Two guys and pies on the Aristocrat (PIZZA MONTH - tons of pics!)

[austin87]

@pbe gummi bear and I got together last week to bust out some pies and we worked together on documenting this post for pizza month. We went pretty heavy on the prep work.

I started with some Bobby Flay homemade dough, using bread flour instead of all purpose, which gives it more crunch vs chew: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/pizza-dough-recipe.html







I did realize later (see my funky heart shaped pizza) that it's important to make a nice smooth dough ball... those cracks in it make it hard to shape later.

Whole milk mozzarella





I went with a pesto, skirt steak, homegrown cherry tomatoes, homegrown cayenne pepper rings, feta cheese, sliced red onion, and mozzarella

Skirt steak getting to room temp with a heavy salt and pepper base





Pepper right out of the garden



18" OTG getting going for gummi's pie. Gummi decided to make a pizza that's inspired by one of his favorite pizza places near Boston, Emma's Pizza - The pizza is called the No.3 Hasty Pudding Pie with roasted sweet potato, sweet Italian sausage, caramelized onion, garlic, rosemary sauce, mozzarella, goat cheese.









Red and yellow onions into the 12" CI skillet to carmelize







For gummi's sauce started with whole canned San Marzanos, added rosemary and garlic, and pureed the everloving crap of out it in the Blendtec before cooking out the water. The Blendtec really is amazing, the sauce was silky smooth before getting some heat to thicken up.







Meanwhile, split the dough, give it a quick knead, and let it rise again









Sausage! Remove the casing if you can't find bulk, and cook til crumbled





The beat ass old Aristocrat - missing a metal bowl handle, chipped, crazed, stained, and out of round just enough that you have to wiggle the lid to get it to sit on the bowl right, but she can still cook!









Did I mentioned we used an absolute ton of RO lump to get this baby cooking?!?! Gummi has some pretty sweet tiles that made for a great stone



Our Thermapen and IR thermometer says the Aristocrat was smokin' hot.

Fire temp near 1000F



Ambient temp 500F+



Bowl Temp 500F+



Stone Temp 400F+ and rising.



Redhead color change before and after.




(It's a little dusty)

Back in the kitchen the sauce continues to cook down to a nice thickness - gummi crushed this sauce, it was amazing







The skirt steak was just seared on the outside for flavor (45 seconds or so) and left raw in the middle. The thin slices cook in the time it takes to finish the pizza









The stove became one of our makeshift staging areas in my dinky studio cottage



Shaping some pies



Gummi saucin' it up! And a fine balancing act I might add



Mozzarella, sweet potato, and sausage



Caramelized onions



Goat cheese



Some sweet pecan splits to up the temp and give it the wood burning oven taste. It smells divine



Pie on!



Remember that part about making a smooth doughball at the beginning? This is why...



Pesto



Mozzarella



Red onion



Rare skirt, halved and salted garden tomatoes, cayennes (not really that spicy, a little disappointing, but great sweetness like a red bell pepper)



Feta, more mozzarella, and a healthy dose of cracked black pepper



Meanwhile, on the grill









Pie on!





Closeup of Gummi's finished pizza on the cutting board



Closeup of my finished pizza




Get a load of the crust on gummi's pizza!



and the crust on mine.

[pbe gummi bear]

It was my pleasure being your sous chef, @austin87! We'll have to try it again sometime and hope it doesn't take 4 hours again.

[Davescprktl]

Looking good guys!  Nice cook!

[fljoemon]

Awesome cook .. great commentary and pics. Keep posting more pizza cooks .. I love it!

[Mr.CPHo]

Those look fantastic.  I appreciate the time and effort it took to document this pizza cook.  More info on those tiles, please.


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[pbe gummi bear]

Those look fantastic.  I appreciate the time and effort it took to document this pizza cook.  More info on those tiles, please.


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They are older Dough-Joe brand tiles, roughly 6x9" rectangles each and 3/4" thick. They store quite well and I like the modularity of shape and size. I'd highly recommend it if you want to use a stone between the oven/kettle/gasser and/or cook things of various shapes.

The new style can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00GH0R7TY/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1472682785&sr=8-2&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=dough+joe&dpPl=1&dpID=41pFSGzlexL&ref=plSrch

[MacEggs]

Everything looks awesome!  Nicely done, fellas.  No beer pics ?? 

[Idahawk]

Love the ingredients on both pies .. They look amazing


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[austin87]

Everything looks awesome!  Nicely done, fellas.  No beer pics ?? 

I promise we didn't forget to drink 'em even if there's no evidence!

[DirectDrive]

Stunning pics !
And I'm a doctor and have seen everything !

[Maxmbob]

Great looking pies @austin87 & @pbe gummi bear, excellent documentation. Are you cooking them on unglazed tiles? The bottom of the pizzas look perfect.

[pbe gummi bear]

Thanks, @Maxmbob I think the stones are unglazed. The feel like bare ceramic.

[MikeRocksTheRed]

Great cook and pics!  I love when I see others having a hard time making a round pizza!!!!