My Version of Pizza on a Weber

[Thomas Andrews]

Greetings!

This is my first 'food with pictures' post so go easy on me if I make some mistakes.

I thought I'd put some of mine up after reading Nate's mouthwatering pizza threads.

I've been making pizzas on my Weber Deluxe Performer since April when I got a pizza stone for my birthday.

Here's my first effort from over four months ago.



I hadn't quite mastered the shape and I didn't know how to get the oven hot enough at this point (but it did start raining and I had to finish it off in the oven).

Having made thin crust, thick crust and stuffed crust, my wife and I decided that we liked thin crust best of all.

My dough is basic and made in a breadmaker.

This is the dough recipe (enough for 3x 14" thin crust pizzas):

3 cups of strong white flour
1 cup of water
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of dried yeast
1 tsp of melted butter

I put what I haven't used in the refrigerator. My sister freezes her dough.

For the sauce I put into a blender:

1 tin of plum tomatoes
A splash of water
Salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)
2 tsp of dried oregano
A pinch of sugar (or to taste)
(Optional: 1 tsp of fennel seeds - it gives an aniseed undertone)

Once blended, cook it through for about 90 seconds. Turn the heat off and add a tbs fresh, chopped basil and let it get to room temperature.

I like to oil the base of my tray so it makes removing the pizza easier once cooked.

The base rolled out and on the tray



Base sauced



Mushrooms added



Mozarella cheese next



Italian ham on top



Peppers and black olives to finish off



I also brush olive oil around the edges of the pizza.

This is my Weber Deluxe Performer



For fuel I used a mixture of  briquettes and lumpwood. I filled a chimney up, poured the red hot coals into the centre of the grate and placed the stone over the top of the coals. I usually leave it for about ten minutes to get it up to temperature.



They take about 8-10 minutes to cook depending on how hot the grill is.

Done





The underside of the base



Sliced and served



The moneyshot!



Here is a pepperoni and mozarella stuffed crust I made with pineapple and black olives.



Cross section of the crust

[1buckie]

Thomas, those are tremendous !!!!


Right in there with Nate & MacEggs & all the other great pizza cookers here....

Nicely cooked, underside just exactly right..most organized mushrooms I've EVER seen, just great !!!!

What's the term "strong white flour"....unfamiliar with that?


You may want to cookup during the Round the World Internet Weber Cookup Day that's coming up on the 7th.....your pies would be a hit, or any other thing you'd choose !!!


See Here:

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/meetups-events/thoughts-on-a-wkc-online-cook-day/

[MacEggs]

Those pies look fantastic!!  Stuffed crust, eh ... Way beyond my skill level. Nicely done. 

Side note:  It's weird seeing a Weber dome therm with ℃ being the bold numbers. 
                 I first thought .. that's way too cool for pizza.   

[Thomas Andrews]

Cheers gents - it's much appreciated!

We're addicted to pizza at the moment - I've had a lot of practice making and, most importantly, eating them!

I've done some experiments too like adding my homemade bbq to the tomato sauce and tried banana and bacon toppings too. Bacon is the a game changer when it comes to pizzas.



This is the flour I use. It's meant to be used for bread, I believe. You can get wholemeal versions of it too.

I've bought myself a 12" skillet so I can have a go at a Chicago deep dish pizza.

[1buckie]

Thanks, Thomas, I'm collecting up info on pizza 'cause it seems intimidating....

Here's a set of Mark's pizzas......carefully concealed in a thread about chicken wings......

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/another-wing-experiment/msg123808/#msg123808

[Stu Clary]

I have to start doing pizzas

[Nate]

Woohoo! Pizza, one of my favorites to grill. What's your set up? Looks like you are directly on the grate, with a pizza stone and a pizza pan of some kind. What is that, by the way? Coals look to be spread out under the stone; is that right? What are your top and bottom vent settings? I'm to cheap to buy a kettle pizza especially when you can turn out pizzas like this without.

[Thomas Andrews]

Thanks, Thomas, I'm collecting up info on pizza 'cause it seems intimidating....

Here's a set of Mark's pizzas......carefully concealed in a thread about chicken wings......

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/another-wing-experiment/msg123808/#msg123808

Those look superb! Thank you!

Woohoo! Pizza, one of my favorites to grill. What's your set up? Looks like you are directly on the grate, with a pizza stone and a pizza pan of some kind. What is that, by the way? Coals look to be spread out under the stone; is that right? What are your top and bottom vent settings? I'm to cheap to buy a kettle pizza especially when you can turn out pizzas like this without.

Greetings Nate!

I put a chimney full of red hot coals, in a big pile, in the middle of the grate and place the Weber pizza stone above it. The pizza pan came with the Weber stone, which incidentally arrived in two pieces after a short trip from Ireland. However, it works perfectly fine.

All the vents are open. A little trick I worked out about how to get it hot as possible was to use a mixture of charcoal lumpwood and briquettes. The lumpwood seems to burn hotter than the briquettes but the briquettes burn for longer so I can get three pizzas at 500f from one chimney load. Once I put the fuel in, I then leave the lid ajar so that more air - it works even better when there is strong wind - can get to the charcoal to bring the temps up.

That's all my knowledge I've acquired so far from using my stone.

My 12" cast iron skillet should be arriving in a couple of days so I can try out Chicago deep dish style pizza after seeing your delicious efforts.

[1buckie]

" I then leave the lid ajar so that more air - it works even better when there is strong wind - can get to the charcoal to bring the temps up."


Now that's working WITH the cooking environment !!!!!!

Good Show !!!!

[Nate]

So, you haven't had any issues the weber stone that close to the intense heat without cracking or even burning the crust? Also how long does it take to cook one of your pies? The reason I ask, Is because I do a different method when cooking pizza.

[Thomas Andrews]

The stone was already broken when it arrived via the post from Ireland. I was going to send it back but I thought that it wouldn't necessarily make a difference.

I do brush the edges of the pizza with olive oil before cooking them which usually takes anything between 8-10 minutes.

I like to stretch the dough very thinly. Here is a thick crust bacon and banana pizza I've done a few months before. Oiled tray, oiled pizza edges, stone over the top of the coals, 10 minites to bring it up to temp and 10 minutes later it's done.

[Paul Isa]

Great post. Good information. You clearly demonstrate that you don't need all those expensive pizza attachments to make a fantastic pizza.