Pizza postmortem

PSM · 03-07-2014, 20:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark46th

When I make pizza at home, I crank up my grill to 600 degrees and use a pizza stone to bake the pie. I add oak or hickory chips when I put the pie on the stone. It takes about 5 minutes or so to bake off...

I tried this tonight on our Weber gas grill. I used hickory chips and a stone. Preheated long enough for the stone to absorb the 600° and put the fresh made pizza on it. The bottom was burned well before the cheese (Muenster) began to melt (about 3 minutes). My wife deftly excised the healthy crust from the badly burned.

Waz ub wid dat?

Pat

Sonofagunny · 03-07-2014, 21:13

More details are needed to intelligently hypothesize about your pizza conundrum.

Dough recipe?

How was the pizza stone temperature gauged?

Similarly, the "oven" temperature?

How often was the "oven" opened whilst pizza cooking?

PSM · 03-07-2014, 22:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonofagunny

More details are needed to intelligently hypothesize about your pizza conundrum.

Dough recipe?

How was the pizza stone temperature gauged?

Similarly, the "oven" temperature?

How often was the "oven" opened whilst pizza cooking?

Your questions may have answered my question, but I will answer them for clarity.

Recipe:

500g high gluten flour
325g water
10g salt
10g sugar (problem child at high temps)
10g granulated garlic
3g ADY

ETA: Divided into 3 dough balls. Two were frozen and one was incinerated.

Pizza stone temp:

This probably was the problem. I assumed ambient oven temp. But, during preheat, the grease splatter from previously cooked meat flared up in the oven. I opened the oven lid to put out the flames and again to add the chips. The stone temp could have been as high a 1000°! I went by the lid gauge which read 600° after being open for a couple of minutes.

I need an IR temp gauge.

Thanks, Sonofagunny, for the prompt to engage my rational thinking apprentice.

Pat

Penn · 03-08-2014, 07:35

Here's the deal with using a outdoor grill for a pizza oven, by the way your instinct's are correct, but it's a method issue.

We have 4' barrel shaped grill with two temp gauges factory installed on the lid.
The interior has 2 section divided by a thin sheet metal divider, that is removable.
If you have the same remove the divider. The two section are self supporting and each has a bar grill plate 20" X 20" square.

Our method, we removed the divider, replace one grill plate with a 2" X 20"X20" thick piece of smooth slate.

The fire is set on the grill plate side, charcoal and wood. Once started it reaches temps in excess of 650^F with the lid closed, more than enough to heat the stone on the other side. (The fire is built this way to form a natural convection oven. Vents are opened to regulated the flow of heat from one side of the grill to the other, My grill plate side is on the left, fire is built there, circulating the heat left to right. So the vent on the right side are closed, while the right side lid vent is opened, drawing heat across the stone and up.) Sometimes' we place a small pile of charcoal directly under the stone, mindful, that excess heat will crack the stone.

When the fire is right, the pies take about 3 minutes on the stone.

We try to keep the fire at a even burn at all time, but everything about this type of cooking is by feel, unless of course you have brick dome pizza oven in your back yard.

Sonofagunny · 03-08-2014, 08:29

Your sugar content isn't unusually high for a yeast leavened dough, but you already know that.

If you've got the space and time to accomplish this simple build, I highly recommend it. This was the finest pizza cooking apparatus I've ever used; even more so than anything pro I've used in high-end kitchens and a pretty stellar pizza restaurant.

http://thecobovenproject.blogspot.com/

Once built, we used the HELL outta that thing! We tweaked the design a little, including a much smaller opening and making a small wooden door/plug to keep the heat in.

Penn · 03-08-2014, 12:25

Son of Gunny, thanks for the cob oven build, we may attempt constructing this little oven. Very Cool!!

adal · 03-08-2014, 13:58

I do a pizza directly on the grates of a charcoal grill. They are about 6" in size (everyone gets a personal pizza).

I just go for Hot coals. No coals directly under the dough.

Toast lightly on one side, flip, put on the fixxin's.

All homemade dough. I don't use sugar in my recipe, but I do give it lots of time to rise and have found that if I punch it down at least 3-4 times, the dough is great.

PSM, If you are ever in Flagstaff, give me a hollar and I can show you the setup.

SOG, Great link. Thanks.

LongWire · 03-12-2014, 20:09

3 words......

Big Green Egg

PSM · 03-14-2014, 19:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by adal

PSM, If you are ever in Flagstaff, give me a hollar and I can show you the setup.

Wilco. (Sorry for the late reply, we've been camping over by the YPG. Relaxing and entertaining at the same time.

We even posed for a family portrait by a drone that circled us for about 20 minutes..

)

ETA: I forgot to add the pizza part of the trip. I took one of the frozen dough balls and some pre-made, frozen, sauce. In our little trailer we have a micro/convect oven. Pre-heated the oven to 450°, formed the base on a Semolina dusted cutting board and topped it with Muenster and a little provolone and pepperoni. Turned out pretty good, but I need a stone to cook the bottom better. But, hey, we were camping.

Pat

mark46th · 03-18-2014, 08:45

When I bake a pizza off on my grill, I rotate it every minute or so. Keep it moving. At high temps, things, good and bad, happen quickly...

mark46th · 03-18-2014, 15:53

I have seen two references to Muenster cheese on pizza in this thread. Any particular reason or just what is available?

PSM · 03-18-2014, 16:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark46th

I have seen two references to Muenster cheese on pizza in this thread. Any particular reason or just what is available?

I haven't found any decent mozzarella here so I checked cheeses on a pizza forum and a lot of them use it either alone or mixed of other cheeses including mozz. It has a nice buttery flavor, melts nicely, and sets up well after it comes out of the oven. This adds a bit of "tooth" when biting into it. It also adds a slight orangy color to the non-toasted parts.

I've used non-smoked provolone, also, and like it as well. Neither are much of a departure from mozzarella.

ETA: I think Papa John's or Little Caesar's uses it on their pies, too.

Pat

**Ambush Master** · 03-18-2014, 16:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSM

Your questions may have answered my question, but I will answer them for clarity.

I need an IR temp gauge.

Thanks, Sonofagunny, for the prompt to engage my rational thinking apprentice.

Pat

These occasionally go on sale for under $20.00!!

http://www.harborfreight.com/non-con...9465-8905.html

PSM · 03-18-2014, 16:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ambush Master

These occasionally go on sale for under $20.00!!

http://www.harborfreight.com/non-con...9465-8905.html

Thanks, Martin. I go there all the time but never thought about getting one until our dinner went up in flames.

Pat

**Ambush Master** · 03-18-2014, 17:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSM

Thanks, Martin. I go there all the time but never thought about getting one until our dinner went up in flames.

Pat

Watch their Super Sale Catalogs, I bought mine for about $18.00!! I use it all the time, very handy. I even check my Bonneville's Carb tunining by checking the temps of the Exhaust Headers!