Low and slow ... pizza?

[addicted-to-smoke]

OK so this was my first kettled pizza. Forget the subject line above for the moment; we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Any decent experiment needs a control and for me that's Tombstone pizza since our family buys them often. I know what to expect for taste, texture (uh, such as it is ...) and so on.

One full chimney of lump. I didn't completely wait for it to light fully. Less than 10 minutes, but the wind had licked up pretty well. Some at the top was still quite black. Honestly, I wasn't sure I wanted to handle a full chimney of lump going at full spark and pop.

After carefully pouring into the kettle --- spark showers out of the top and bottom as it was slowly tipped horizontal, I separated the pile but left it in the center.

It turned out "OK" but I won't be doing it that way again; they should have been truly moved towards the outside. I put the lid on, all vents open, but didn't wait for the kettle to get hotter because I figured the lump would just go out fairly quick anyway.

A minute or so later I placed a Pampered Chef pizza stone on top of two upside-down charcoal holders. Lid back on. A minute or so later the pizza was on with lid back on.

Here I am peering into the vent hole, and waving to you!




Hey, I think I see something through that top vent, let's zoom in ...



OMG it's trapped! Look at its expression! It's saying, WTF am I doing here?

The center of the pizza bottom got overdone but not so much it couldn't be eaten. And yes, judging by the top, that too was starting to get overcooked.




I said it was "low and slow." Don't have a clue about temperature but there's no way it was near the 400 degrees Tombstone suggests for an 11-minute or so cook, because ... this was a 30-minute cook. I spun the cooking grate 180 degrees partway as the side farthest from the top vent was cooking faster. I also cracked the lid about halfway through because I saw nothing much happening on the pizza.

If this were hotter, like in an oven I would have pulled it about 2-3 minutes earlier, so I'm guessing this could have been closer to a 20-25 minute or so cook and been better.

P.S. Best Tombstone pizza I've had, for flavor. The light, smokey charcoal did help.

[Chasing_smoke]

Nice looking pizza! The first one you cook will always be the test subject. From there you can gauge for the next time. I just bought some fire brick today and the dough is rising for some kettle pizza tonight (again).


 "my kettle is more powerful it will do almost anything."

[Duke]

It loks like you did a fine job ATS, how did the family like it? 

[addicted-to-smoke]

Family's been gone for 2 weeks and we'll convene in another week. I'm home alone doing some house chores and experimenting on the grill. (except for next week -- Savannah and the beech for a day or two.)

Kids like pizza (duh!) but this was a little overdone for what they'd tolerate; hence the learning curve out of the way.

Two slices leftover today for lunch. The "wood-fired" taste is even better now.

Kinda thinking taller supports would be better, but haven't investigated the dimensions of firebrick on its end.