BAD pizza....

Groundhog66 · August 2010

I am hoping you guys can help me out here.....I tried making pizza for the first time tonight on my Lg BGE, it did not turn out so good. Used the plate setter, legs down with the green feet to raise the stone up a bit. I bought the dough from a local restaurant, it is the best pizza I have found around here. I make the sauce from scratch, it was too sweet (but that's another post...lol). I fired up the EGG, it reached about 600 degrees so I popped the first pie in. First off, I am not sure how to keep a high temp once the pie is in. I read that it you keep the daisy wheel open, the toppings may not get hot enough. But if you close it, the temp drops. So anyway, the first pie came out okay. I cooked it at about 500 degrees, although the crust was a bit thicker than I was hoping for.

Then came the second one, and I wanted to try and get the crust a bit more tuned to my liking. I read somewhere that you can take a wet towel to the stone between pies to reduce the temp so the crust does not burn.....So I gave that a try....CRACK....not so good. And the bad part is, I knew better but did it anyway. Luckily the stone stayed in place, even though it was not broken in two. The second pie went on...

Unfortunately, the crust was hard on the bottom.....it was inedible, and hit the trash. It looked good on top, but I really messed this one up.

So my question is this, any pizza experts out there that can show me the way? Anything obvious I did wrong? How do you keep the temp high enough to cook fast?

Knauf · August 2010

Use a green egg stone only. Most other can't handle the heat. Try p/s legs up grid then grid extender and then stone. This gets the pie very high in dome and gets better convection for the toppings. I only use parchment paper (no peel) and slide it out from under after about 2-3 minutes and have had great success with my crusts. I also don't go as high temp as a lot of other posting here, I usually go about 450-500. Keep at it and you'll get the hang of it. My first few were inedible too!

Egging Flock · August 2010

Some might consider this blasphemy, but I read my current technique on this forum and after trying it I've never turned back...

I actually bought my egg for pizza, specifically, understanding that it would also do any other BBQ and smoking that I wanted to do. But great Pizza was the goal.

I use my plate setter, put the rolled out dough on the grill, and let it go a few minutes at 600 or so until it's golden brown on the underside.

I then take it off, flip it over on a cutting board in the kitchen and dress it with the toppings on the done side.

I use the peel to place it back on the grill, and go from there.

It's made at least two dozen awesome pizzas in the last year, and while I totally respect the use of a stone to heat the pie from below, and anyone who likes that method I respect, but I've given that up for simplicity's sake.

Just my two cents.

Groundhog66 · August 2010

Where do I get a grid extender?

Groundhog66 · August 2010

So you do plate setter legs up, with the dough on the grate? I have heard of that, may give it a try after I get this figured out.

Egging Flock · August 2010

Yep, plate setter, legs up, dough on the grate. Have yet to ruin one, and we're pretty happy with the outcome. Again, no knock on the stone, I have one for the indoor oven, but we've been very happy with the results with just the grid for the last year or so.

Before we bought our egg, we were considering a forno brick oven, but the egg seemed a happy medium. We're very happy with it for pizza, and it's offered so much more as well.

Groundhog66 · August 2010

Do you use homemade dough? I would assume it needs to be a bit tighter/thicker to flop it on the grate.

Egging Flock · August 2010

Usually yes, I'm on the West Coast so I've tried Trader Joes' and a local brand Oliver's, and they're all way too wet without adding additional flour.

I live close to work so I can make dough at lunch and use it after work, though, honestly, it's far better 2-3 days later, the gluten sets better and even though it's more elastic, it doesn't pull back as much when stretching/rolling it out.

Groundhog66 · August 2010

The dough I used was from my favorite local pizza joint, it is just awesome when they make it...lol. And yes, it was VERY elastic when I was trying to pull it. I guess it will really be trial and error with the dough, to me it is the single most important component to the pizza.

Egging Flock · August 2010

Agreed. Let it rest a bit and see what you get. It's really all about trial and error, and see what your personal preferences are. I find letting it rest allows me to stretch the glutens out without the proteins pulling back on me and shrinking.

If the stone works for you, go for it, but if not, try the plate setter and grill method and see what's best for you.

Before I try anything on the egg, I check the forum for tips, and I try different methods all of the time, that's half the fun.

Even after a year, there are so many new things to try on this device (just smoked my first pork butt on Saturday) that it makes it interesting, regardless.

Good luck, and have fun!

Groundhog66 · August 2010

Thank you for your input, I appreciate it.

Egging Flock · August 2010

Sure, I'm kind of a newbie to the forum, though I've been reading it for about a year now. Happy to offer some advice on something that I have actual hands on about.

When I read that your pizzas were burnt on the bottom, but they looked so great from the top, it kinda broke my heart a little bit, we put a bit of ourselves into each project, right?

Cheers, and best of luck on the next ones!

Judy Mayberry · August 2010

I've repeated this so often I probably mumble it in my sleep. Pizza screens, which can be found at restaurant supply stores or some kitchenware stores, are foolproof.

Put your shaped dough on the screen, put toppings on that, and just move the screen to the hot stone and take it off when it's done. The pizza comes right off the screen.

You can have multiple pizzas lined up on screens ready to cook.

My favorite picture with a pizza screen was posted by Fidel:

Judy

[Deleted User] · August 2010

Sorry to hear your first pizzas didn't work out. That's very frustrating!

There's a lot of different ways to cook pizza. Folks here cook them from 400 to 1200 degrees-take your choice.

I usually cook at about 550 on a (BGE)stone. If I have a thicker crust and/or heavier toppings 400-450 works better. Thinner crust/lighter toppings I like to be into the 600's.

There are lot's of folks here that cook great looking pizzas and never go above 400-450. When I cook them on my mini I cook them in that range.

Egging Flock · August 2010

Thanks, Judy, I forgot to mention these, they're cheap at a restaurant supply store and they are indeed lifesavers.

DrZaius · August 2010

You should definitely send Fidel an email. He makes some of the best pizza's around. A real Prince!

Mudflap · August 2010

I tend to agree with the others that have posted here. If my egg is above 550 I usually end up with a rock solid bottom before the top browns. 500-525 seems to work very well for my dough. I catch myself wanting to crank up the heat since that's all I usually read on there. It's nice to see some people's pizzas are like mine and need a little lower temp.

BBQMaven · August 2010

One of the mistakes we all make is not letting Egg stabilize in temp - and I mean the temp doesn't move for at least 45 minutes (no adjustments to bottom vent and no top at all)... second is not putting the plate setter and pizza stone in during this "hot soak" time... it can take up to 45 minutes in a stable Egg for the pizza stone to get to cooking temp...

hope this helps

tim4illini · August 2010

I'm a new egger and have done pizzas about 1/2 a dozen times now. I use the place setter with legs down and a 3/8" pizza stone directly on top of the place setter. So far my best results are around 500-550 after letting the stones heat for 30 minutes or so. Also I don't use the daisy wheel as I have a hard time keeping the temp up otherwise. We use frozen dough from UBake and they turn out great providing I use enough cornmeal on the stone.

Groundhog66 · August 2010

I will try again, I love pizza too much to quit... :P

BAD pizza....

Comments

Categories