disappointed after first try w lodge pizza pan


 
J

Jeff Davidson

TVWBB Super Fan
the lodge cast iron pizza pan was on sale and very well reviewed on amazon so I decided to give it a try. We like Neapolitan style pizza, we're lucky to have 3-4 restaurants in the county that make it well and I'm in nyc everyday if I want truly great Neapolitan pizza. In the past I've tried to recreate this style by grilling pizza directly on the grate. I love the charred taste of the crust but I've had problems with the crust burning and uneven cooking. I was hoping the cast iron pan would help solve those problems.

I decided to make my first batch on the performer. I knew I'd need to crank the heat to around 700F. I placed a lit chimney of charcoal into the performer's baskets, opened all vents full and placed the lid vent above the baskets. I put the pan right on grill, let the pan get hot and then put the pizza on the pan. Finally, I propped open the lid on one side with a piece of wood.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the temp over 500. The resulting pizza was very good, cooked evenly but I missed the charred bottom. While the pizza was crispy, it had the wrong consistency, maybe a little too bready.

anyone have any tips on how to get a better pizza off of the lodge pan? I have a suspicion all those reviews on amazon are for people looking for a different style of pizza...
 
I have not done pizza yet, but you should be able to get the temp higher by not using the baskets. If that doesn't work you can minion method it too.
 
you can try stoking the coals a bit.

Sometimes if i'm cooking a bunch of tuna steaks for guests i'll get out the air pump and run air directly over the coals for several minutes.

You can easily get your grill up over 1000 degrees, although its a lot easier if you're using something other than Kingsford.
 
I think for the neopolitan, you may not have much luck with the lodge pan, since it will be closer to frying the bottom of your pie than it would be if you were using a stone, versus the cast iron. For the higher heat, I would skip the baskets, as they do restrict your airflow somewhat, and switch to lump charcoal. When I do pizzas I usually use two full chimneys of lump, one fully lit and the other unlit, dumped on top of the lit, and let the unlit get nearly all the way hot before I put a pie on, but with the stone having been in place the whole time. The key to your style is going to be getting the stone super hot before the crust hits it. With pizza and cowboy ribeyes, the grill is hot enough to be able to get close enough to it to put the food on, but no one is hanging around close to the grill without getting some hair singed!
 
You will definitely need two chimneys full of charcoal. Here is what works for me..preheat your pizza stone in the oven at 500 degrees for a half hour..in the meantime put your baskets one on each side of the kettle and dump one chimney of UNLIT in a circle around the edge of the baskets (not in the baskets, you are using the baskets just to hold the briqs on the sides to form an outer circle) Light a full chimney and dump the lit on top of the unlit all around the circle. Put your top grate on and put a fire brick or landscaping brick in the middle of the grate, then put your pre-heated pizza stone on top of the stone. Then prop open your lid like you did before and let the kettle get cranking hot. It helps if you prop open different sides of kettle during the heating process...Once the kettle is hot enough throw your pie on, but keep the lid propped so it doesn't die down the heat. This is what works for me...play around with it a little and you will figure out what works for you
 
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