Gonna try some homemade pizza tonight for the first time on the BGE. Any tricks or tips to make it better? Do I want it hot as it will go or not?

I am interested in this as well along with any dough and sauce recipes!

Can't comment on the egg aspect, but have made quite a few pizzas. The key to good pizza is the dough. There is definately a big difference between starting the dough in the morning, letting it proof all day and then making the pizza at night vs. a simple quickie dough.

You'll also want to use a pizza stone so you have a thermal mass under the dough to get that quick cook.

Have the pizza stones.

i use those little bags of crust mix and let it rise all day. it takes about 2 bags of mix for a decent pizza. i don't use a BGE, i use a Kettle Pizza insert in my weber. you want 600-700 degrees and to get that in my weber i use a wood/charcoal combo. they cook quick at 700.

Does a guy want to preheat the stone or build the pizza on the stone and put it in the Egg?

The stone should definately be pre-heated, unless you want a soggy crust, 30 minutes should be enough for the stone to get up to temp.

You make your pizza on a peel and then slide it onto the stone. The challenge is not having the pizza stick on the peel, as good pizza dough has a high moisture content.

Place your platesetter legs down like this.



Place spacers on top of the platesetter (I use four 1/2" nuts) to create a barrier between your platesetter and stone so that it is just a little above the gasket level.



Stabilize your BGE at 500* letting the pizza stone heat up with the egg. I build and bake all of my pizzas on parchment paper as it make it much easier to get them on and off the pizza peel. Mine go in for 12-13 minutes turning 180* at the half way point. Hope this helps.

Mike

Thanks to all who have replied!

Tried making my first pie last night and it was only so-so. I couldn't seem to get the Egg up to a high enough temp -- only got to 400 or so. I'm thinking I didn't have enough lump in there. Other than that, and using whole wheat flour, yuk, it was ok. Went with the classic fresh mozzarella and basil and sauce. Definitely needs work. The Egg was clean, and I just installed a stainless charcoal grill for more air, so the only thing I could think of was I didn't use enough charcoal.

When you were getting it up to temp did you have the daisy wheel on top? If so take it off to get it going. Doesn't take long to get to 600� F here that way.

I don't use the daisy wheel for any temp over 300*. You can control it perfectly with the lower vent. For 500* fill your fire box to the top, light and keep the lid open until you have a good fire going. Close the top (with no daisy wheel) and adjust the lower vent to approx 2" open. Fine tune as it nears 500* trying not to over shoot. It's much easier to heat them up then cool them down.

Mike

As I said, a good dough is key. Here is a good recipe:

http://www.fornobravo.com/pizza/pizza_dough.html

I haven't used Caputo, but flour is very important. Costco carried an organic bread flour briefly that was very good, their sacks of all purpose flour just aren't the same.

It is a high moisture content dough so you'll think it is too sticky and likely be tempted to add flour. Resist this temptation.

Yes, high heat is essential. I max out our oven at 550F and give the pizza stone 30 minutes to warm up. Pizzas cook in about 8 minutes.

A couple things I forgot to mention. If you are doing a bunch of pizzas back to back it helps to wipe down the stone with a wet bar towel to cool it a bit after about the third pie.

Sooner or later when doing pizzas you will burn out your gasket from the radiant heat off the pizza stone. No worries, just replace with a Rutland and move on.

Mike

Thanks for all the tips. I'm going to give it another try later this week. I'll use more lump and get rid of the daisy wheel -- and get some white flour!

Make pizza all the time.

Make some dough in the bread machine

Get your largest cast iron skillets piping hot in a 425 degree oven. I usually make enough dough for 3 pizzas.

Roll the dough out, and place it in the skillets. Put the skillets back in the oven for 5 minutes.

Take skillets out of the oven, and place the pesto, minced garlic, then the sauce, then the toppings of choice, then the cheese. Don't forget the feta cheese.

Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Take out, put fresh basil on the pizza, slice, open a beer, and enjoy heaven.

For camping trips and simplicity, we have used Bridgefords self rising dinner rolls. Thaw, let rise, punch down and coat with evoo. Makes nice little five or six inch personal pizzas that everyone can "decorate" themselves. Put out sauce, cheese, and all the meat and veggie fixins and let them have at it.

Traditional, probably not. But no one can bitsh if its not what they wanted, and it all taste good at 6000 feet or more.

Thanks for all the tips. I'll keep working on my pies.

if your dough ain't got Semolina flour in it ....u are still at square one ....imo

I'll look for some Semolina when I'm in town tomorrow.

bulk section... .or.. bobs red mill.........

This is tempting me to try it using my simple bread dough.

Lately I have been making bread in a toaster oven. Mixing flour, a bit of baking soda, salt and Equal (to very slightly sweeten). Then adding milk combined with olive oil, only until the dough is pretty stiff. No bread maker, no rolling, no rising. Just bake immediately at ~450*. Remove when nothing sticks to a toothpick thrust through the crust.

Can't see why this wouldn't work for pizza. Maybe the topping makes it mushy?

Its about time you used it Keith!

Oh I have used it but not on home made

A grand tied up in a BGE and Keith is doing frozen pizzas?

Oh! The humanity.

What would DIYguy have to say about this ?

Who?


And Papa Murphy's are freshly made not frozen. However a Freschetta or Digiorno are pretty good cooked outside.

Don't feel bad, I do the store bought pizzas quite often on my Egg! It's still a great taste compared to the inside oven. Don't get me wrong, I love the homemade pies much better but I don't always have the time or patience for them. Usually when I've got some adult beverages in me I get to cravin a pizza on the Egg! It's quick and very much satisfies my hunger.

All very helpful info. Been trying different things on my egg for the pizzas and agree that cooking crust on parchment in oven works real well.

Build pizza ingredients and slide it to the preheated stone and enjoy results when cheese is melted completly.

Have tried placing cornmeal on stone under crust but got some scorching from that

I also forgot to mention the pizza stone itself. Get a good one! The Pampered Chef ones rarely make it more than a couple of cooks before shattering...ask me how I know. BGE, Primo (which I use) and ceramic grill store sell nice heavy ones. I have also been messing around with a product called the Baking Steel.

I have been happy with it, although you do have to shorten your cooking times. One other plus factor is that it makes an awesome griddle for burgers, breakfast, etc.

Mike

OMFG!

Both you can GFY

I've heard that margarine goes good on frozen BGE pizza...just sayin.

Cooked another pie last night with homemade dough, sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil and anchovies. Mm-mm good. Turned out way better than the first time. Could still only get the Egg up to about 550. Maybe I'm not putting enough lump in. How far do you fill these things and can you overfill them? It's a medium size by the way. How hot should thing thing get?

Something is not right. I can get any of mine to 1000+ degrees with just a level firebox full of charcoal. Make sure the opening in your firebox is lined up with the lower vent opening. Also make sure your charcoal grate is not plugged with small pieces of charcoal. You have to have something restricting the air flow. What kind of lump are you using?

Mike

My firebox is lined up with the lower vent opening. I took it apart before I cooked last night and cleaned everything out. All vents cleared. Charcoal grate is clear -- in fact I put a new stainless one from HiQue. I'm using Cowboy lump. Just opened a new bag last night and they were nice big pieces. Just would only go to about 550 with the top vent cap completely off. Can I fill it more than a level firebox full? I'm thinking not enough fuel in a medium.

You can fill it clear to the top of the fire ring if you want, but you shouldn't have to. I have opened the vents on mine many times after a messy low and slow cook to do a clean burn with less than half a fire box full and it still buries the thermometer.

Are you leaving the lid open to get a good fire going before closing it up? Have you checked calibration of your thermometer in boiling water? What are you lighting with? This is bugging the crap out of me.

Mike

Hey, Mike, I have not done a calibration of the thermometer. Maybe I should check that first of all. I'm lighting the charcoal in a charcoal chimney starter over a propane burner on my grill right next to it and then dumping the lump into the Egg. I left the lid open long enough to see that it was burning and crackling etc. Maybe I have to leave the lid open longer. I'll try the calibration thing tonight. It seems to be pretty close just by the ambient temp it reads, but I'll check it with boiling water tonight.

For high temp cooks like pizza and searing steaks, etc. I leave the lid open until I have a pretty good flame and hot bed of coals going. When I close the lid I really have to watch and control the lower vent so I don't overshoot the temp. I think maybe you're not letting your coals get hot enough. Of course wind and other things can factor in, but mediums have the same size lower vents as larges so that has to be it.

Mike

Don't own a BGE, but just like a Webber, leave the lid off and let that coal burn good before you put down the lid and start smothering it.

For outstanding pizza dough, pretty much take basic French bread dough, add a few TBSP EVOO, garlic powder, and dried Italian seasoning mix. Treat it just like French bread dough - proof it for a day, retard in the fridge over night, use the next day or within the next three days. The single best tip for great dough? Use high protein bread flour and let the dough age for a couple of days before using. This helps the protein form into strong gluten strands, resulting in the crunchy, chewy crust that is soft on the inside. And preheat that baby! I run my ovens at 550, preheat the stones in the oven for an hour. A 15" pizza only takes 7.5 minutes. To easily handle the crust, form it on one well-oiled pizza stone, press parchment paper on top, flip the whole thing over on your counter. Now you can use a pizza peel or flat cooking sheet to move the pizza around easily.

Just curious Selmer, why would you ever oil a pizza stone?

Mike

Thanks Mike. I'll try that next. I'll leave it open until it's burning really good. Appreciate all the tips.

Gave the Egg another go tonight and filled it up to the top of the burn ring. Then I left the lid open until it was burning good and got up to 700 pretty quick. I didn't go any higher though because I threw a couple of steaks on. I do believe I wasn't putting enough lump in or letting it get going good. Thanks for all the advice.

BOWHUNR - Why not? I use Pampered Chef pizza stones - they season just like cast iron. But that's not the reason for oiling the stone in my instructions - oil the stone so the dough easily releases from the stone and transfers to the parchment paper. The same thing can be accomplished with lots of flour, but I prefer not to use excess bench flour. My pizza stones are seasoned so nicely now that they are completely non-stick and impervious to water. Dark, dark brown color - all pores filled with burned in oil.

Gotcha, makes sense. I guess I just never heard of anyone doing it.

Mike

I've only done it a few times, but it came out pretty good. This one was made with a topping of roasted red peppers and calamata olives. Sauce was homemade. Cheese was (big surprise) mozzarella.

I use corn meal on my stone ....little ball bearings of life....

Get some fire bricks inexpensive , they will work on any grill or smoker have a temp gauge take temps up to what ever you want. All it takes is paying attention to your heat. Can cook from 600 to 900 degrees on a weber Use a good Pizza Stone
and you are set. Fire bricks are used in many smokers to maintain heat