Tried fresh Mozzarella?

kettlecook · March 08, 2016, 05:24:57 PM

Well, tonight was two firsts for us: finally made dough, and tried fresh moz on one. Needless to say, thanks to all the recommendations for the B Flay recipe. My wife did a great job and we made four small pizzas. (She had already divided it into four balls before I read one of y'all's recommendations for three.)

Sorry, I didn't get much in pics because we were kind of behind and I was making pizzas when I should've been cooking. But I learned a few things. First of all, I should've bought the spinners sooner. Second, we won't be buying any more Publix dough. Third, I really like fresh mozzarella and basil and need to learn how you're supposed to cook it. Even though my wife sliced it pretty dern thin, it was my last pizza and 650 evidently wasn't hot enough or something. Guess I should've added more wood, but all that moisture from the cheese just made it really stubborn and I couldn't get it to crisp up like I wanted. Is this why I read about folks cooking at 900*?

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MikeRocksTheRed · March 08, 2016, 05:32:04 PM

Did you try to dome the pizza? Scoop it up on your metal peel then hold it as close to the top of the grill as you can? Looks pretty good to me though. How was the crust?

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kettlecook · March 08, 2016, 05:34:08 PM

...But our grated mozzarella pizzas turned out really good. All but the fresh mozzarella one cooked in four minutes or less but folks were hungry so this was about the only other pizza pic I got.

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kettlecook · March 08, 2016, 05:40:41 PM

Quote from: MikeRocksTheRed on March 08, 2016, 05:32:04 PM
Did you try to dome the pizza? Scoop it up on your metal peel then hold it as close to the top of the grill as you can? Looks pretty good to me though. How was the crust?

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That's the thing, Mike. I did dome it but didn't char the bottom. Guess I should've just cooked it longer or hotter because even though it started to look crisp on the bottom it still ended up a little soggy. It was still good, but just not crisp like our grated dry ones. I've got to learn how to cook one. The fresh mozzarella with basil is really something.

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MikeRocksTheRed · March 08, 2016, 05:45:43 PM

I usually slice mine fairly thing then kind of tear and break it up. About to do some pizzas but out of fresh mix or I'd make one and pay close attention to what I'm doing. If the bottom was a little soggy it sounds like you just needed another minute or two on the stone. Dining pizza mainly cooks the top and stops the crust on the bottom from cooking.

Gotta love it though. Every time you think things are all dialed in you have a mediocre pizza! I'm

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kettlecook · March 08, 2016, 05:46:45 PM

And if anyone is interested in how I've been managing my fire, this is after four small pizzas with time in between, started with one heaping chimney of K Comp divided into two chimneys and put on my Performer burner. The wood coals you see are from the only wood used, two good sized oak chunks and one split. One things for sure. Oak burns steady and long. The thing worth noting should be obvious and that is that the center of the fire is where the wood burns up first. That split that's barely left in the middle was about as large as those two chunks that were much slower to burn. They didn't smoke too much, though, and did flame up pretty good.

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MikeRocksTheRed · March 08, 2016, 05:50:31 PM

Now I'm getting nervous about making 2-3 pizzas this evening!!! lol.

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kettlecook · March 08, 2016, 05:54:23 PM

Quote from: MikeRocksTheRed on March 08, 2016, 05:50:31 PM
Now I'm getting nervous about making 2-3 pizzas this evening!!! lol.

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What you talking about, Mike? Go for it. My parents were over and unlike our grown kids, my wife wasn't about to let my mom help make pizzas so I'm out there spinning em and couldn't even drink a beer and my wife is inside putting them together but behind....you get the picture. Lol. TAKE PICS AND REMEMBER THE DETAILS!

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kettlecook · March 08, 2016, 06:00:34 PM

Quote from: MikeRocksTheRed on March 08, 2016, 05:45:43 PM
I usually slice mine fairly thing then kind of tear and break it up. About to do some pizzas but out of fresh mix or I'd make one and pay close attention to what I'm doing. If the bottom was a little soggy it sounds like you just needed another minute or two on the stone. Dining pizza mainly cooks the top and stops the crust on the bottom from cooking.

Gotta love it though. Every time you think things are all dialed in you have a mediocre pizza! I'm

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Thanks, man. I'll check in later. Hope they turn out to your liking. I'm thinking I'm gonna get some mesquite chunks for quick temp spikes next time I cook one with fresh mozzarella. Some dude out west says it's great wood for pizza.

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MikeRocksTheRed · March 08, 2016, 06:02:53 PM

Mesquite burns hot and fast. You'll need more than you have been using with oak since it burns up so fast. I'm adding mesquite every other pizza if not everyone. I'll be interested to see what you think of the flavor with mesquite. I love it, and as I've said before I don't use mesquite for anything else because it's too smokey at low temps.

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Nate · March 08, 2016, 06:14:42 PM

Neapolitan pies are one of our favorites to make. Yours looks real good. Yep, higher heat would've been good to help cook the fresh mozzarella. Do you have the steel or something on top to lower the deck height and get the heat down on the top of the pie? For me, the steel works great.

kettlecook · March 08, 2016, 06:33:16 PM

Quote from: MikeRocksTheRed on March 08, 2016, 06:02:53 PM
Mesquite burns hot and fast. You'll need more than you have been using with oak since it burns up so fast. I'm adding mesquite every other pizza if not everyone. I'll be interested to see what you think of the flavor with mesquite. I love it, and as I've said before I don't use mesquite for anything else because it's too smokey at low temps.

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Yeah, I know the mesquite will burn up fast but I was thinking it would be the ticket for more heat. When I first started with the KettlePizza if I had to add wood I'd push small pieces in through the front and to the sides with the hinges of my SS grate folded up. Like this:

Anyhow, since the wood in the middle is what burns up first and where most of the heat comes from, now I'm just sliding the whole oven forward and letting the Performer table support it while I quickly add wood to the the middle of the coal bed. Incidentally, I'm 100% positive now that sitting the stone on the hinged sides helps keep the stone from getting as hot since the center of it isn't in actual contact with the hottest part of the grate.

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kettlecook · March 08, 2016, 06:46:23 PM

Quote from: Nate on March 08, 2016, 06:14:42 PM
Neapolitan pies are one of our favorites to make. Yours looks real good. Yep, higher heat would've been good to help cook the fresh mozzarella. Do you have the steel or something on top to lower the deck height and get the heat down on the top of the pie? For me, the steel works great.

Nate, just how hot do you have to cook fresh mozzarella? Is higher heat all there is to it? No, I've just got the basic kit and I'm cooking around 700 mostly. Thanks.

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Nate · March 08, 2016, 07:23:23 PM

The key, I believe, is lowering the deck height so the heat cooks the high moisture cheese. I only say higher heat to get your dome temp up when you don't have the steel. Hard to tell from your pic but it looks like you have some browning on the cheese. Did you still have to much moisture?

Here's a pic of one of mine with the fresh mozzarella browning I try to get.

kettlecook · March 09, 2016, 10:47:35 AM

Quote from: Nate on March 08, 2016, 07:23:23 PM
The key, I believe, is lowering the deck height so the heat cooks the high moisture cheese. I only say higher heat to get your dome temp up when you don't have the steel. Hard to tell from your pic but it looks like you have some browning on the cheese. Did you still have to much moisture?

Here's a pic of one of mine with the fresh mozzarella browning I try to get.

Looks really good. Guess I'll put another grate on top with some foil over a pan or something, and see how it goes. Thanks.

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Tried fresh Mozzarella?