Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire First pizza of the season on the Big Green Egg (pic heavy)

We've known 5-10 inches of snow will be here tomorrow for days. So Wednesday, I planned on the first pizza of the season on the BGE tonight.

It takes some pre-planning to do it right, because dough that cold ferments in the fridge for 48-72 hours is FAR superior to same-day dough. So Wed eve, I made a batch.

I got the recipe from a friend (last name ends in "ucci" - he is HIGHLY Italian). He owns a pizza place in Puerto Rico - actually had a brick oven imported from there for his shop in PR.

Anyhow, I have tweaked it over the last couple of years. For the uninitiated:

1) The right flour is KEY. No AP flour, bread/baking flour, etc.
2) There are special chemical reactions when water meets flour. A lot of people dump their olive oil in with the water, but the oil coats the gluten strands, and.......... Well, it gets technical. Just know, the olive oil is the LAST thing to go in!!!
3) So....Water, flour, salt, sugar. I also add brewers malt, and I LOVE the flavor. Knead in the Kitchenaid on high for 5 min. Unlike biscuits or bread where you want to be gentle and AVOID the creation of gluten, , you really need to beat the chit out of this dough for that NY crust, snappy, teat-off texture.
4) Add yeast (my wife keeps a sourdough starter, I use that with amazing results)
5) Drizzle in olive oil until the dough is sikly smooth and *almost* tacky to the touch.

Ball, and refrigerate, 2-4 days: This dough MUST cold ferment. That's what makes great pizza dough great.






The Big Green Egg in question - 15th anniversary gift from the missus.





Fast forward to today. I pulled the dough around noon, coated with EVOO, and let it rise. Here it is by 4PM:






Built the fire in the BGE. It is a little counter-intuitive, but I have discovered over time, that less charcoal = more heat. And, I use fresh, bigger chunks to get the BGE up over 800 (I have had it as high as 1200 degrees)

1/3 a basket full, with the blower starter stick:






Hand toss or stretch the dough, never, EVER roll it - that pushes all of the air out and makes for dense dough with to character. I worked in pizza places in college and our kitchen has valued ceilings, so I sling that beotch 10 feet in the air. Drives my wife crazy, haha! This was a topping-heavy pizza so I put a bit of a roll around the edge. When I make thinner crust, true NY stype I don't add the roll around the outside.





My wife made the pie while I drank an IPA and chatted with Stella the Wonder Doodle. She went with olive oil & garlic followed by homemade sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, olives, red onion, jalapenos, and a bit of cheddar on the top. Here it is on the peel:






Fire is getting there! When going hot for pizza, I leave the bottom damper wide open and the cast iron chimney damper OFF. The key is max air flow. That is also why less and bigger charcoal makes a hotter fire - lots of air gaps. When I want to hit 1200 degrees for~90 second flatbreads and such, I have a 18 inch piece of galvanized chimney pipe that I shove in the top. It creates a vacuum and this fugger gets HUMMING!!







Hit my target temp:






Waited for another 15 min until an IR heat thermometer read the pizza stone at 600 degrees. It is an important, and overlooked step to a perfectly cooked crust.

Finished product! Pulled it off about 30 seconds after this pic:






I have a brisket corning right now and will be doing a 14-18 hour smoke-to-pastrami later this week!

Damn dumbduck..... I may have to take back all the bad things I said.... good post

Well I cooked the pizza with an N95 mask and swimming goggles on, soooo. (hard to walk around the flippers on though)

Ok, tell us exactly what flour did you use?

you should apologize profusely.

Your just an ol' meanie.............well, maybe a young meanie.

Ducky, how long was it in the oven?

Geno

Sorry, forgot to include that.

Caputo 00

Rong Duck, you need shorts, flip flops , Hawaiian shirt and aviators...... the "covid" will not get you....

Didn't time it, but if I had to guess, 6 min?

When I go thin crust or flat breads and I have the BGE cranked up over 1,000 degrees sometimes it's over in 90 seconds.

I am still in shock that fubar is married.

Ok Geno,


Dumbduck I am sorry.....

I ordered one of these yesterday, to turn my Egg into a pizza oven.

Calvin,
Haven't heard much from you.... thought maybe you succumbed to the "covid"

Looks awesome. I make extra thin crust pizza on occasion - everything homemade - but I just cook it in the oven.

Here's a Photo, prior to cooking:

speaking of pizza, i just got done munching one i made in the oven. tried a new recipe for the dough. this is a keeper.

6 cups self rising flour
4 cups plain greek yogurt

i use a kitchenaid with a dough hook and let it mix for 15 min. you have to toss a pinch or two of flour on the ball during the mix to keep it from sticking but then it makes a nice ball. leave it covered for a few hours and then split it into 2 balls, each one makes a 16" pie and rolls out really easy.

i was skeptical but this is worth trying

Just wrapped up a herring roe on kelp fishery. Big year for it.

Have a few weeks until salmon fishery starts.

GFY

They all look good to me.....

Oakie, I saw those....

Didn't really research it enough to understand the upside, versus just using a stone, and I have had great results, so just didn't consider it.. Why did you decide on this unit? I'm curious!!

By the way, at some point I might actually make a real cobb oven. I've always wanted to:

This is *kinda* the idea:
https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/how-to-build-a-cob-pizza-ovenpart-i/

But basically, build a base, form the inside of the oven with wet sand. Pack clay/straw mix around it, scoop out sand, etc.

Damn! Wish my Traeger got that hot.

Cmon, don’t s.hit on his homemade pizza thread ,FUBAR