Pizza beginner

Parchment paper, temp depends on the dough, plate setter legs up, grid then stone or even elevate stone a little more. After a couple of minutes you can remove the parchment paper, rotate pizza for even cooking. I have a BGE stone made for the large. Good Luck !

There are so many ways to cook pizza on the Egg, it's one of the most fun journeys to go on. As you're starting out and cooking for friends at the same time, I personally recommend keeping it simple, and if you have time do a practice run first, even if it just to make a simple cheese and tomato pizza.

As to your questions

I've only used stone, so can't comment on steel, and there are folks here that have cooked pizza direct on the stainless steel grid. You must ensure that your pizza stone can take the heat, I've lost count of the number of people that have shown standard oven pizza stones cracked when using at a higher temp in the Egg. I use the BGE ceramic pizza stone.

For a first time, go low, 500F. It's easy to keep cooking an underdone pizza but impossible to turn back time and uncook an overdone one. I started at this temp, worked my way up to 715 for thin crust.

Agree with what @nolaegghead on the dough, keep it simple. If this is your first time you could simplify and buy the dough, just focus on getting the Egg bit right.

Less is indeed more. A simple pizza is cheese, partially cooked sausage meat and spinach. Too much sauce, cheese or wet ingredients (e.g. mushrooms) can lead to a soggy base.

These link to my blog post on how I make dough and cook pizza, there are some hints and tips in there.

https://thecooksdigest.co.uk/2016/08/24/cooking-pizza-with-a-big-green-egg/

https://thecooksdigest.co.uk/2016/08/12/oven-baked-ham-and-mushroom-pizza/

And good luck, let us know how it goes.

jld said:

.....
So a few questions:
- Steel or stone? What diameter do I need to fit properly in the dome of my egg?
- What setup/temp should I use?
- What dough should I use?
- What style of pizza is tasty but also forgiving? How thick should it be pulled?
- Any other advice?

Some responses to your questions:
- Steel or stone? - Either work.  Steel transfers heat much faster so you have to adjust timings and temps compared to using a stone.  Most folks on this forum use stones so the advice you get will be based on stones.  Stones will be lighter and rust is not a problem. You want a stone that is at least 5/8" thick made of cordierite. Both the BGE and CGS stones meet this.  If you have a good pottery supply store near you, you can get a kiln shelf.  Pizza stones and kiln shelves are the same thing.  Kiln shelves sell for less than an equivalent pizza stone. While you are at the pottery supply store you could also get some kiln shelf posts to use as spacers in the egg.

- What setup should I use? - Indirect plate setter then an air gap and then the pizza stone.  Cooking height of the pizza stone is important - the key is to get the stone close enough to the dome to get the right amount of radiant heat coming off the dome. If the stone is too far from the dome, the toppings will not be done by the time the dough is cooked. If the stone is too close to the dome, the toppings will burn by the time the dough is cooked. The proper height will depend on the dough recipe, cooking temp, dough thickness, and amount of toppings. Many find the sweet spot to have the stone 2-3" above the felt line - but remember you will need to dial it in for yourself. We all make our pizzas a little different so take all the advice as a starting point and make adjustments for your personal style.

- What temp should I use? - Whatever temp the dough you are using is designed for.  To start I would recommend using a dough designed for typical American style pizza - 500º plus or minus 50º.   Don't try Neapolitan style as your first pizza especially with guests to impress.  Make sure to give the ceramics enough time to soak up all the heat they will hold. Warm up time will be 45-60 minutes - you need a steady-state if you want to be able to consistently produce good results.

- What dough should I use? - Lots of options but to start get a dough designed for moderate temps.  Lots of recipes on line or here on the BGE forum.  You can also get ready made at most grocery stores.  Your local pizzeria may also sell dough balls. There are many types of pizza and they have differing cooking needs. In general, I think of the differences in terms of "thin crust/high temp/short time/high hydration dough'" vs "thick crust/lower temp/longer time/lower hydration dough". Many people like what is often called American style pizza. This is medium to medium-thick crust cooked at moderate temps for longer times. 500°F +- works well for this. 

- What style of pizza is tasty but also forgiving? How thick should it be pulled?  Most of the pizzas I see posted on this forum are medium thick crust with a heavy load of toppings. The 475-550º range is fine for this style. A lot of the dough recipes circulating are designed for this temperature range.  Cooking in this range gives is the most forgiving in terms of time/temp. Once the egg is up to temp you can cook multiple pizzas in succession.  Make smaller pizzas with different toppings to offer your guests a variety of options.

- Any other advice? - Take it easy on the toppings.  Just a few kinds on any one pizza.  Don't over sauce - let the dough and toppings be the main attraction.

nolaegghead said:

I use Tipo 00 flour, but it's a specialty flour for certain types of pizza.  Regular All Purpose (AP) flour works fine.  My recommendation is to find a popular recipe for the pizza dough type you like that is minimalist and measured by weight.  Salt, water, yeast, flour.  Keep it simple.  Learn technique. Or just buy some dough.  No shame there.

Cary, question for you. have you ever tried the Tipo 00 in making your own pasta? I haven't....but was curious how it works if you had been down that road.

northGAcock said:

nolaegghead said:

I use Tipo 00 flour, but it's a specialty flour for certain types of pizza.  Regular All Purpose (AP) flour works fine.  My recommendation is to find a popular recipe for the pizza dough type you like that is minimalist and measured by weight.  Salt, water, yeast, flour.  Keep it simple.  Learn technique. Or just buy some dough.  No shame there.

Cary, question for you. have you ever tried the Tipo 00 in making your own pasta? I haven't....but was curious how it works if you had been down that road.

@northGAcock I have not.  I've used it to make bread and it makes the style of bread I like to make worse.  

I use a 50/50 mix of tipo 00 and AP in my pizza.

First timer with pizza as well.  Great advice from all.  May be a dumb question, but do I preheat the pizza stone in the BGE or put pizza on the stone and then put in when the stone is room temp?  Thanks in advance.

The purpose of using a pizza stone is to store a large amount of heat that can be rapidly transferred to the dough.  By preheating the stone, heat is stored. It is transferred to the dough by conduction.  Most pizzas benefit by this rapid heat transfer.  

Not only does the stone need to soak up a lot of heat, but the dome does as well. Warm up times may actually be closer to one hour.  You should really have a steady state condition in the egg before starting to cook the pizza. The ceramics take much longer to heat up than the air. 

tigertams said:

First timer with pizza as well.  Great advice from all.  May be a dumb question, but do I preheat the pizza stone in the BGE or put pizza on the stone and then put in when the stone is room temp?  Thanks in advance.

Always pre-heat and please ensure that you have a pizza stone that can take the temp of the Egg. Stones as thin as the one below almost certainly won't work and will crack in the Egg:



Big Green Egg sell a popular one.