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

Question for the egg owners here.

Can you get them things hot enough to forge knives when you ain't barbequeing in them?

I have a really nice anvil that could use some attention.

Geno

No.

Question for the egg owners here.

Can you get them things hot enough to forge knives when you ain't barbequeing in them?

I have a really nice anvil that could use some attention.

Geno

So you are apparently a BGE owner (doubt that, I'm thinkin' habachi grill)

Instead of the usual empty insults and stupid banter and lame ass shock-jock humor................................ Share a RECIPE. Seriously. How about a Deflavor specialty??

I will be waiting. I'll share 3 of mine for every one of yous.

If you are serious.....In some alternate world a BGE may be able to heat a blade. But the sustained temps to pull that off would toast the gaskets and stuff.

There are WAY cheaper ways to set up a forge.

"Komodo" is the general style of a dome shaped, ceramic lined cooker. BGE is one brand.

In my opinion, the best, but, there are other brands.

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!

duck,

Beware of what you ask.

Geno

So you are apparently a BGE owner (doubt that, I'm thinkin' habachi grill)

Instead of the usual empty insults and stupid banter and lame ass shock-jock humor................................ Share a RECIPE. Seriously. How about a Deflavor specialty??

I will be waiting. I'll share 3 of mine for every one of yous.

1200 F is gdamn impressive. Thats a pizza oven there

So you are apparently a BGE owner (doubt that, I'm thinkin' habachi grill)

Instead of the usual empty insults and stupid banter and lame ass shock-jock humor................................ Share a RECIPE. Seriously. How about a Deflavor specialty??

I will be waiting. I'll share 3 of mine for every one of yous.

Is this Martha Stewart hour? Share a recipe and I’ll share 3! 😆

Is this Martha Stewart hour? Share a recipe and I’ll share 3! 😆

Melt some butter in a tinfoil meatloaf pan, fill the butter pan up with jumbo shrimp, have the coals good and hot, say 550-700. Pull the grill grate, toss in your favorite flavor smoking chips and put the grill grate back on, tamp the air, down to just a trickle and let the butter/shimp mixture bathe in your favorite smoke for 7-10min.

Crab legs sprayed/brushed with a little oil so dry seasoning will stick. Season to taste. Use the shrimp technique of hot grill, smoking chips, add the crab legs, tamp down the air (under 300 degrees) and let the crab legs slowly come up to temp as they bathe in smoke.

Same technique works for Lobster tails too.

A large bone-in ham over a diffuser with a pan full of cider @ 225 for 2-3hrs is exceptional as well assuming you started with a good ham.

Then end.

My wife said we can't afford one right now.