Humble Pie


 
Joe V

Joe V

TVWBB Fan
I've only owned the Weber for a few months now but I was already feeling like I was all that and a bag of chips. Until tonight that is.

I'd purchased some fire bricks and readied the pizza stone for my 1st attempt at some grilled Friday night pies. Wow - one broken pizza stone and two burnt bottom pizzas later and I am a humble man. The pies were undercooked on top and overcooked on the bottom.

SHMBO and the kids tried to make me feel better by saying the pies were good but God as my witness they were awful.
I'll try again next week.
 
You are not alone Joe. Did the same thing, burned on the bottom, under cooked on the top. I think pizza will be for me the hardest thing to master. I have the firebricks that they use in pizza ovens, thinking "I was all that!"....until I burned the pizza. Thank God I was not making them for anyone else at the time, just experimenting.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Regina S:
You are not alone Joe. Did the same thing, burned on the bottom, under cooked on the top. I think pizza will be for me the hardest thing to master. I have the firebricks that they use in pizza ovens, thinking "I was all that!"....until I burned the pizza. Thank God I was not making them for anyone else at the time, just experimenting. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think that's the key right there. Send the wife and kids to the movies, have some good beer on hand and just set aside the afternoon to practicing.
 
Thanks for the kind words Regina and Chris. I'm a prideful man but my pride took a hit tonight. I think you're right about taking some practice before going live again.

And the cold beer sounds darn good too. :)
 
Hi Joe,
Me and a buddy tried 'em for the first time a couple weeks ago, we just did 'em on the grates; put the crusts on, flipped, built, and cooked...they were awesome! I do want to try on a stone, but I might wait 'til we hear back from your practices. Good Luck!
Why do I want beer & a bag o' chips?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Patrick (Hammy):
Hi Joe,
Me and a buddy tried 'em for the first time a couple weeks ago, we just did 'em on the grates; put the crusts on, flipped, built, and cooked...they were awesome! I do want to try on a stone, but I might wait 'til we hear back from your practices. Good Luck!
Why do I want beer & a bag o' chips? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I do the exact same thing and they turn out great. I do build a ring of coals around the perimeter of the grill and have never had a burnt crust. I keep telling myself I need to buy a stone but why?
 
I did some directly on the Kettle grate over charcoal, per instructions over at the Slice blog, which is affiliated with Serious Eats.

Then I did one on a $50 pizza stone on the gasser.

The direct pizzas were great; the stone version burned on bottom before it was done on top. I'm sticking with the direct approach.
 
Joe what was your set up on the kettle?
When you stretched the dough were there any holes in the crust that sauce may have got through?
Did toppings overflow on to the pizza stone?
I've never had a problem unless I didn't raise the stone or toppings got between the crust and the stone.

Also if your fire stones are separated you will have hot spots on your pizza stone. You should also just have the charcoal around the rim of the grate.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chris in Louisiana:
I did some directly on the Kettle grate over charcoal, per instructions over at the Slice blog, which is affiliated with Serious Eats.

Then I did one on a $50 pizza stone on the gasser.

The direct pizzas were great; the stone version burned on bottom before it was done on top. I'm sticking with the direct approach. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Chris your comparing 2 different cooking methods on different grills. Try the stone on the kettle for a true comparison.
 
Don't give up (doesn't sound like you will). Pizza on the kettle is something I'm still struggling with. I often do one in the oven for the family, then experiment with one on the grill for myself. My hope is that if I destroy mine, the family will have pity on me and send a few scraps my way.
icon_smile.gif
 
I have done pizza several times and have had mixed results. I use a Red Sky Grilling stone on my performer. Currently I avoid too hot of a fire and try to get the charcoal spread out to avoid all the heat being under the stone. When I have the stone too hot, a 450 to 500 degree hood temp, the bottom burns and the top is not done,just like you experienced. I also now cook the one side of the crust for 2 minutes, turn, top and finish cooking for pretty good results. I plan to tr using some fire bricks to raise my stone to see if that helps.
Best advice is to do as others have suggested and grab a few beers and a hungry friend and try various things.

Mike
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bob Sample:
Joe what was your set up on the kettle?
When you stretched the dough were there any holes in the crust that sauce may have got through? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

My setup at the start was two full baskets of K blue in the center of the kettle with three fire brick splits on the grill directly over the coals. I placed the pizza stone on the fire bricks and prepared the toppings and stretched the dough while waiting for the stone to heat.

I liberally scattered some corn meal over the performer table and streched the dough into a nice round and evenly thick crust which I placed on the heated stone.

After five or so minutes I added some pizza sauce and mushrooms/garlic/green pepper that I had previously sauteed in order to remove water. I covered all with shredded mozzarella. Then I waited and waited for the bottom of the crust to brown but nothing happened.

That's when I made my first mistake: I removed the pizza, then removed the fire bricks and placed the pizza stone directly over the coals. It was only a minute or two later that I heard the stone shatter into three pieces.
That's when I made my second mistake: I placed the pizza directly over the coals. A minute later and the bottom of the crust was burnt to black.
icon_mad.gif
 
Well first problem I see is having the coals spread under the stone. Put the coals around the edge of the kettle. Next stone you get make sure it is for grills and not the oven since the grill will be much hotter.

Another thing I found helpful to cook the top of the pizza is to raise the lid with something so there is a gap between the lid and the bowl, I use 2 rotisserie rods, and close the top vent. This will give you more of a convection affect in the kettle. The only time I have a problem with the crust burning is when toppings overflow and ooze under the crust.

I see my wife has pepperoni on the grocery list so I guess I'm making some pizza this week, I'll try and get some shots of my set up.
 
I love pizza on the kettle. I always put the dough right on the grate. I set up a 2 zone fire and make the doughs small enough to handle. Like a personal pizza. Oil the dough throw it on flip re oil then everyone gets whatever toppings they want on their pizza. Don't give up on your pizza
 
No reason to panic Joe, but there is a learning curve. I'd suggest investing in an infrared thermometer or at least an accurate oven thermometer. Pizza stones can get ridiculously hot, even when elevated with firebricks. There are a lot of threads on here to read for research, but it's still going to take practice. But the practice is fun and generally involves beer and increasingly good pies.
 
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