The Home Made Pizza Thread

[TrickyDick]

The seriouseats.com site has a really awesome carnitas technique. Highly recommended.

 

[icebob]

Thursday night, pizza night, Vermont smoked pepperoni, brisket, salami, onions green olives and smoked mozzarella....

 

[Yeastieboy]

Beautiful!

 

[TrickyDick]

Nice pies Icebob!

What kind of setup are you baking them in (and follow-up questions how hot is it running and how long are you baking?)
What does the bottom of the pie look like?

I can see the Chile Oil sauce dripping off!! Making me hungry!

You inspired me to make my own mozz the last time I did pizza. Found a raw milk supply. Was really really good stuff! $10 per gallon only made a few small child-sized fist balls. WAY better than grocery store stuff.

TD

 

[icebob]

I cook them in a Blackstone patio oven, I usually launch at 800f... cooking time is about 2 minutes....

 

[Yeastieboy]

I cook them in a Blackstone patio oven, I usually launch at 800f... cooking time is about 2 minutes....

Is that gas or electric?

 

[hotwatermusic]

Propane and propane accessories.

 

[applescrap]

Yep that's the inspiration for putting the steel on the grill. I can't tell you how hot it gets but it seems hot. And if you had a real Grill I bet it would work really well with a nice piece of filet as well. PS Overstock has good prices on Blackstones. I think the important thing is keeping the heat out of the kitchen in the summer!


Edit. ....second attempt on grill. It burned the crust in 90 seconds or so if I didnt spin it. Problem was top wasn't keeping up! Finished off in oven after first ruined pizza went to trash. It put a sear on the bottom that was unreal. But in future need to have broiler in oven ready to finish. Thoughts?

 

[Homercidal]

Yep that's the inspiration for putting the steel on the grill. I can't tell you how hot it gets but it seems hot. And if you had a real Grill I bet it would work really well with a nice piece of filet as well. PS Overstock has good prices on Blackstones. I think the important thing is keeping the heat out of the kitchen in the summer!


Edit. ....second attempt on grill. It burned the crust in 90 seconds or so if I didnt spin it. Problem was top wasn't keeping up! Finished off in oven after first ruined pizza went to trash. It put a sear on the bottom that was unreal. But in future need to have broiler in oven ready to finish. Thoughts?

I've been having that issue. Someone at work suggested just planting on a stone and then putting on the grill. I have no doubt that will solve the difference in cooking top vs bottom, but I doubt it will make the crust I want.

I think the best way would be to have it really hot on top and not as hot below. Not sure how to do this on a grill. It would also require careful handling to get the crust to cook evenly all around.

 

[headbanger]

I think the best way would be to have it really hot on top and not as hot below. Not sure how to do this on a grill. It would also require careful handling to get the crust to cook evenly all around.

My grill cooks from the top down in zone #4.

 

[gromitdj]

I think the best way would be to have it really hot on top and not as hot below. Not sure how to do this on a grill.

As I've mentioned before.... the answer is to put the stone on top of 3 or 4 soup cans. It gets the bottom off of the direct heat of the grill and gets the top up in the dome. Don't open it if you don't have to. Preheat the stone for at least 45 minutes.

Edited to add: You can see what I do back in post #1780

 

[Homercidal]

My grill cooks from the top down in zone #4.

Good God! I could build a brick oven for that price!

 

[Homercidal]

As I've mentioned before.... the answer is to put the stone on top of 3 or 4 soup cans. It gets the bottom off of the direct heat of the grill and gets the top up in the dome. Don't open it if you don't have to. Preheat the stone for at least 45 minutes.

Edited to add: You can see what I do back in post #1780

Interesting. Not sure how I missed this. I know I saw the pic, but didn't get the soup can thing. Worth trying! Your pie looks pretty good.

 

[headbanger]

Good God! I could build a brick oven for that price!

You could probably build one cheaper than that but you couldn't slow smoke BBQ or grill in it.

 

[Homercidal]

You could probably build one cheaper than that but you couldn't slow smoke BBQ or grill in it.

Maybe if it was designed just right?

 

[NickTheGreat]

I've been having that issue. Someone at work suggested just planting on a stone and then putting on the grill. I have no doubt that will solve the difference in cooking top vs bottom, but I doubt it will make the crust I want.

I think the best way would be to have it really hot on top and not as hot below. Not sure how to do this on a grill. It would also require careful handling to get the crust to cook evenly all around.

I have a Kettlepizza for my Weber Kettle. I've read a lot about guys getting a second stone or even steel plate and putting above the pizza.

The soup can idea has merit though.

 

[gromitdj]

Like most of my good ideas, I pilfered it from the internet. It works pretty good. I've been doing it for the last couple years that way. I've done as many as 8 pizzas in one night.

I keep threatening to build a more permanent setup, but the 3 soup cans don't cost me anything and they last a year or so.

 

[Evets]

You could probably build one cheaper than that but you couldn't slow smoke BBQ or grill in it.

Sure you can.

 

[applescrap]

Pizza looks good on top of cans great idea. With the steel directly on the grill, I'm guessing as fast as the dough burned it was 7-800 degrees. The grill thermometer said 600 at the top. I wonder what would happen if I threw a steak on it. I want a little oven.

 

[hotwatermusic]

For anyone using a charcoal grill, I know cooks illustrated recently had an article about grilling pizza. They found that arranging the coals in a ring had better results with less hot spots and more even cooking. I know it may be sacrilegious but a nice little hood trick is using foil to deflect heat. Of course so is using shopping carts as bbq grills, so.....
Made a couple pies. From Evets- "most people use too much yeast", less than a half teaspoon for 4 1/4 cups flour. It rose fine and the flavor was great. Also, on the second pie, I listened to the dough doctor- thin sliced tomatoes and fresh herbs make the best "sauce". I dredged some tomato slices in evoo and sprinkled with oregano and basil from the garden to make a Margherita-ish pie.

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[Evets]

Man, that's a good lookin' slice right there! ^^^!!

 

[Staestc]

You could probably build one cheaper than that but you couldn't slow smoke BBQ or grill in it.

Yes, you can. You can do an amazing amount of things with a brick oven, including those. The only drawback is the amount of time to get the oven to temperature (high) for pizza, then allowing it to cool down to do breads, roasts, etc. etc. They are giant heat sinks and it takes a while to change the temperature.

 

[TrickyDick]

My oven is a forno bravo, the one with with the insulated door.
When I make pizza I usually start the fire at 3:30 PM and its ready to bake by 5:30 or 6:00. I rarely use the oven the next day, but if I do, it's at least 500° and some days hotter, especially if I'm doing Neo pies instead of NY pies. I have a really tall chimney, if I was to guess, about 18 feet or more tall. I think that the height helps to draw in fresh air. One of these days I'll do some other baking in it. I think you can simulate a steam oven with a pan of water in it.

TD.

 

[Evets]

My oven is a forno bravo, the one with with the insulated door.
When I make pizza I usually start the fire at 3:30 PM and its ready to bake by 5:30 or 6:00. I rarely use the oven the next day, but if I do, it's at least 500° and some days hotter, especially if I'm doing Neo pies instead of NY pies. I have a really tall chimney, if I was to guess, about 18 feet or more tall. I think that the height helps to draw in fresh air. One of these days I'll do some other baking in it. I think you can simulate a steam oven with a pan of water in it.

TD.

Mine is a hand built "Pompei" oven from plans on the Forno Bravo site. There's at least 4 inches of insulation around it and retains enough heat to cook something as long as three days after pizza night. I've roasted all my Thanksgiving turkeys in it since 2010, bread, apple pie, covered side dishes etc. I've used it as a smoker once the temp drops to about 275 with just a small pile of lump charcoal and wood chips off to one side. I sometimes spread some coals in front near the opening and set a Tuscan grill over them for steaks and burgers. If the oven is hot, steaks take as little as maybe 2 minutes a side! There's really nothing you can't do in a wood fired oven.

 

[kev211]

This is a "leftover pizza" and is fairly experimental (actually turned out pretty good). It's rosemary dough with small dollops of leftover mashed potatoes, burgundy peppercorn tri-tip (affectionately known in San Diego as 'Cardiff Crack'), lightly bbq sauced, and cilantro. Topped with fresh avocado

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[unionrdr]

Interesting combination. How'd it taste?

 

[kev211]

Interesting combination. How'd it taste?

Turned out pretty good actually. The steak lends itself naturally to be eaten with mashed potatoes (which I normally am not a fan of on pizza but I figured I would try it) and the store that sells the beef also grills it in their deli and makes sandwiches with BBQ sauce so its pretty normal. The cilantro just seemed like the right addition. All in all I enjoyed it AND I used up my leftovers.

It did seem a little gluttonous to be eating that while my wife had an acai bowl though

 

[unionrdr]

I was just thinking the mashed potatoes might've been more interesting if they were chilled stiff first, then formed into small patties & fried in butter till browned, then arranged on the pizza? Common street food in Bratislava, Slovakia where mom's side is from.

 

[murphyslaw]

I had a pizza with mashed potatoes and bacon at a place in new haven. Delicious.

 

[kev211]

I was just thinking the mashed potatoes might've been more interesting if they were chilled stiff first, then formed into small patties & fried in butter till browned, then arranged on the pizza? Common street food in Bratislava, Slovakia where mom's side is from.

That does sound freaking awesome! I was so lazy while cooking though last night, plopping the mashed potatoes down was about all I could muster up