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robby

fourth day, first pizza

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Re: corn meal?

Corn meal in the eye is superior to an eyeball punctured by a cactus spine! Had to fix that one with super glue. Worked pretty good' date=' too. Patient got their vision back.[/quote']

Hey Doc, you weren't specific. Was the super glue for the cactus spine or the eye? :wink:

Anyway, no imaginary pizza for us. We like the real thing. Here goes...

2euzi.jpg 2ezyA.jpg

We had a tough time getting the kk to a high temp. We used a full basket of BGE lump (many small pieces, lots of dust) and struggled to get 600°. I use a very high hydration dough, so the hotter the better. I'd like to reach 700° minimum.

Today my husband brought home a different brand of lump from Lowe's called Frontier (nicer looking chunks) and we have a gas burner on order from Dennis. Maybe some combination of the two will help? Suggestions welcome.

By the way, our grill setup was this...

full basket of lump

heat deflector on basket handles

main grill

upper grill standing on tall handles

pizza stone (not the kk one)

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Re: Aluminum or wood

Sooooooooo' date=' the question is wood or aluminum, best size and square or rounded front.....[/quote']

I prefer a square front myself. I have a SuperPeel and, while I wouldn't recommend anyone happy with their existing peel to upgrade, even if you don't like the "super" part it's still a pretty decent wooden peel. For pizza there are some technique tricks posted here in abundance that obviate the need for the conveyor belt, but for some pastries that may be less applicable.

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Re: Parchment paper

Syzgies--quote]

No, instead add the yeast after the sponge cools down to an appropriate temperature. Might not get the flying start it gets by proofing the yeast, but it works.

Def gonna try this I love making focaccia, pizza etc---thanks so much

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Re: corn meal?

We had a tough time getting the kk to a high temp. We used a full basket of BGE lump (many small pieces, lots of dust) and struggled to get 600°. I use a very high hydration dough, so the hotter the better. I'd like to reach 700° minimum.

Today my husband brought home a different brand of lump from Lowe's called Frontier (nicer looking chunks) and we have a gas burner on order from Dennis. Maybe some combination of the two will help? Suggestions welcome.

By the way, our grill setup was this...

full basket of lump

heat deflector on basket handles

main grill

upper grill standing on tall handles

pizza stone (not the kk one)

The small pieces of charcoal cut of or reduced your airflow which is ultra necessary for high temps.. With airflow, you will easily be able to wrap the needle.. but try not to.. while the hotface is designed for ultra high temps.. you will get more expansion than is best for the KK over 750º dome which is plenty hot for any food.. It's over 1200º down in the coals at that temp. I don't use a heat deflector when doing pizza.. If your crust is finished before your toppings, move it up to the upper grill to take advantage of the reflected heat..

;-)

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Yeah, what Dennis just said. You can get to 700 with almost any lump, you just need some airflow.

Did you pull the door slide open an inch or so? The dial was likely not enough airflow to get your target temp. Also, the deflector on the basket handles was further restricting you. Placing the deflector on the main grill, and your pizza stone on the upper (sear grill on long handles above the main grill) will still shield you from direct heat as well as provide MUCH better airflow to the fire.

If you were using a thin, store bought stone, you might try putting the deflector on the upper grill, then a couple of big nuts (the kind that go on a bolt) or similar items as a spacer (1" will do) and putting the pizza stone on top of that. I used to use that setup before i got a KK stone, and it worked great. The 1" of airspace between the deflector and cooking stone kept the bottom and top cooking evenly.

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Also' date=' the deflector on the basket handles was further restricting you. [/quote']

I always place the heat deflector on the lump basket handles and get 700+ with no problem, [YMMV] it also keeps the flames far away from my Fibrament stone, ('cause I went cheap and didn't get the model with the flame guard)

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Re: fourth day, first pizza

one more thing when you put your toppings on. the time must be short or the pizza will stick to the peel or counter .If you pre back your crust then freeze it will not stick.

Try parchment paper. It isn't cheating, it just makes every other method look primitive, like you were trying to turn an easy problem into a daunting challenge. Remove the paper after a couple minutes of baking time.

Professional pizza bakers don't use parchment paper, but they've made the same dough 87,000 times, know how it handles, and don't wait once the pizza is oven-ready. Not relevant to us. Plenty of electricians work "hot", and the guys who installed my 15th floor apartment windows hung out by two fingers, but I'll kill power before my electric work, and wear a harness when I climb.

Parchment paper removes the faintest possibility of "three runners at third" when you try to slide the pizza onto the stone.

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Re: fourth day, first pizza

If you are having challenges moving your pizza around and don't want flour, corn meal, cactus needles, etc. in your eye AND you don't want to play with parchment paper - then a pizza screen might just solve your problems. I used them for years at the pizza place I worked...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CI ... YENN9VM6XE

Happy Pizza Baking!

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