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Pizza Help

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KGilma2018
KGilma2018 Posts: 120
in Baking
I used to nail all my pizza cooks, then I dropped my stone and broke it 4 pieces.  The replacement stone (a christmas gift from my sister) leaves my pies not fully cook in the center but the crust is done, and cheese is starting to brown.  I make sure the stone is on the egg the entire time it is heating up so its all the same when the pizza goes in.  What else can I do, besides buy another stone?
Franklin, TN
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  • dmourati
    dmourati Posts: 1,268
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    Definitely sounds like your stone is not fully heated up. Maybe wait another 30 minutes to 1 hour after lighting before launching the pizza.
    Mountain View, CA
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  • KiterTodd
    KiterTodd Posts: 2,466
    edited April 2020
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    Is it thicker, thinner or wider than the stone it replaced? 

    If it is thinner, then you may just need more time between pizzas to let it get back up to temperature.  The pizza will suck the heat out of it.
    If it is thicker, then you may just need to let it heat up longer to really soak in the heat.
    If it's wider/narrower, maybe it is changing the amount of airflow going past the stone which could be causing the top to cook slower/faster than previous.  In that case you can play with the position in your egg, by raising it higher or lower. Or you may just have to adjust the egg cooking temp to tweak it to this stone.
    If everything looks identical to the old stone, then you may have to accidentally drop this one as well and hope the replacement is better. :)
    LBGE/Maryland
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  • KGilma2018
    KGilma2018 Posts: 120
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    It looks to be about the same thickness.  I'll try letting it warm up even longer than normal and see if that takes care of it.  I hope it does, I've been pretty disappointed in my pies the last 2 cooks.  
    Franklin, TN
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  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 9,844
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    This may not fit in with the stone being the issue, but in general, if your cheese and crust are done before the center of your toppings, you have a mismatch of your thickness and your cooking temp.  Really thin pies can cook at 1000+ degrees for a minute or so.  Really thick deep dish pies cook at 350 or so for 30+ minutes.  When I started making pizza on my egg, I wanted to make thin pies and cook at 700 degrees like some of the pros here.  But when I made my pizzas they were a little thicker and it ended up (meaning that I cooked a number of pizzas that didn't turn out as good as I wanted - much like you are describing) that 450-500 for 6 to 7 minutes was the sweet spot for the pies I make.  Until I improve my dough game and show more restraint on adding sauce and toppings, this is where I'll happily settle.  So, you may need to explore cooking at a slightly lower temp and/or making your pies a little thinner to make your current stone/setup work.

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

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  • KGilma2018
    KGilma2018 Posts: 120
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    Foghorn said:
    This may not fit in with the stone being the issue, but in general, if your cheese and crust are done before the center of your toppings, you have a mismatch of your thickness and your cooking temp.  Really thin pies can cook at 1000+ degrees for a minute or so.  Really thick deep dish pies cook at 350 or so for 30+ minutes.  When I started making pizza on my egg, I wanted to make thin pies and cook at 700 degrees like some of the pros here.  But when I made my pizzas they were a little thicker and it ended up (meaning that I cooked a number of pizzas that didn't turn out as good as I wanted - much like you are describing) that 450-500 for 6 to 7 minutes was the sweet spot for the pies I make.  Until I improve my dough game and show more restraint on adding sauce and toppings, this is where I'll happily settle.  So, you may need to explore cooking at a slightly lower temp and/or making your pies a little thinner to make your current stone/setup work.
    My dough is not paper thin, and its not a deep dish either.  It's about 1/4-3/8" thick.  700-800* worked fine with the old stone but  I found the pizza was more evenly cooked in the 450-525* range, for about 12-13 minutes to get the center cooked thoroughly, and the cheese nice and browned.  I'll just have to keep experimenting with this new stone to get it right.  
    Franklin, TN
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  • paqman
    paqman Posts: 4,670
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    Do you have an infrared temperature gun?  To achieve consistent results, your stone temperature, height in the dome and dome temperature must also be consistent.

    The baking temperature should be defined by your dough recipe.

    Sugar in the dough, oil in or on the dough, type of flour in the dough will all influence the cooking temperature.  The type of flour that you use to dust your peel/dough balls also has an impact (rice flour has a better heat tolerance).  Oil and sugar will cause dough to burn at high temperature.

    Conductivity of your stone also has an impact.

    The egg is not a perfect pizza oven.  My recommendation is bake the pie so that the crust is fully cooked and finish the toppings/external edge of the dough with a blowtorch.

    ____________________
    Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage. •Niccolo Machiavelli
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  • mahenryak
    mahenryak Posts: 1,324
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    Hello.  I'm not sure of your configuration but here is how I've typically done pizza on the egg.  If I'm doing a thicker pizza then my temp. may lower to 450F.  I guess one point of emphasis here may be the gap between the two stones (or plate-setter and stone).

    So, for what it's worth, I humbly submit the following:

    https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1218929/pizza-how-i-do-it

    LG BGE, KJ Jr, Smokin Bros. Premier 36 and Pizza Party Bollore



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