Hayden McCall
TVWBB All-Star
Ok. So...I made a pizza not to long ago. I rolled out the crust and flopped it on the grill until I had some nice grill marks on both sides. I pulled the crust, topped it, and threw it back on until the topping cooked and the cheese thoroughly melted. It was fabulous.
Today, I figured I'd give my Weber pizza stone it's first go. I lit a chimney of Kingsford Comp, and spread it around the outer edge of the charcoal grate to make a nice ring. I placed the grate on the tabs, then put the stone on top with a generous amount of cornmeal. While the stone preheated, I got everything squared away with the pizza. I rolled out a whole wheat dough ball from Whole Foods, topped it, then put it on a pizza peel, also generously coated with corn meal.
Now the disaster part. I could not, to save my life...LOL...get this pizza to transfer from the peel to the stone without a fuss. The dough must've been too sticky or I didn't use enough cornmeal. I dunno. But by the time i pulled the pizza onto the stone from the peel, I'd stretched the dough to nearly twice it's original diameter. It was ugly. Real. So...I folded the excess crust over top and said to myself "Viola! Stomboli!" It turned out alright, but it was NOT as I'd intended.
Is there a trick to getting the dough to transfer from peel to stone?
The only thing I can think of is that I had the dough out of the fridge too early. Is it best to work with cold dough...and do everything immediately prior to putting the pizza on the stone?
I couldn't even bring myself to take pictures. Between laughing at my effort, and shaking my head in shame, I just couldn't do it.
It was ugly. I can tell you that. Trainwreck.
Today, I figured I'd give my Weber pizza stone it's first go. I lit a chimney of Kingsford Comp, and spread it around the outer edge of the charcoal grate to make a nice ring. I placed the grate on the tabs, then put the stone on top with a generous amount of cornmeal. While the stone preheated, I got everything squared away with the pizza. I rolled out a whole wheat dough ball from Whole Foods, topped it, then put it on a pizza peel, also generously coated with corn meal.
Now the disaster part. I could not, to save my life...LOL...get this pizza to transfer from the peel to the stone without a fuss. The dough must've been too sticky or I didn't use enough cornmeal. I dunno. But by the time i pulled the pizza onto the stone from the peel, I'd stretched the dough to nearly twice it's original diameter. It was ugly. Real. So...I folded the excess crust over top and said to myself "Viola! Stomboli!" It turned out alright, but it was NOT as I'd intended.
Is there a trick to getting the dough to transfer from peel to stone?
The only thing I can think of is that I had the dough out of the fridge too early. Is it best to work with cold dough...and do everything immediately prior to putting the pizza on the stone?
I couldn't even bring myself to take pictures. Between laughing at my effort, and shaking my head in shame, I just couldn't do it.
It was ugly. I can tell you that. Trainwreck.