KP + CI + Oven = Pizza!

[Rich G]

Just a wild guess, but is it possible that the skillet being deeper than the thickness of the pizza somehow shielded or insulated its top from the full effect of the heat?

Possible, but I've had similar results while cooking a pie directly on the stone. It's more about getting the top steel nicely heat soaked (and possibly, adding my other pizza stone on top of that for even more thermal mass. Frequently, it's an issue of patience (mine), and not waiting long enough for the steel to soak up all the heat it needs. I also think I need to leave the kettle lid vents open when I first fire it up, to encourage more airflow on both sides of the top steel.....I think I used to do that, and have forgotten about it in recent cooks. I would shut that vent when getting close to cooking pies, as you want the air to flow up and over the pizza, out the front.

I'll just have to eat more pizza to test these theories!

R

 

[Michael Richards]

Thanks, Steve. I use the same setup with the WSM22 base as I do with the kettle. Here's a pic from a previous cook:

View attachment 9802

I used fewer unlit coals this time out, and about 3/4 of a chimney of lit gets poured evenly on top of that. The KP thermometer was running about 550F, and the lid therm only hit 375F, which is why I had to use the broiler to get the toppings finished.

R

Rich,
I never thought to use the charcoal bins negative space to create the "C" when doing pizza will be trying that next time.
Michael

 

[Michael Richards]

That looks great. I have never cooked in the KP but I would try putting something on the stone to get an air gap between the stone and your skillet so the crust cooks slower and getting the pie higher in the dome so the heat from the lid cooks your toppings. I also dont preheat the pan at all for pan pizzas.

So in my mini-za oven I had a problem with heat at the top too. I put a grate above and placed a terracotta plant tray wrapped in foil on it to radiate the heat back down better. You could do something similar by not using your dome lid and placing a flat piece of metal or a large pizza stone, or???? Another thing I found was that not having the top vent open and letting it vent out the front opening allowed the heat to run over the top of the za. Last time I used it I didn't use the domed lid. I put the original flat tamale pot lid on and it did even better.

Case, you are officially named Dr. Frankinstein to me! Your grills are so cool!

 

[Michael Richards]

@Rich Dahl, do you elevate the stone off the cooking grate at all, or just keep it on the cooking grate?

KE,
I use the charcoal ring from my 14 WSM and the top and bottom finishes together. I love this set up!

 

[SteveF (Alpine)]

Beautiful! Gonna have to try the cast iron method now, albeit without charcoal. How was working with the 75% dough? We usually do around 65%. We experimented once with 70% and it was pretty hard (err soft) to work with.

 

[Rich G]

Beautiful! Gonna have to try the cast iron method now, albeit without charcoal. How was working with the 75% dough? We usually do around 65%. We experimented once with 70% and it was pretty hard (err soft) to work with.

Steve, just to clarify, this dough isn't 75% hydration, the flour is 75% AP, and 25% 00 Pizza flour. The hydration is 62%. My usual pizza dough is a pseudo-neapolitan, using 50% AP, 50% 00. That tends to do better at high temps, so I reduced the amount of 00 for this cook at lower temps. It's a really nice dough to work with!

R

 

[SteveF (Alpine)]

Steve, just to clarify, this dough isn't 75% hydration, the flour is 75% AP, and 25% 00 Pizza flour. The hydration is 62%. My usual pizza dough is a pseudo-neapolitan, using 50% AP, 50% 00. That tends to do better at high temps, so I reduced the amount of 00 for this cook at lower temps. It's a really nice dough to work with!

R

Wow, totally misread that. One of our favorites is 150g Caputo 00, 150g King Arthur whole wheat and 180g water, which is 60%. The whole wheat adds nice flavor and texture.

 

[CaseT]

Steve, just to clarify, this dough isn't 75% hydration, the flour is 75% AP, and 25% 00 Pizza flour. The hydration is 62%. My usual pizza dough is a pseudo-neapolitan, using 50% AP, 50% 00. That tends to do better at high temps, so I reduced the amount of 00 for this cook at lower temps. It's a really nice dough to work with!

R

So to throw another kink into the mix. I messed with the flour ratio thing a few years back. Found that if I just used AP had better results. Whole spread sheet different ratios etc. I weigh everything when baking and did all kinds of mixes and the AP ( Bobs Red Mill) was the best. It local $2.99 a bag (pre-Covid) now I’ve been using all these what ever the store has brands. All work better then adding the 00 in.
Local pizza joint and baker I know thinks it’s a hype too.
Just my two cents.

 

[Rich G]

So to throw another kink into the mix. I messed with the flour ratio thing a few years back. Found that if I just used AP had better results. Whole spread sheet different ratios etc. I weigh everything when baking and did all kinds of mixes and the AP ( Bobs Red Mill) was the best. It local $2.99 a bag (pre-Covid) now I’ve been using all these what ever the store has brands. All work better then adding the 00 in.
Local pizza joint and baker I know thinks it’s a hype too.
Just my two cents.

Based on my experience, it depends a bit on what temps you are cooking your pies. If you are doing true Neapolitan pizza (850F+), then AP does not do as well (it burns.) That's how I got started using any 00, I was trying to do Neapolitan pies......when I finally figured out that was going to be difficult/impossible with my gear (and a $3k pizza oven wasn't happening.....or even a $3-500 pizza oven), I adjusted my flour mix for the temps I was achieving. I can get 750F pretty easily in the KP, and I find that there is a definite difference at that temp using some 00 flour in the mix versus all AP. I also think that there is a significant difference in the way the dough handles with 00 mixed in. It's extremely soft, supple and extensible.....more so than a 100% AP dough at the same hydration.

As with all things related to cooking, there are lots of ways to skin a cat (or pizza), and, thusly, there are lots of different ways to arrive at what you like. I like the 00, so I use it, and there are noticeable differences.

That's got to be at least $.035!

R

 

[Rich Dahl]

@Rich Dahl, do you elevate the stone off the cooking grate at all, or just keep it on the cooking grate?

The pizza sits on the performers grate. Because there is no KP the top of the lid is much closer to the top of the pizza so it's not necessary to elevate the stone. Although the dome vent has to be open so you are losing some heat there.
If you're looking for blast furnace temps you need the KP to get the necessary air flow. We are quite successful with 500-550 temps.
Most chain store pizza joints don't run over 500 degrees.

 

[Rich G]

I had another go at skillet pizza in the KP last night, though it didn't seem to make sense for a new thread, so I'll just drop it in here..... Same dough as last time (75% AP, 25% 00, 62% hydration.) I fired the KP the same way (3/4 chimney of lit poured over a "C" of unlit), with the addition of 15 coals on top of the KP baking steel, which I lit when I poured the chimney into the bottom bowl. I dropped in a chunk of apple and one of cherry, and the KP therm pegged out at about 550F. I did a very short preheat on the skillet (~2 minutes), so it was just warm, not hot. Small amount of oil in the skillet, placed the stretched skin, topped, and into the KP. Rotated a quarter turn every minute or so, total bake time around 6 minutes.

Result......perfect! Great browning of the top/toppings, and just the right browning on the bottom. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out!

 

[J Grotz]

I had another go at skillet pizza in the KP last night, though it didn't seem to make sense for a new thread, so I'll just drop it in here..... Same dough as last time (75% AP, 25% 00, 62% hydration.) I fired the KP the same way (3/4 chimney of lit poured over a "C" of unlit), with the addition of 15 coals on top of the KP baking steel, which I lit when I poured the chimney into the bottom bowl. I dropped in a chunk of apple and one of cherry, and the KP therm pegged out at about 550F. I did a very short preheat on the skillet (~2 minutes), so it was just warm, not hot. Small amount of oil in the skillet, placed the stretched skin, topped, and into the KP. Rotated a quarter turn every minute or so, total bake time around 6 minutes.

Result......perfect! Great browning of the top/toppings, and just the right browning on the bottom. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out!

What's your delivery charge down here to SoCal???

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Glad I dropped by again Rich. That pie is a work of art. I like pepperoni but I think I'd go with the jalapeno with seeds side for me.

 

[Michael Richards]

I had another go at skillet pizza in the KP last night, though it didn't seem to make sense for a new thread, so I'll just drop it in here..... Same dough as last time (75% AP, 25% 00, 62% hydration.) I fired the KP the same way (3/4 chimney of lit poured over a "C" of unlit), with the addition of 15 coals on top of the KP baking steel, which I lit when I poured the chimney into the bottom bowl. I dropped in a chunk of apple and one of cherry, and the KP therm pegged out at about 550F. I did a very short preheat on the skillet (~2 minutes), so it was just warm, not hot. Small amount of oil in the skillet, placed the stretched skin, topped, and into the KP. Rotated a quarter turn every minute or so, total bake time around 6 minutes.

Result......perfect! Great browning of the top/toppings, and just the right browning on the bottom. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out!

View attachment 10009

Rich,
That does look prefect. Do you think you could make more than one pizza in the CI Skillet or do you think it would be too hot to keep making more than one pie?

 

[Rich G]

Rich,
That does look prefect. Do you think you could make more than one pizza in the CI Skillet or do you think it would be too hot to keep making more than one pie?

I think you would need to let it cool off a bit. Fortunately, I have two skillets of that size, so I can just rotate them (which I actually did last night.....two pies, I only took a pic of one of them.)

 

[Ed M.]

That is one mighty fine looking pie, Rich!

 

[Rich G]

Glad I dropped by again Rich. That pie is a work of art. I like pepperoni but I think I'd go with the jalapeno with seeds side for me.

I just ate both sides, Cliff, so I satisfied both cravings! The jalapeños were from my garden, and quite hot for jalapeños! Had some of my homemade chorizo on that half two, and the combination of sausage and peppers was great!