Pizza, Part IV: Baking

In winter, we bake pizzas in the oven on a pizza stone; in the summer, we prefer cooking it on the Green Egg. Here’s how it goes:

If cooking in the oven:

Put a pizza stone on a lowest rack and preheat the oven to 550F. I usually preheat the oven for about 45 minutes before my pizzas go in. The oven and the stone should be very hot. If you don’t have a convection mode in your oven, I would recommend placing another rack in the upper third of your oven. If the dough is not brown enough, you can quickly finish the pizza under the broiler.

Take a dough ball and gently spread it with your fingers into a thin circle on a kitchen counter, dusted generously with flour. Alternatively, you can roll the dough with a rolling pin. Transfer the circle onto a pizza peel (shovel like thingy). Put the toppings, not too many. Try not to overload your pizzas. I always do, though. J

Gently shake off the pizza from the peel onto the pizza stone. Close the oven and set your timer for 6-7 minutes (start with 4 if using convection). When the time is up and the pizza’s crust doesn’t look browned enough, place it under the broiler for 20-40 seconds or until browned to your liking.

When the pizza is done, take it out with a pizza peel. Sprinkle with torn basil leaves, if the pizza topping calls for it. Cut with a pizza wheel and serve with parmesan/pecorino and red pepper flakes.

If you’re no skilled enough in transferring pizzas from a pizza peel to a stone, here’s two more options for you:

1. Place a rolled dough on a well floured piece of parchment paper instead of directly on a pizza peel and then slide it on the pizza stone right with the parchment.

2. Buy a pizza screen like those on the picture bellow and use instead of parchment paper. They can be found in restaurant supply stores (in Seattle most of them are located in SoDo) or try Cash&Carry. Don’t forget to dust them well with flour before putting a pizza on.

   

Note: if your oven can run temperature than 550, it will take less time for a pizza to cook.

If cooking on a Green Egg grill:

Ilya and I are huge fans of pizza baked on Green Egg. It cooks very fast and turns out almost like the one from a wood fire oven. Making pizza on a Green Egg is more efficient if you have one person rolling out the pizzas and another one baking them. In our house, I do all the prep and Ilya starts the grill and bakes.

Here’s his detailed intro to how prep your Green Egg for pizza baking:

Make sure your Green Egg is clean!  Not just clean, but has no ash whatsoever.  Ash and old coals tend to clog the holes, and sometimes gets in between the walls of the egg and the firebox thus obstructing proper airflow.  Load the egg with the best lump charcoal you can find.  We recommend Wicked Good Charcoal http://www.wickedgoodcharcoal.com because it is efficient, has no odor and burns hot once it gets going.

For Pizza, we like to use a combination of a platesetter and a pizza stone resting on 3 green ceramic feet, similar to the 3^rd photo here http://www.fredsmusicandbbq.com/category_s/229.htm

Start the fire without the platesetter/stone arrangement, with the bottom vent fully open and the lid up.  If the coals are all new and the Egg is clean, the grill should get to the full flame stage rather quickly.  Once you see this, add the platesetter/stone arrangement, close the lit and wait for the temperature gauge to start reading about 700.  THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE READY!  The flames, by now probably white-hot, will still need to heat the top stone to about 550-600 degrees F.  Give it about 15 minutes, then close the bottom grate (keep the bottom solid lid at least 2/3 open), to stabilize the temperature.  Another word of caution:  the flames will most likely burn some of your felt gasket, unless you have a heat resistant one.

Once the flames die down some, the stone should be sufficiently hot, and you are ready to make the best pizza in the world!

Now all you have to do it roll out the dough, load it with a variety of toppings and gently shake the pizza from a pizza peel right onto the hot stone. Close the grill lid, let the pizza cook for about a minute, then check. As a rule, it takes about 2.5-4 minutes to bake a pizza on a well heated Green Egg. So keep a close eye on your pizzas as they can burn in no time.

If the pizza gets browned on one side and stays pale on the other, rotate it with a metal spatula so it bakes evenly.

When done, remove the pizza from the grill with the pizza peel and sprinkle with torn basil leaves, if the topping calls for it. Cut with a pizza wheel and serve with parmesan/pecorino and red hot chili flakes.

Comments

[Joe]

I just gave this a shot and it turned out quite well. First pie was a victim of poor temp control but the rest were great. We topped ours with roasted garlic and spicy salami and served them with a chopped rapini salad with chick peas and artichokes.

I went by Sutter Home and Hearth and the guys there told me that Kamado Joe bought out Wicked Good's supply, so their brand may be closer now.