First Pizza Cook


 
B

Brian C.

New member
I did my first pizza cook last night, long story short I will never cook pizza in the oven again!

I got dough from Trader Joes and sauce as well, just didn't have time to make my own like I normally do for my deep dish. Got home and fired up a full chimney of coals, while those were going my wife, her brother, and I started working on the pizza. I had to make it on a cutting board as I don't own a pizza peal yet. I pressed out the dough and then my wife and her brother sauced it and put on the toppings. I used cornmeal under the dough to keep it from sticking.

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As this was being done I put the coals in my 18.5 Kettle in a ring around the outside, placed the cooking grate on and then the pizza stone on top of that directly. I couldn't do the lifted method like I wanted as the stone hit the top of the lid and I was concerned about poor airflow to the top of the pizza. Once the grill got up to temp, about 450F, we put the pizza on.

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It slid off the cutting board just like I would have liked. We let it cook for about 15 mins. It was perfectly cooked. Took it off and sliced it up, and the crust had a nice crunchiness to it while not being overdone.

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Thoughts for next time:

I used way too much cornmeal; I might try the parchment paper method next time.
I don't feel that I got my grill hot enough, would have liked it over 500F
We added way to many toppings for my tastes haha.

Now my question:

What's the best way to get the kettle hotter? I had a full chimney in the 18.5 and the vents wide open. I let it come up to temp for ~15 mins before putting the pizza on. It could only muster 450F. Should I do a chimney and a half?
 
1. Use lump
2. Use wood (chunks or splits)

Both burn much hotter than briquettes.

Also, don't completely close the lid. You need more airflow than the vents can supply. Leave the lid cracked open, or get one of those pizza kettle things that leaves a giant opening in the front.
 
That is a great looking first pizza! About getting more heat, if you use wood, use hard wood
like kindling sized. There are those who do not advocate super high heat for grilled pizza.
I am one of them. Mine are usually done at 350 to 375 degrees. Seem to have more control
and less burning that way. When using the lower heat, sometimes I pre-grill the crust for a
few minutes, then add the sauce, cheese, and toppings, and back to the grill to get pizzafied.
Will you make me a cheese, sausage and onion with bbq sauce please?
 
Does it matter the flavor of wood you use? Will hickory vs apple or oak impact (positively or otherwise) the flavor of the pizza? Or does it not matter because the wood is burning hot and not smoldering?

Clearly I've never done pizza on a grill. But it is very tempting.
 
Great looking pie, the only way I can get my temp past 500 and mostly it hits 700 is to burn hardwood.
 
Brian Johnson said:
Does it matter the flavor of wood you use? Will hickory vs apple or oak impact (positively or otherwise) the flavor of the pizza? Or does it not matter because the wood is burning hot and not smoldering?

Clearly I've never done pizza on a grill. But it is very tempting.
Click to expand...

I use oak because oak burns really hot, you want to make sure and only use hardwood, do not use softwood such as pine. I have not noticed a really smoky flavor on my pies, but you are cooking these babies really quick and I haven't put a lot of cheese on a pie and I feel that cheese would really retain more of the smoke flavor.
 
I think bob hit it right on the head and it is the way I am doing mine now. Lay out your pie, maybe with a smear of EVOO very lightly on the top and put it on for a few minutes(depending on your temp) then once it starts to set up, pull it, sauce and top it and put it right back on.
Also if using wood make sure it is full charcoal little smoke condition. The first ones I did had too much of a smoke flavor to them that no one liked.
 
I'm sure watching this thread. Lots to learn. Great cook first time out Brian. I think the 18 is a great kettle for this.
 
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