What do you think of this pizza setup? (OTG 22.5)


 

KellyMc

TVWBB Fan
I finally tried grilling pizza yesterday and I think my setup has promise, just needs some tweaking.

This pic is just after removing the lid after 6-8 minutes of cooking.

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This is my 22.5" kettle. I used a heaping chimney of hardwood charcoal plus a couple of handfuls extra on the grate. I rushed a bit and didn't let it all light to start, but I think it got up to full heat well enough.

On the cooking grate, I inverted a 12" cast-iron dutch oven. I had to offset it a bit from center because my lid thermometer probe hit it otherwise. So I ended up with fire on one side and vent on the other with the edge of the dutch oven under the vent. The bottom of the dutch oven held the pizza up within maybe 2-3 inches of the lid.

My lid thermometer maxed out and my good instant-read is busted so I'm not sure how hot I got it, but it was probably in the neighborhood of 600. Next time I think I'll put the coals in the center to give the cast iron more direct heat. And I want to play with the vent to see if I can get the dome temp higher by closing it down a bit while cooking. I could also take out the thermometer to make room in the center of the grill.

Just wanted to share and see if anyone had any ideas for improvement.

Kelly
 
Your pizza look good Kelly. There are some who do pizza on the inside of their dutch ovens that turn out pretty well too.
Since you already have the dutch oven it might be fun to try. Check some of the dutch oven pizza videos on You Tube if
you get a chance.
 
How did the bottom crust turn out?

It was OK if you like crisp crust pizza, but it had several strikes against it to start.

First it was half whole wheat, which is always going to be a little flat. Then, it was a quick dough instead of overnight or two-day rise, which I prefer to do. Pizza was a late-in-the-day decision, and then I rushed it a bit to get dinner ready, so it had less than 90 minutes total rise time. Finally, I do think putting the fire directly under the dutch oven will get the surface hotter than having it offset.

All that said, I thought it was pretty good, so I think it could be great next time.

Bob, I'll check out that method -- I guess it's like the non-knead bread method, but it seems like you'd be fighting to get the toppings cooked and melted fast with the pizza down low in a steamy container like that.
 

 

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