First Time Pizza Success on top. Failure on the Bottom


 
G

G Schafer

TVWBB Pro
We tried making pizza on the Weber. Nothing fancy, just store bought dough.
My wife told me that we NEED to prebake the dough before putting the toppings on. I wasn't so sure, but I let her win.
I have a flat piece of 1/4" stainless and a home made griddle. I put the flat piece on the grates, and then flipped the griddle upside down over it. I thought it would make a nice pizza oven.
Like this:
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Heated up till screaming hot. The prebake was done two min per side on top of the griddle:
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Toppings added. Basil pesto, Prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, Kalamata olives and roasted red pepper.
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And into the "oven"

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Out of the oven 2 min later

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Bottom of the crust was burned black. Top was good. We ate the whole thing even with the burned crust.

Next time I'll cut the dough into eight smaller pizzas, and maybe not prebake them. Any other tips?

Thanks,
Gerry
 
Looks good! Maybe a lower temp next time? My thinking is it wouldn't decrease the radiant heat too much inside your 'oven', but would give you a cooler stone and a little more time before that crust starts to burn. Agree on the no prebaking too. I think you've got a great setup - just need to dial in the right temp.
 
I used to prebake my pizza dough but have not in a long time. When I did I would only do one side. The pizza looks great. It took me a few cooks with my kettle pizza before I got them where I wanted.
 
I check my stones for 550ish with an IR thermometer. I've never tried precooking the dough either. 2 min is a lot quicker then mine take, but I don't have a grill oven.
 
Don't overthink this. If you have a gasser, you already have an oven. No need for anything else except a cooking surface. Why not use what Italians use? Hint: They do NOT cook on a piece of thick steel.

Get yourself a pizza stone. Put it right on top of your grill grates and light all the burners. Now prepare your dough. NEVER pre cook the dough. When it's the correct thickness, preferably very thin, Put it on a peal sprinkled with COURSE corn meal. Top the pizza, but make sure it's lightly topped.

Go out to the screaming hot grill and shake your peal back and fourth to make sure the pizza is sliding around but DO NOT slid it off onto the ground. Now open the grill lid and as quickly as possible slide the pizza onto the hot stone and close the cover. After 4 or 5 minutes, quickly rotate the pizza 180 degrees with a pair of long tongs. Three to five minutes later and you're ready to remove the pizza. Use your tongs to pull it onto a cutting board. Let it rest for 2 minutes, slice, and enjoy. The crust should be covered with little brown dots on the bottom, the edges darkened but not burned, and the toppings well melted.

When everything cools down, use a metal dough scraper to clean your stone. Do not wash it. Eventually it will develop a patina like a good cast iron skillet.

If you want the flavor of a genuine wood fired pizzza oven, make a foil pouch, put in half a cup of wood chips, seal it, poke a 1/4" hole in it and toss it on the flavor bars or as close to the burner as you can get. When it starts putting out good smoke put your pizza on the stone.
 
Your pie doesn't look that bad for your first time, i would eat them burnt well maybe slightly burnt LOL i love pizza on the grill practice makes perfect, i recommend don't precook the dough and use a pizza stone after a few pies you will do just fine.
 
I'm going to keep trying with this setup. Next time I'll divide that dough into eight smaller pizzas. No pre bake next time either.
With eight smaller test samples, I should be able to collect enough data to zero in on the timing. Plus it will be fun to do.

Gerry
 
I prebake, but only the side that's going to receive the sauce and toppings. I started doing it when I made a couple of pizzas that were a little gummy on that side even though the crust was otherwise done.
 
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