Pizza Questions


 
Jim McKelvey

Jim McKelvey

TVWBB All-Star
OK folks - tried my 3rd attempt at pizza on the kettle tonight. Getting there...a few questions. Some background first:
+store bought dough
+simple homeade sauce
+shredded mozzarella
+22.5" kettle
+1/2" to 3/4" thick stone, elevated on bricks.
K - blue

Results to date:
#1 - Kettle and stone not hot enough...350- ish. Too way too long to cook and results were poor.
#2 - better on temp, but not great...425, but pizza half slid off peel and into the coals. not good.
#3 - great temp thanks to Bob Sample's skewer suggestion - up over 650 degrees. Everything great, but crist started burning immadiatately upon sliding onto the stone....

So I am thinking ahead to #4...any suggestions to help me get this right???

Jim
 
Did you have coals directly under your stone? I keep them around the edges. I lay my bricks flat, the bricks create a shield and they also help keep the stone from losing to much heat if you are doing multiple pizzas. Also by raising the stone into the lid it helps the top cook quicker which you need to do if your cooking at high temps.
I saw an episode on Eat Streets where a guy was cooking pizzas so hot they were done in 90 seconds.

What are you using on your peel to keep the pizza from sticking? I find flour will burn easily, you might want to try cornmeal. I put mine on parchment paper and once the pizzas been on for a few minutes I slide the parchment out from underneath. Don't cut the parchment bigger than the stone or it will burn.
 
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Bob - thank you for your great replies. Flour definately may be the culprit as I floured the peel a bit since I've had trouble with sticking. I have both cornmeal and semolina. Will give each one a try. I will say this - eating the "tests" is not a bad thing...LOL.

Thanks again - I really appreciate your thoughts!
 
No problem, I spent a lot of time figuring out what worked for me and had lots of help from members here. I like to give back as well as take. If you use that dough recipe make sure you weigh all ingredients the first few times until you get a feel for what the dough is supposed to be like. Once you get that down you can play with it a bit to get it the way you want it. I use less salt, I think the recipe calls for 2tsp and I use 1 1/2 tsp and add a 1/2tsp of garlic powder. If I don't have fresh rosemary I use 1/2tsp more of dried.
 
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