pizza?


 
D

DW Frommer II

TVWBB Fan
I am not exactly a new WSM owner but I have a question about doing pizza.

I know this has been covered before but maybe I have a different take...

I tried pizza in the WSM last year with the coals on the level of the water pan, as I recall. But it turned out badly--the bottom was charred and the top not so good.

My wife makes fabulous pizza in the oven and uses a stone. Cooking around 400 degrees.

So my question is has anyone tried making pizza in the WSM using a stone and running similar (400 degree) temps?

How did you set it up and how was the pizza prepared before beginning the cook?

How easy was it to get 400 degree temps and how was that achieved?
 
You may have to leave the side door open to get enough air to raise the temps high enough. I have not tried pizza on my WSM but have had good results on my performer using a pizza stone.

Mike
 
Some things are best left to the device that works the best. If your wife makes great pizza in the oven, leave the WSM for other food.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Martin S:
Some things are best left to the device that works the best. If your wife makes great pizza in the oven, leave the WSM for other food.
icon_wink.gif
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wouldn't you like to add a little smoke, though? I'm thinking wood fired ovens impart a little smoke to the pizza, don't they?

If the charcoal was up higher--to the level of the water pan or the second rack--I would think that the temps around the pizza stone would be much higher.?
 
I have never done pizza in my WSM but I have used a stone on my gasser before with good results.

I would think it would be fairly easy to do in your WSM if you leave the pan empty and throw a stone on the top grate. The key with any stone baking is to ensure you wait long enough for the stone to be good and hot.

I think the only thing I would be wary of is adding smoke wood as it could easily become overpowering.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DW Frommer II:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Martin S:
Some things are best left to the device that works the best. If your wife makes great pizza in the oven, leave the WSM for other food.
icon_wink.gif
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wouldn't you like to add a little smoke, though? I'm thinking wood fired ovens impart a little smoke to the pizza, don't they?

If the charcoal was up higher--to the level of the water pan or the second rack--I would think that the temps around the pizza stone would be much higher.? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Pizza out of a wood-fired oven is great where there's a minimal amount of flavor being added, but I'd worry that smoking it would overpower the flavor of the pizza. That's just my opinion though.
 
When I do Pizza on the WSM I use lump (I use lump anyway...) and I start a full chimney in the middle of a mostly full ring of charcoal, by the time the chimney is lit a good portion of the ring is burning hot too, dump it in and you should have no problem getting temps to 350 or 400.

I use the empty water pan as a heat shield, leave the bottom grate off or empty, put a round pizza stone on the top grate and put the pizza on the stone, 15-20 minutes and you have a perfectly cooked pie.

I usually build the pizza right on the stone too as I don't have a peel, I presume using corn meal and a peel you could slide one on, I've had better luck just setting the dough on the stone (maybe a little olive oil first), saucing, and putting toppings on, then covering back up.

Whenever I try to do pizza on the OT I burn the bottom before the top is remotely done.
 
I've never done a pizza on the smoker or grill but from what I'm reading it seems you would have to have a heat difusser of some kind in order to get the air in the cook chamber hot enough but still eliminate the direct heat of the fire thats why the bottom burns before the top cooks properly and why useing a heat sink like water or sand doesn't work, they are there to keep temps down and no pan at all is just to much heat directly on the pie. Hey,it sounds good to me.
 
Here's what I'm thinking...the pizza stone is a heat difusser. maybe a clay pot base as an additional heat sinj difusser. .

Thing is BGE owners do this all the time. Granted they have a cooker that is more air and temperature tight, but if a feller could get the WSM up to 400° and hold it there, why wouldn't you be able to duplicate or come close to the same results?
 
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