Tried fresh Mozzarella?

[Swamp Yankee]

For the fresh mozzarella, you can try putting the slices between paper towels, on a plate, then stack another plate on top to squeeze out some of the moisture. Maybe add a can or something weighty on top.

I do the same thing by dicing the mozzarella and putting it in a stainless or plastic colander over a pan.  Leave it at room temps for an hour or so and a whole lot of water weeps out of it.

I don't drain or pat  dry at all and have had no problems.  The first time I used fresh moz, I had a friend who is the executive chef of a place that does really good Italian including wood fired pizzas and he didn't have me dry my moz.  They make their own there and its very moist.  So do with that info what you want too.  LOL.  I'll ask him about it the next time I see or talk to him.

Sounds like a plan! Thanks, man.


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I often cook them at wicked high temps really quickly in the Big Green Egg or, when it was still intact, in my Primo Oval XL. I found that if I got the ingredients just right - not putting too much on top... draining the excess water out of the mozzarella and out of the pureed tomatoes I was using ... then I could cook them in 3 minutes or less and have the top and bottom cooked to just the way I like them. But if I didn't cut back as much moisture as possible, the results varied quite a bit.  Of course your results may vary - as do tastes - but after a lengthy learning period making countless mediocre pizzas, that's what I found.


ETA: I dug up some photos from when I used to take pictures of them

[Travis]

Cool. Thanks for the link Jason. Now I know. 👍

[MikeRocksTheRed]

@swamp Yankee  - I think you nailed it without directly saying it.  With smoking on a kettle there are a lot of rules or suggestions that are fairly consistent from one person to another.  With the kettle pizza it is a hot fire that is very dependent on what charcoal you are using, dough, dough thickness, toppings, squeezing moisture out of mozzarella or not, how crispy or soft you want your crust etc..  So in the end it's a matter of spending some time making mediocre pizzas (which are still usually awesome) and tweaking each attempt little by little until you get it dialed in.  If you keep changing each cook to adapt suggestions you have seen that work great from someone else you have just put yourself back several cooks as far as dialing in...unless you get lucky. 


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[kettlecook]

@kettlecook -  I have never used anything but my kettle lid...so far.   To me unless my stone is too hot I would end up burning the top of the pizza to get the crust done. Although I suppose if the high temps are held lower from the dome the stone would be hotter and maybe that wouldn't be an issue.  I feel like I'd be back to day one if I put something above my stone to alter the way things work.


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Cool. Good to know and I haven't had the "issue" of too low ceiling temps until this one pizza with the fresh mozzarella. Think I'm just gonna make sure my temps are up there next time. How hot by your gauge have you been cooking fresh mozzarella?


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[Swamp Yankee]

This is an interesting thread. One of the reasons I bought my Weber was to investigate this Kettle Pizza gadget. I'd like to be making pizzas at our camper - but I'd hate like hell to have to move a Big Green Egg or a Primo Oval XL up to the campground only to have to move it back home in winter. 

[MikeRocksTheRed]

@kettlecook -  I have never used anything but my kettle lid...so far.   To me unless my stone is too hot I would end up burning the top of the pizza to get the crust done. Although I suppose if the high temps are held lower from the dome the stone would be hotter and maybe that wouldn't be an issue.  I feel like I'd be back to day one if I put something above my stone to alter the way things work.


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Cool. Good to know and I haven't had the "issue" of too low ceiling temps until this one pizza with the fresh mozzarella. Think I'm just gonna make sure my temps are up there next time. How hot by your gauge have you been cooking fresh mozzarella?


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Good question.  I do all my pizzas between 600 and pegged out on my KP thermo of i can help it.  I don't look for a hotter or cooler fire when using one cheese over another.  Like I said if your top wasn't done enough and you crust wasn't either, you either need some more heat or let it ride a little longer.  Sounds like you crust and top was on an even pace you just cut everything a bit short.


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[kettlecook]

For the fresh mozzarella, you can try putting the slices between paper towels, on a plate, then stack another plate on top to squeeze out some of the moisture. Maybe add a can or something weighty on top.

I do the same thing by dicing the mozzarella and putting it in a stainless or plastic colander over a pan.  Leave it at room temps for an hour or so and a whole lot of water weeps out of it.

I don't drain or pat  dry at all and have had no problems.  The first time I used fresh moz, I had a friend who is the executive chef of a place that does really good Italian including wood fired pizzas and he didn't have me dry my moz.  They make their own there and its very moist.  So do with that info what you want too.  LOL.  I'll ask him about it the next time I see or talk to him.

Sounds like a plan! Thanks, man.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I often cook them at wicked high temps really quickly in the Big Green Egg or, when it was still intact, in my Primo Oval XL. I found that if I got the ingredients just right - not putting too much on top... draining the excess water out of the mozzarella and out of the pureed tomatoes I was using ... then I could cook them in 3 minutes or less and have the top and bottom cooked to just the way I like them. But if I didn't cut back as much moisture as possible, the results varied quite a bit.  Of course your results may vary - as do tastes - but after a lengthy learning period making countless mediocre pizzas, that's what I found.


ETA: I dug up some photos from when I used to take pictures of them

Much appreciated. Good looking pizzas!


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[kettlecook]

@kettlecook -  I have never used anything but my kettle lid...so far.   To me unless my stone is too hot I would end up burning the top of the pizza to get the crust done. Although I suppose if the high temps are held lower from the dome the stone would be hotter and maybe that wouldn't be an issue.  I feel like I'd be back to day one if I put something above my stone to alter the way things work.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cool. Good to know and I haven't had the "issue" of too low ceiling temps until this one pizza with the fresh mozzarella. Think I'm just gonna make sure my temps are up there next time. How hot by your gauge have you been cooking fresh mozzarella?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good question.  I do all my pizzas between 600 and pegged out on my KP thermo of i can help it.  I don't look for a hotter or cooler fire when using one cheese over another.  Like I said if your top wasn't done enough and you crust wasn't either, you either need some more heat or let it ride a little longer.  Sounds like you crust and top was on an even pace you just cut everything a bit short.


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Ok. Thanks so much for all the help and clarification.


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[kettlecook]

Well this one turned out better. Still not crisp as I'd like but much better than the last one. Thanks for all of the suggestions and help.



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[Swamp Yankee]

Are you looking for it to be crispier on the bottom? If so, then I think that using a pan might be making your problem worse.

One of the reasons ceramic pizza stones are used is because they store and radiate heat as well as absorb moisture out of the dough quickly. Unless you're preheating your pan, you're shielding the dough from both the radiation and the drying effects....and there's no way to get even a heated pan to absorb moisture. 

[MikeRocksTheRed]

@kettlecook  - Are you cooking on your pan instead of directly on a pizza stone?  If so, I would give it a go directly on the stone and see if that fixes your crust being too soft.  LOL, I'm even willing to bet you might burn the crap out of a pizza by accident!

[kettlecook]

That was my last pizza right before pulling, so flames had died down, although temp was still above 600. But yes, bottom crusts could've been a little crisper on a couple of them, especially the fresh mozzarella. Don't know why folks have a problem getting toppings done before the crust. Yes, I'm letting the stone preheat but haven't burnt a bottom yet. Here's what was left of my coal bed afterwards.


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[MikeRocksTheRed]

@kettlecook -  It looks to me like your crust is thicker than mine.  Might be why I'm not having problems getting crusts done.  You might try getting a little more stretch out of your dough.  I've been making mine around 14" lately....almost to the edges of my wood peels.  Also, my coals are in more of a v shape....kind of pacman with his mouth open.  So there are more coals under the stone from the 9-12 position then from the 12-3 position.

[kettlecook]

@kettlecook -  It looks to me like your crust is thicker than mine.  Might be why I'm not having problems getting crusts done.  You might try getting a little more stretch out of your dough.  I've been making mine around 14" lately....almost to the edges of my wood peels.  Also, my coals are in more of a v shape....kind of pacman with his mouth open.  So there are more coals under the stone from the 9-12 position then from the 12-3 position.

Ok. We'll go a little thinner on the crusts. Wife made two batches of B Flay dough and we divided each into three balls. That left two in the fridge so I'll try the Pac Man sticking his tongue out setup. Thanks!


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[mike.stavlund]

I'm really enjoying this thread.  Reminds me that one of the enjoyable aspects of kettle cooking-- and especially cooking pizzas!-- is managing all of the variables. 

For me, one key to pizza is minimizing moisture.  So my sauce gets reduced for a good while to remove much of the water content.  Because water keeps the temps from going up.  And I'm not sure if I'm using the same 'fresh' mozz as folks here are describing (mine comes as individual balls wrapped in plastic-- not floating in water), but I freeze the cheese for about an hour, then run it through the food processor to grate it.  Works really well for me.