minutes. We rotate 90 degrees at about the 20 minute mark. Once the cheese is starting to brown on top, we'll check the sides to make sure the dough is cooked through.   The fact that you're doing yours in a stone dish might make the cook time go a bit longer.  (I'm assuming that stone takes a while longer to heat up than cast iron).  I'd suggest checking for doneness starting at the 40 minute mark.

    Another tip I picked up is to transfer the cooked pie to a wire grid soon after you take it off the Egg.  Let it sit on the grid for about 5 minutes, then move it to a flat surface where you can slice it.  I'm not sure what it does, but the one time I didn't, the crust didn't taste as good.

    I think your cooking order is correct. Low temps first, then go nuclear. But, I agree with others that cooking indirect is the way to go.

    For the regular thin crust pizzas, spread out your dough on some parchment paper, then transfer the entire assembly (parchment paper and all) to a pre-heated pizza stone on the hot grill.  After a few minutes, the dough has cooked enough where you can remove the paper from underneath.  If you don't remove it, it's not a big deal.  Some think it crisps up the crust a bit more.  At 500-600 degrees, you're looking at 5-6 minutes until it's done.

    Round pizzas aren't required by any means.  If you make a kidney shaped pizza, you're still doing it right.  Have fun, and above all, be careful.  Super high cooking temps require a little extra attention. 

    Post pics!

    LBGE since June 2012

    Omaha, NE

  • Tjcoley
    Tjcoley Posts: 3,551
    I've compared the deep dish stoneware to a CI pan - same pizza - Chicago Deep Dish, same set up, same temp (Egg stabilized at 450 for an hour). Stoneware took an hour to cook, CI 20 minutes. http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1145143/chicago-malnati-s-style-pizza-steel-vs-stoneware-pan#latest
    __________________________________________
    It's not a science, it's an art. And it's flawed.
    - Camp Hill, PA
  • Firemanyz
    Firemanyz Posts: 907
    I will agree with the above posts I do my pizzas around 625 PS legs down with my pizza stone sitting on top of four 2 inch teracotta flour pots. This is to create an air gap between the two stones. I put the pizzas on the grill on parchment paper and remove the paper after a few min and they are normally done in 8 to 10 min.


    GOOD LUCK
  • Firemanyz
    Firemanyz Posts: 907
    How did they turn out? Pics?
  • Good morning.  And, thanks again for all the help! 

    I tried posting and update yesterday evening - with pictures - but they needed to be "approved" before they would be posted.  And, apparently they weren't approved....so, let's try without pictures.

    I had the egg @ 500 degrees with the pizza stone sitting on the elevated grid over direct heat.  I sprinkled corn meal on the stone and put each pizza on parchment paper to start.  After the dough set-up (maybe 15-minutes for the thick crust and only 5-minutes for the thin crust) I pulled the parchment paper.  The thick crust took about 35'ish minutes and the thin crust took about 15-minutes total.

    To be honest, I was winging it a bit and just judging by lifting and peaking at the crust and watching the toppings and cheese.  I guess I just got lucky with the crust and the toppings being done at the same time because I pulled each when the crust was where I wanted it and the cheese was just starting to get that "toasted" look.

    They were excellent!   The crust was golden brown and crispy on the outside but light on the inside, the cheese had just a little smoky flavor (I didn't add any wood - just a little bit of the smoky taste of the lump) and was toasted on the top and the ingredients were all cooked just right.

    I chalk that up to beginners luck!  But, my kids said they wished they could have had the left-overs for breakfast!

    Thanks for all the info!! 
  • TexanOfTheNorth
    TexanOfTheNorth Posts: 3,951
    EggerInCharlotte... kids can be your toughest critics so it sounds like you nailed this one!
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Well, "spa-Peggy" is kind of like spaghetti. I'm not sure what Peggy does different, if anything. But it's the one dish she's kind of made her own.
    ____________________
    Aurora, Ontario, Canada
  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    I cook my pizzas around that same temperature --- but mine are done in less than ten minutes.  "Done" - meaning tanned across the bottom and top cheese melted and brown???
  • ...for me, I was "guessing" at done and pulled the pies when the bottom was a consistent "toasted" brown across the entire bottom of the pie, the ingredients were soft (almost as though they were sauteed) and the cheese was the "toasted" - meaning the some of the cheese was the slightest of "burnt" on the top of the cheese bubbles.




  • grege345
    grege345 Posts: 3,515
    How long was the stone in the egg before you added pizza?
    LBGE& SBGE———————————————•———————– Pennsylvania / poconos

  • WalrusBBQ
    WalrusBBQ Posts: 153
    You in Charlotte, NC I assume?

    I am as well - 
    ------------
    Beers & BBQ

  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    All our pizza have raw onions on as a topping along with other ingredients, the onions get hot enough to fully cook under the melted cheese..
  • WalrusBBQ
    WalrusBBQ Posts: 153
    Man, that looks delicious Charlie
    ------------
    Beers & BBQ

  • I had the stone and the egg come up to temperature at the same time....once the fire was established, I closed the egg and had the stone on the raised grid for, I would say, nearly an hour to bring the temp up to and stabilize at 500 degrees.


  • Here's another try at posting at least the raw thick crust pie....


  • And, here is the raw thin crust....


  • And, here is the only picture I got of the finished thick crust - I didn't get any other pictures because the kids got into TOOO fast!
  • SamFerrise
    SamFerrise Posts: 556
    Deep dish cooked in a cast iron skillet on the Egg.

    Simple ingredients, amazing results!