Pizza...First attempt

[Poochie]

I can sum up my first attempt at pizza with one word..fail!  Knucklehead move number 1 was to buy a pizza dough mix. It was from Red Mill, so I thought it would work. Number 2 was not cooking them long enough. They looked done. My pepperoni was starting to burn and the bottom was a nice toasty brown.  I think when the topping gets done before the crust means that the heat is too low. I cooked them at 550. I should have precooked the crust for 7 minutes...like the package said to do. The bottom of the crust was done but the middle was too soft...not raw.. but not cooked enough. 

So I'm here hoping one of you pizza experts can enlighten me on crust recipe..or pre-made if it's good...and temperature. I figured 550 would do the trick. The pizza stone was at 500 when I put the pizza on. And last but not least, anyone have a pizza cooker? Ooni, Roccbox, other?

[alimac23]

Hey Poochie, I’ve cooked many pizzas on the KK with some good results.

I’m saying that, I’ve just recently purchased an ooni, the pizza game has stepped up a level.

Here are some of the pizzas cooked on the KK, I always preheat mine for at least a couple of hours with the stones in at 500-550c:





And here are the latest pizzas from the Ooni:






The dough recipe I use is a 48 hour dough, that uses a poolish:

In short, the KK makes great pizza whereas the ooni is next level.


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[David Chang]

@Poochie i bought an alfa brio about the same time i got my kk. in the past i was never happy with kamado pizzas so i invested in a dedicated pizza oven.

regarding pizza dough, it takes time to make the dough. 2 days or more so plan ahead. as @alimac23mentioned, vita lacopelli on yt has great recipes. i used roberta’s pizza dough recipe.

oven temp was 900+. floor temp was around 750-800. around 3 min to cook a 12 inch pie.

 

 

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by David Chang

[Cheesehead_Griller]

Why is it so hard to get good results cooking pizza in the KK? I ordered the bread stone in hopes of cooking pizzas on my KK. 

[DennisLinkletter]

1 hour ago, Cheesehead_Griller said:

Why is it so hard to get good results cooking pizza in the KK? I ordered the bread stone in hopes of cooking pizzas on my KK. 

It's not, many people make beautiful pies in their KK..

[Poochie]

Dennis is right. I'm not saying the KK can't make a good pizza, I'm saying my first try was a flop.  But like everything else, it's a learning process.

Alimac23: You said " with the stones in at 500-550c:". I put the pizza stone in from the beginning. I thought it would heat up with the KK. And it did but lagging just a little behind.

David: You said "oven temp was 900+. floor temp was around 750-800." Was this in the Alfa?  Floor temp meaning the stone?

And back to you, Dennis, do you have a go to recipe that you've had complete success with? Or at least 75% success?  I'm an absolute noob at this. 

Thanks everyone for the input. I had no idea the dough was so involved. I'll obviously have to watch some YouTubes 

[tony b]

@Poochie - go to the pizza thread from @ckreef - he's done just about every variation out there on both the KK and his wood-fired pizza oven (gorgeous!) 

Dough recipes vary based upon the style of pizza that you want to make and can get a bit intimidating at times (at least for me who isn't the world's best baker!) The simplest one that I've ever seen had only 2 ingredients in it - AP Flour and Greek Yogurt! Made an interesting crust - not great, but obviously very simple. The other extreme is what the folks above were referencing with yeast starters/poolish, specialty flours (Imported Italian 00) and lots of fermentation time.

My biggest obstacle is that I'm usually only cooking for myself, so putting in 2 days of dough prep and hours of pre-heat (LOTS of charcoal to heat soak everything to 550F!) on the KK for a single 12" pizza is just not practical. Especially when I have 3 or 4 local spots that turn out very good pizzas in their gas or wood-fired specialty ovens - a couple are imported from Italy. YMMV

Edited February 22, 2022 by tony b

[Poochie]

Simple will work for me. I don’t want a 17 ingredient crust. I’m still searching. 

[David Chang]

@Poochieyes floor stone temp on the alfa. this was on gas. haven’t tried wood yet.

[alimac23]

Hey guys,

I’ve just got a set of babadoh containers, they allow you to proof the dough balls in them, and then freeze them for use.

https://www.babadoh.com

This definitely makes the 2 day dough worthwhile, as you end up with 6 dough balls that are big enough to make a 12” pizza.

Here’s a good video on how to freeze the dough balls, except with the babadoh you just let them proof and then freeze them in the moulds.

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[David Chang]

@alimac23 yeah, i also ordered babadoh containers. dough ball shape was getting messed up and dry using big rectangular containers and also space saving when when proofing one or two balls. 

[tekobo]

Hey @Poochie  I feel your pain.  I bought all sorts of books, tried different recipes and kept ending up with complete dough fails or sad looking pizzas.  That is until @MacKenzie shared this pizza dough recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016230-robertas-pizza-dough  Super simple.  I mix it in my Kenwood Chef with the dough hook, leave to rest for four hours, shape and cook.  Gave me confidence and tasted gooood.  Good luck!

[MacKenzie]

Tekobo, that is my go to recipe for pizza dough been using it for years and it has never let me down.:) 

[Poochie]

Thank tekobo. MacKenzie told me I'd have to walk to Canada to get the recipe. I'm glad she gave it to you! 

OK...I tried to access the recipe and they wanted my email address and a password. Did that. Then before I can read the recipe, I have to subscribe... For a year. Not going to happen. Can one of you please post the recipe?

Edited March 4, 2022 by Poochie

[C6Bill]

INGREDIENTS

• 153 grams 00 flour (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon)
• 153 grams all-purpose flour (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons)
• 8 grams fine sea salt (1 teaspoon)
• 2 grams active dry yeast (3/4 teaspoon)
• 4 grams extra-virgin olive oil (1 teaspoon)

 

PREPARATION

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flours and salt.
2. In a small mixing bowl, stir together 200 grams (a little less than 1 cup) lukewarm tap water, the yeast and the olive oil, then pour it into flour mixture. Knead with your hands until well combined, approximately 3 minutes, then let the mixture rest for 15 minutes.
3. Knead rested dough for 3 minutes. Cut into 2 equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Place on a heavily floured surface, cover with dampened cloth, and let rest and rise for 3 to 4 hours at room temperature or for 8 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. (If you refrigerate the dough, remove it 30 to 45 minutes before you begin to shape it for pizza.)
4. To make pizza, place each dough ball on a heavily floured surface and use your fingers to stretch it, then your hands to shape it into rounds or squares. Top and bake.

 

 

 

[Poochie]

Thank you, sir!

[tony b]

 

[jeffshoaf]

I've been using PizzApp+ on my phone for my pizza dough with a very good success rate, albeit not with my KK - I have a Breville Piazziola electric oven and Fontana Forni gas oven. You enter the size dough ball (in grams) along with warm and/or cold fermentation time and temperature, and it calculates the amount of flour, water, salt, and leavening (yeast or sourdough).

It let's you adjust the various percentages for the ingredients and other options such as oil.

[Poochie]

That's pretty cool. I need to check out the pizza app.

[David Chang]

yup, roberta's pizza recipe is really easy. 

i'm doing vito's double ferment poolish recipe right now...

second ferment is in the fridge and i hope i used a big enough bowl to last until tomorrow morning. it's already huge..