First pizza, need some help


 
J

John Boehm

TVWBB Fan
This was my first attempt at pizza, here is the setup:
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So I had several problems, and am looking for advice. 1.The temp only got to 400 with 1 full chimney. I was hoping for 600 or so. Should I just use more Kingsford or switch to lump? 2. I checked it after 10 min and it looked like a swimming pool, I assume the fresh mozzarella and mushrooms gave up too much liquid. Solution? 3. The crust was sort of crispy on the bottom but mushy on top (under the toppings). Should I pre-cook the dough or would a higher temp have fixed this? Bring it on, I'm ready to learn!
 
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I think your setup was good. However, it is unlikely you will ever see temperatures reaching 600f. You can probably get to 450-500f, though. Try cracking the lid of your grill open, to allow more oxygen into the chamber. That's what I do when making kettle-fried chicken.

I've started putting the cheese at the bottom, sauce and toppings on top. During cooking, it rises to the top, but is prevented from burning by the moisture of the sauce. Also, don't be afraid to cook it a bit longer. And if you feel the mushrooms let out too much water, try cooking them down first.

Really, it looks like you did a pretty good job on the pizza, so I wouldn't recommend changing a whole lot. Maybe just cook it a little more, and crack the lid, to start.
 
For italian style hi-heat pizzas, make the dough very thin. Slice the toppings thin, and add a bit less than you have done. To make more food, just make more pizzas.
The setup looks good, and as already mentioned, cracking the lid helps.
 
Setup looks pretty good, as does the pie/crust. Maybe try lump in a full ring instead of the charcoal baskets. I also saw someone post pics with metal "dowels" under the lid that provided just a little more airflow by keeping it a quarter inch or so off the bowl.
 
Pie looks great to me! My success is not using the charcoal bastets, instead, just spread the coals around the inside of the grill, like a ring, indirect cooking. I use a non stick pizza pan, the one with the wholes in it. Also, keeping the pizza dough thin, helps a lot. and even better, make mini pizzas. They cook quick! Pizza are always fun to make on the grill!
 
When I first saw your pizza I was hoping that you were looking for help eating it. Congrats on your first attempt. I find pizza to be kind of the Holy Grail of grilling. The advice you have gotten all seems sound so try some the the ideas. I have gone against the high heat phylisophy and went to about 350 - 400 degrees. The stone needs to come to temp and then I have found the lower temp allows the toppings to cook through before the crust is burnt.
I have tried par cooking the crust and then flipping it before adding the toppings. Just keep trying different thing and enjoy. One nice thing about grilling is that even the failures are tastie.

Mike
 
You may want to swap the fresh mozzarella for shredded aged...Much lower moisture content. There was a lot of fresh stuff on that still good looking pie.
 
John - That's an excellent first attempt - looks way better than mine!. THrough trial and error I've come up with a few things that I do - all of it gleaned from folks here. I spread the coals around in a circle, I use metal rods to keep the lid cracked, I elevate the stone on fire bricks to get the toppings closer to the heat in the dome. Couple of things...for me - pizza is a fuel burner, you need a fair amount of charcoal to get the higer heat. Also, you need to let the stone warm for a while....at least ten minutes at target temp. Think about how long it takes for the stone to cool...well it holds cool temp as well, so be sure to let the stone heat for a while. Practice makes perfect..and as others have said, getting to eat your mistakes is a treat!
 
Looks great to me! Less is more on a pizza(topping wise). Pre cook or squeze out extra liquid from the toppings is the way to go.(Shrooms/maters/sauce).
 
If you have a couple old rotisserie skewers they work great to prop the lid, just lay the skewers across the bowl of the kettle and place the lid on that. Like others stated use a ring of charcoal not your baskets and preheat your stone. If you are propping the lid up then close your top vent. I can easily get the kettle between 600-700 degrees like this with2 chimneys of RO lump and it will last long enough to do 6-8 pizzas. Each pie takes 7-10 minutes to cook.
 
Thanks to everyone for the advice. Bob, I will try proping the lid and using lump to get the temp up, thanks. I might have to start hiking more to offset my pizza trials!
 
Dont forget to close the top vent. This creates a nice convection and helps cook the top as fast as the crust cooks.
 
If you can get the stone a little closer to the lid, that may help get the top and bottom done at the same time.
 
Did my first yesterday. Chimney of hardwood lump. Easily went past 600' and thermometer was no longer easing so the peak temp is unknown. I was cooking thin crusts in 4 minutes. In hindsight, I should have kept the top vent closed to make it more of an oven effect. All told though, I was pleased.
 
I see you have three bricks elevating your stone. They are going to suck up a lot of the energy from the fire. Scrap the bricks and use your empty charcoal baskets to elevate your stone. I also throw on a chimney of unlit after the lit chimney, wait the 30 mins and everything should be cranking hot.
 
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