Inaugural Firing of the Kettle Pizza


 
Rich G

Rich G

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Ok, so I received the KP deluxe kit as a very generous gift on my birthday back in April. I have not had an opportunity to fire it up since I received it, until tonight. So, here goes (with some sage advice from experienced KP users here at TVWBB!):

First, ya can't make pizza without pizza dough. This was a same-day dough that I mixed up in the am (50/50 Caputo 00 and AP), that bulk fermented a couple hours at room temp, then balled in the fridge until a couple hours before cook time. Here are the 280g balls (12-13 inch pies):

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....and, the set up for the pizza building station, with all my mise en place:

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The KP getting it's heat on with a full chimney of charcoal, and two dry oak splits:

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Skin #1 opened up:

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Went with a classic margherita for the first one (for the record it didn't need the shredded cheese....not sure why I put that on there!):

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.....and, Pizza #1 is done:

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The second pizza was homemade italian sausage, jalapeno and honey.....this combo is killer, try it!!:

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#2 done:

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Apparently I didn't get a picture of pizza #3, which was straight pepperoni, so here's #4, which was 1/2 sausage/jalapeno/honey, and 1/2 pepperoni:

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I couldn't be more happy with my KP!!! I got it to temp in a reasonable time, the cook times for the pizzas were in the 2-3 minute range, and the result is absolutely what I was looking for!!! I will make a small tweak or two here and there, I'm sure, but I am a very happy guy with my new pizza "oven"!

Grill-on!

Rich
 
You sir are in a world of trouble!! You set the bar awfully high for your first time using your KP! Those pies look great, and I'm sure the taste was nothing short of amazing!
Great job,
Tim
 
Tim K said:
You sir are in a world of trouble!! You set the bar awfully high for your first time using your KP! Those pies look great, and I'm sure the taste was nothing short of amazing!
Great job,
Tim
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I couldn't agree more. Great looking pies - outstanding for an inaugural run.
 
Thanks, Tim & Jim! It was a blast, and the pizzas were disappearing just about as fast as I could make them! :)

Made a short (and kinda boring) video which you can watch if you click HERE.
 
Those are some killer pizzas Rich. I answered your PM, but it looks like you answered your own question :)

I put my dough in the oven (in bowls) and I put a hot glass of water in the oven with the dough, that's a good environment for rising the dough

That backsplash looks really nice with those counter tops
 
ChuckO said:
Those are some killer pizzas Rich. I answered your PM, but it looks like you answered your own question :)


That backsplash looks really nice with those counter tops
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Thanks, Chuck. Funny thing about the backsplash, when it was first installed, we thought we had made a horrible choice.......then, the crew grouted it, and it was transformational! I like it, too. ;)

R
 
Wonderful looking pies Rich. That Italian Sausage, Jalapeno pizza sounds really good. What a luxury, having that much just for counter space. Awesome everything!
 
Excellent results for your first trip to the rodeo with the new toy.

Keep them coming.
 
Those are some NICE pies for a first cook using your new KettlePizza.

Kinda skimpy with the toppings, don't you think? :p
 
Robert-R said:
Those are some NICE pies for a first cook using your new KettlePizza.

Kinda skimpy with the toppings, don't you think? :p
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:) Thanks, Robert. I like a loaded pie as much as anyone, but lately, have been tending much more toward a balanced "less is more" approach. The dough that I used is also a soft "neapolitan-like" dough, and I think it does better with fewer toppings. I have an NY style dough that I make, too, and that one usually gets quite a bit more cheese and protein. :)

R
 
Well, after thinking about your post all day, you've motivated me to breakout my KP for dinner tomorrow. Ready to start some dough in the AM. :coolkettle:
 
JimK said:
Well, after thinking about your post all day, you've motivated me to breakout my KP for dinner tomorrow. Ready to start some dough in the AM. :coolkettle:
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Jim, it makes my day to know that I have sent your plans to eat healthy all weekend into a tailspin!! :)

If you are interested, here's a link to the dough I used.....I think the Caputo 00 flour is critical, so unless you have that, you probably want to skip it. It was pillowy soft, and so easy to open!

Let's see some pizza pics! :)

R
 
Rich G said:
Jim, it makes my day to know that I have sent your plans to eat healthy all weekend into a tailspin!! :)

If you are interested, here's a link to the dough I used.....I think the Caputo 00 flour is critical, so unless you have that, you probably want to skip it. It was pillowy soft, and so easy to open!

Let's see some pizza pics! :)

R
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Thanks Rich. No Caputo here, so I'm going with Rita's dough in the recipe section here. Been using it for a while now and it works pretty well. I need to find some OO flour though.
 
Rich.. Thanks for the dough recipe and the tip on the Caputo 00. I'm sure I'll have to order that. Just curious, how did your Baking Steel work out?
 
Cliff Bartlett said:
Rich.. Thanks for the dough recipe and the tip on the Caputo 00. I'm sure I'll have to order that. Just curious, how did your Baking Steel work out?
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Yeah, I had to order it, too, though there are a couple of specialty stores here that carry it. If I end up doing pizza more regularly (quite likely), then I'll see if there's a local pizzeria who could order some for me at a better price.

On the steel, I don't have any experience without it, but based on my experience cooking without top heat in my kitchen oven, I would say that there is a great benefit to having the top heat that the steel provides. Just like the bottom stone, preheating the steel is very important, and I gave my setup a good 30 minutes of heat soaking before I cooked the first pie. Just looking at the set up, I would think that if you want to do short cook pies (less than 3 minutes), it would be tough to do without the steel to cook the top. That's all conjecture since I don't have any empirical evidence, but there ya go, another Internet opinion! :)

R
 
Yeah, I suspect KP got a lot of push back in that direction, hence the Baking Steel. They used to recommend raising the peel as high as you could get it inside the dome the last 30 seconds of the cook. That was a pain. Anxious to try mine.
 
Those look fantastic! I was bummed with myself because I saw a KP come up on CL for like $50 and didn't pull the trigger. I'm going to have to get one soon!
 
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