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The wife and I took the trial run for cooking pizza on the BGE this weekend.

The Set-up.







Yes, yes, I know I'm using a Primo pizza stone on a Big Green Egg, but BGE does not make a 16" stone.

Pizza dough from Rotella's bakery in Omaha.



Ready to hit the stone.



The finished product.



All in all it was very good. Crispy crust, and that wood fired oven taste. As you can tell the ingredients shifted, which was my fault for not having enough corn meal on the pizza peel. Next time I will work a little harder at keeping the dome temp up to brown the cheese a little more, but other than that, for the first try I'm calling it a success. This thing is truly amazing!!

Mike

Looks great!

I have been told that BGE's make very good pizzas. I put the kitchen oven up to 450 degrees. You could easily get your egg up to 550+, just like the commercial guys. That must make nice crust. I've made pizza on the bbq grill and it comes out crispy.

You're right Rob. I tried to maintain 550, but I think a 600 degree dome temp would be better to brown the top a little more.

Mike

Pizza on the BGE is the bomb. We usually serve pizza in the "anything butt" category.

Try making a BBQ chicken pizza using your favorite bbq sauce with shredded chicken first cooked on the BGE. Add chopped roma tomatoes, red onion and cilantro. And of course cheese.

This one is a winner at any event!

That looks fantastic.

You started out right with a good stone and a nice peel. Keeping the ingredients down will help your pie cook more evenly. Pay close attention to spreading your sauce in an even ring. You can make life a lot easier by placing your dough on a screen after you stretch it. This save you from trying to pry the dough off the counter with the peel which can be a RPITA at times. If you use a screen be sure you gently spread the sauce with a large serving spoon but DO NOT press on the dough. The other benefit of a screen is that it keeps the dough from setting directly on the stone and allows the pie to cook evenly through the center before the edges get dark. One other benefit is that you can sauce your dough and then let it set 30 minutes before you build your pie. This will allow the crust to rise. Remember where ever there's sauce it's holding back the crust from rising.
Get yourself some deep dish pie pans and give that a try as well.
Another trick is to do a free form pie and grill the dough then build your pie and finish it in the oven.
Last free tip. King Arthur High gluten flour.

Thanks Dave, I really appreciate the pointers. I had never heard of a pizza screen until you brought it up. I just ordered two. That will make handling A LOT easier.

Mike

Hmmmm---I have to say go with some kind of farina 00 flour for that ultimate crisp. Also I put the pizza on parchment paper and right on the stone BUT I do not pre-heat the stone to uber temps or the crust will burn before the toppings settle in. I place the stone on the BGE about the time I start to assemble the pizza. Too hot and warm dough will stick. Cornmeal or not. Even the manual and Pro's suggest waiting.

Example on the flour:

Caputo "00" Flour
This super-soft flour is the choice of pizzaiolo and bakers in Naples, Italy. It's ground fine from the finest European winter wheat for a soft texture and supple mouthfeel. Traditionalists wouldn't prepare pizza dough from anything else.

Molino Caputo has been milling flour for almost 100 years in Naples. Their flour is considered the gold standard.

David

That looks GREAT!!! I made my own dough the first few times but got in a bind time wise one night and called the local pizza joint, now I just buy it from him, it's cheaper than I can make it, no mess to clean up and it's really good.

I'm having a lot of trouble getting consistent results sliding the pie from the peel to the stone. I've never had it stick to the stone but have had it almost glued to the peel. Sometimes they slide great other times no matter how much corn meal they stick. I've been thinking about giving the parchment paper a run but this screen sounds interesting does it go directly on the stone?

Parhment paper or the screen will eliminate that problem. The key is to assemble the pizza fast or you wind up with a sloppy, soggy burnt mess.

Pizza looked really good!

Yes the screens set directly on the stone. The beauty of a screen is that you never have to transfer off the screen until after the pie is cooked so they are very easy to use. You still want to move the pie with a peel so the weight of the toppings does not push the dough into the screen when you are transferring the pie to the grill.
If you use parchment be sure to use a quality unbleached product if you are cooking on it.

Gonna get some more screens and try again. At the beach next week in fact.

What have you guys found works best with fish filets ?

I have 2 really lightweight 20 inch grates that I plan to hook together -- fish inside grates on an XL-- to feed 19. My thoughts---just rotate the main grate according to heat spots and flip whole grate setup one time maybe 2. Easier than flipping 19 pieces of fish and those pre-made grill fish baskets are small. Although, I do have a better "fishtrap" in production.

you're killin me!

Just drive to Casper and buy the thing. It's only money!

Mike

Workin' on it! Trying to get the best deal I can out of them. Nothing like being held hostage.....