wetting the stone

DWFII · October 2018

Photo Egg

Thanks for idea. I'll look into that.

fishlessman · October 2018

DWFII said:

fishlessman said:

DWFII said:

You know, I had a lot of dark cornmeal/semolina on the stone and under the edge of the pizza on this last cook. I never thought about it causing darkening but it makes sense.

definitely ditch the cornmeal

Why? What's wrong with the cornmeal?
Not saying you're wrong but we've been using it for years...I can remember the first pizza I ever ate (in a pizza parlor) --60 some years ago. that was the thing I remember most--the cornmeal on the bottom of the crust.

i dont have good luck with cornmeal and a pizza stone. i do use a little cornmeal with pan or tray pizzas, years ago around me, just about everyplace made pizza either with a tray or a pan. i still make that type of pizza and use cornmeal for that. all you really need is flour worked into the peel and to work quick enough that it doesnt stick to the peel.

fishlessman · October 2018

oh and @DWFII , pizza is hard to give advice on for cooking, we all have different tastes and visions of the finished product. thats why theres so many different styles out there and they are all cooked differently.

Canugghead · October 2018

matter of fact, I omitted cornmeal/flour last couple of cooks, like @fishlessman
said, work quick, wooden peel also better than metal for launching. Jerk the pie just before launching, if it still sticks try the hovercraft trick.

DWFII · October 2018

Hovercraft trick?

Canugghead · October 2018

lift a corner, blow under so it floats momentarily like a hovercraft

fishlessman · October 2018

DWFII said:

Hovercraft trick?

if the pies not sticking you can keep it moving on the peel with quick short shakes, i do this when building the pie, lay out the dough shake it, add sauce, shake it, add toppings, keep it shaking until its tossed on the stone, it should look like its hovering on the peel before launching. if you are slow at building pies, the parchment is a good trick.

Woodchunk · October 2018

We use grill foil now. Works great and the pie still Browns on the bottom. No need to put anything on the stone like corn meal. Foil stays under the pie for the whole cook

alaskanassasin · October 2018

DWFII said:

fishlessman said:

DWFII said:

You know, I had a lot of dark cornmeal/semolina on the stone and under the edge of the pizza on this last cook. I never thought about it causing darkening but it makes sense.

definitely ditch the cornmeal

Why? What's wrong with the cornmeal?
Not saying you're wrong but we've been using it for years...I can remember the first pizza I ever ate (in a pizza parlor) --60 some years ago. that was the thing I remember most--the cornmeal on the bottom of the crust.

So are you saying he is wrong?

Personally I have gone back to the oven, I had mixed results with pizza on the egg, 1 in 5 was great. Plus while cooking pizzas I have cracked 2 fire boxes, one ring and a base.

Legume · October 2018

Bahahahaha

tjv · October 2018

tjv said:

parchment paper will put a barrier between your dough and stone. you can drop your temps into the 400 to 450 dome range to prevent burning on dough.

t

The parchment paper will help keep the dark sooty film that rest on a stone off your pizza.

If you worry about burned crust, then just drop the temps. Most folks have trouble maintaining pizza stone temps. They get the stone too hot and burn the dough before the rest of pizza is done, especially on multi-pizza cooks.

One way to fix burning is cook at more moderate temps. It will take longer but you should have better control on the dough. There is a reason why most frozen pizzas found in the freezer case at the grocery store are in the 425ish oven temp range.

t

DWFII · October 2018

alaskanassasin said:

So are you saying he is wrong?
Personally I have gone back to the oven, I had mixed results with pizza on the egg, 1 in 5 was great. Plus while cooking pizzas I have cracked 2 fire boxes, one ring and a base.

Maybe...but the difference is that just before that admittedly throw-away comment, I asked "What's wrong with cornmeal?" ASKED...as in seeking information or correction.

And not to put too fine a point on it, in my exchange with Photo Egg, I said 'I don't know whether you're being a "smart *ss" or not (not sure it would bother me if you were) but....'

I'm not against throw-away remarks--they are lead-ins, reassurances, prefaces, tension breakers, etc..

I was just commenting on a comment. Somewhat tongue-in-cheek. And even in the following discussion, I didn't accuse or even accept Photo Egg's self-characterization.

I suppose you could say that my answer to Photo Egg was itself a throw-away--tension-breaker,reassurance, etc..

DWFII · October 2018

And before this gets too far in the weeds, let me thank all of you for the constructive and helpful advice and perspectives....I got some good ideas to experiment with.

caliking · October 2018

alaskanassasin said:

DWFII said:

fishlessman said:

DWFII said:

You know, I had a lot of dark cornmeal/semolina on the stone and under the edge of the pizza on this last cook. I never thought about it causing darkening but it makes sense.

definitely ditch the cornmeal

Why? What's wrong with the cornmeal?
Not saying you're wrong but we've been using it for years...I can remember the first pizza I ever ate (in a pizza parlor) --60 some years ago. that was the thing I remember most--the cornmeal on the bottom of the crust.

So are you saying he is wrong?
Personally I have gone back to the oven, I had mixed results with pizza on the egg, 1 in 5 was great. Plus while cooking pizzas I have cracked 2 fire boxes, one ring and a base.

Similar experience here. Have been experimenting with pizza in the oven these past few weeks, and have been very pleased with the results. Last high temp cook cracked the firebox and the ring.

Carolina Q · October 2018

Woodchunk said:

We use grill foil now. Works great and the pie still Browns on the bottom. No need to put anything on the stone like corn meal. Foil stays under the pie for the whole cook

Cornmeal doesn't go on the stone. It goes on the peel to keep the pie from sticking when you launch it onto the stone. If you put it on the stone, it doesn't do anything... except burn. A pizza won't stick to a hot stone anyway. I just use a little flour on the peel these days. Works well.

Had to look up grill foil as I'd never heard of it. I don't like anything between pizza and stone. Tried parchment a few times, but didn't care for the result. Would never have thought of using foil for pizza.

As for all you guys doing pizza in the oven, you should be ashamed of yourselves!

Woodchunk · October 2018

Carolina Q said:

Woodchunk said:

We use grill foil now. Works great and the pie still Browns on the bottom. No need to put anything on the stone like corn meal. Foil stays under the pie for the whole cook

Cornmeal doesn't go on the stone. It goes on the peel to keep the pie from sticking when you launch it onto the stone. If you put it on the stone, it doesn't do anything... except burn. A pizza won't stick to a hot stone anyway. I just use a little flour on the peel these days. Works well.

Had to look up grill foil as I'd never heard of it. I don't like anything between pizza and stone. Tried parchment a few times, but didn't care for the result. Would never have thought of using foil for pizza.

As for all you guys doing pizza in the oven, you should be ashamed of yourselves!

Pretty much it goes on the stone every time you slide the pie off the peel, and there it can burn. We make the pie on the foil and just slide it off the peel. Works great for us and keeps the stone clean

DWFII · October 2018

Carolina Q said:

If you put it on the stone, it doesn't do anything... except burn. A pizza won't stick to a hot stone anyway. I just use a little flour on the peel these days. Works well.

Doesn't the flour get on the stone and burn just like the cornmeal does?

As for all you guys doing pizza in the oven, you should be ashamed of yourselves!

Yeah that's the main reason I wanted a BGE in the first place. The wife does do pizza in the oven. But she doesn't like the way the kitchen heats up esp. in the summer months. Can you imagine going without pizza all summer?

BYW and OT, try some Nduja on your next pizza...really a tasty, interesting topping.

NorthPilot06 · October 2018

Carolina Q said:

Woodchunk said:

We use grill foil now. Works great and the pie still Browns on the bottom. No need to put anything on the stone like corn meal. Foil stays under the pie for the whole cook

Cornmeal doesn't go on the stone. It goes on the peel to keep the pie from sticking when you launch it onto the stone. If you put it on the stone, it doesn't do anything... except burn. A pizza won't stick to a hot stone anyway. I just use a little flour on the peel these days. Works well.

Had to look up grill foil as I'd never heard of it. I don't like anything between pizza and stone. Tried parchment a few times, but didn't care for the result. Would never have thought of using foil for pizza.

As for all you guys doing pizza in the oven, you should be ashamed of yourselves!

Unless it’s a pizza oven, in which case carry on

NorthPilot06 · October 2018

DWFII said:

Carolina Q said:

If you put it on the stone, it doesn't do anything... except burn. A pizza won't stick to a hot stone anyway. I just use a little flour on the peel these days. Works well.

Doesn't the flour get on the stone and burn just like the cornmeal does?

As for all you guys doing pizza in the oven, you should be ashamed of yourselves!
Yeah that's the main reason I wanted a BGE in the first place. The wife does do pizza in the oven. But she doesn't like the way the kitchen heats up esp. in the summer months. Can you imagine going without pizza all summer?

BYW and OT, try some Nduja on your next pizza...really a tasty, interesting topping.

Flour can burn just the same, sure. Just be careful not to use too much.

I use a perforated metal peel (from GI Metals) and - if you give a pizza a good shake before putting it in the oven / on the stone - I’ve found it to effectively discard excess flour.

unoriginalusername · October 2018

i put my wife's favourite dish towel in a bowl of water, put on a pit mitt, dunk the cloth and rub it all over the stone. then slide pizza on parchment paper onto the cooled stone in a very hot egg.

blame the dog for the dish towel

NorthPilot06 · October 2018

Enjoy that pizza, it may be your last meal

SmokeyPitt · October 2018

Another option is a pizza screen.Similar results to parchement...but even easier to use and transfer.

EggNorth · October 2018

I also have a few here who do not like their crust too dark or crunchy.

What I do is have my normal setup: platesetter legs up, grill, two haft moon BGE extended racks, then pizza stone. Heat egg to approx. 500 for a while, never check stone temp.

I cook their pizza on parchment paper and pizza pan, placed on the stone. When the toppings are done, The pizza is placed directly on the stone until the correct doneness (sometimes this step is not needed)

The process for me and my wife is parchment paper for a few minutes, then stone.

I have cooked pizza in the house, but the taste is not the same at all ... Better on the Egg.

DWFII · October 2018

Crispy/crunchy is fine with me--I'm just not fond of the taste of carbonised crust. [shrug]

jtcBoynton · October 2018

What about putting your stone in a little closer to launch time?

No. The stone needs time to soak up heat to be ready for cooking. Most problems with crust cooking too fast compared to the toppings are solved by moving the stone higher into the dome so the toppings pick up more radiant heat (need to get the heat inputs in proper balance).

wetting the stone

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