Pizza Pron

[HankB]

This was my second run at making pizza on the kettle and the first one I took the time to blog. The first time I used a dough that consisted of half and half general purpose flour and whole wheat flour. This time I tried a recipe that used exclusively whole wheat flour. I am of the belief that whole grains are better for me and SWMBO. I have also added a peel to my arsenal of kitchen tools so I could try cooking the pies directly on the fire brick.



Unfortunately it did not cook as evenly as I had wanted. Top was done but not browned. The crust was a lttle burned (but surprisingly edible.  )



I did the next two on tortilla griddles, like I had done the last time I made pizza.



The cheese was browned on top and the crust crispy. It was judged by SWMBO to be "perfect." 

I need to either continue using the CI or I need to get more heat above the bricks than under. I'm thinking of leaving the leftmost brick out (in the picture above) and mounding the coals under the resulting open spot. Of course then I'll have to rotate the pie as the heat would be uneven, but it should put more heat over the pie (if I align the vent opposite the charcoal.)

Anyone interested in more detail can check out the full story at my blog.

[Duke]

Nice looking pies Bob, but I agree with the wife. The second hit the mark. I can tell becuase the cheese browned and she wouldn't have been happy if the bottom was burned. Google The Little Black Egg thread if you haven't already. They have some great tips on making pizzas on the kettle.

[HankB]

Interesting thread, Bob, those guys are serious about pizza!

I should mention that I tilt the lid a little to allow for more airflow. I aim for about a 1/2" gap. It seems that as soon as I put the lid on, temps start dropping. I suppose that's a design feature Weber employs to keep temps from getting too high.

I'll have to think about ways to suspend a stone above the pizza to reflect some heat down. Maybe lining the lid with foil would do the trick. I'll have to give it some thought.

[Jaronimo]

leaving out a brick might be a good idea, and get a lot of coals built up on that side.  You will have to move the pizza a few times.  When I cook mine I spin them a number of times.

How long does it take to get those brick splits heated up?

[HankB]

How long does it take to get those brick splits heated up?

I measured them at 230°F when they went on, 460° fifteen minutes later and 600° five minutes after that. It seems to peak at about 685°. That's about how high my thermometer goes and some parts read over scale.

[Jaronimo]

I run my pizza oven at 800 to 900 degrees.  Takes a bit more than an hour to heat up.  You really have to be attentive to the pizzas or they burn.  i cook them in 60-90 seconds, and will have to spin them 4 or 5 times during that minute and a half.

I have done pizza on the weber, I had the best luck using a cast iron pan.  I never tried bricks, but only because I had full thickness bricks and not splits.  The splits look like they work well for a weber.

[HankB]

I run my pizza oven at 800 to 900 degrees.  Takes a bit more than an hour to heat up.  You really have to be attentive to the pizzas or they burn.  i cook them in 60-90 seconds, and will have to spin them 4 or 5 times during that minute and a half.

I have done pizza on the weber, I had the best luck using a cast iron pan.  I never tried bricks, but only because I had full thickness bricks and not splits.  The splits look like they work well for a weber.

I just looked at your blog and saw a picture of your pizza oven. I am not worthy! (And it looks familiar.  )

I did pick up a 14" CI pan today that I'll try tomorrow. Thanks for the tips.

[Kilted_Griller]

Hank your pies look delicious!! The KG clan will take 4, delivered!

This is the setup the XC and I do with both the 22.5"er and the 26.75"er. We use the a pizza stone from pampered chef and let them heat up for 30 mins. The wood in the back seems to roll the heat over the top and cook the top of the pizza at the same rate as the stone cooks the bottom. We cook ours for 12 mins and they come out awesome. Hope this helps!

[1buckie]

they're getting better & better, quickly.....short learning curve for you, my man !!!

Pizza's a weird thing to get really right 'cause of such hi heat / short cook time....

I've done 'just OK' at it straight on the grates, but have not pursued the pizza stone / firebrick higher heat thing yet..... 

[Craig]

Good lookin' pizza's, Hank! 

KG, what kind of wood do you use in that setup?

[HankB]

Tonight's experiment involved leaving a brick out and putting the fire toward that. I also tried the 14" CI pizza pan I picked up yesterday. This met with partial success. It reduced the imbalance between the stone and heat above the stone. The pizza I cooked on the CI was assembled on the CI and put in the cooker. The top was nicely done before the crust started to brown on the bottom surface. I think I could work around that by preheating the CI with the firebrick. I put the second pie directly on the firebrick and the top was just starting to brown when the bottom was done and needed to come off. I think I could work around that by keeping the pie toward the not so hot part of the firebrick. Either way the pizzas were both good.

Other things to do differently... Don't build the fire against the part of the bowl where the lid bail connects. It's hot enough to melt the plastic roller.  I put a couple chunks of oak in the coals to add some flavor. I need to let those burn down a bit otherwise they add too much smoke flavor. I prefer that the smoke be subtle. The first pizza was over smoky but the second was fine on that account.