jdbower Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 I've been taking baby steps with pizzas. Last week I did a frozen rising crust pizza just as an experiment. I kept the temps about the same as the oven and cooked for about the same amount of time just to see if there was a difference. Other than a slightly smokey taste to the pepperoni and a hint at the crust there really wasn't much - and that was cooking at 400F for close to half an hour. I should have let the pizza stone heat soak a bit longer, the crust was a bit soft to me but the wife likes soft crust. Needless to say this was "pizza" rather than pizza : Yesterday I did a Costco take-and-bake pizza. A bit of a step up and I added some marinated fresh mozzarella and some tomatoes to half. This time I went up to between 500 and 600F and cooked for less time. There was a minor issue in that the pizza stone that comes with the 23" is slightly too small for the Costco 16" pizza, something I didn't think about until after I had started the 19.5" up. The dome temps were a bit tougher to maintain with the large pizza covering the entire grill and the underside of the direct-cooked edges of the crust came out "cajun style" - but it was only the outer 1/2" or so. Other than a rogue tomato making a break for the charcoal it was still delicious and remarkably evenly cooked. A hot pizza stone got the crust crispier and drizzling on a little hot pepper oil afterwords sealed the deal. Next time I'll probably make smaller individual pizzas from scratch and do the wife's first to maintain a softer crust before the pizza stone has a chance to heat up for mine. The nice thing about individual pizzas is that I can make mine with tuna and onion - a surprisingly tasty combination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanny Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 I wonder if "hers first" will accomplish what you want. Normally I absolutely agree with hers first. But the first pizza will pull some of the heat from the stone, no? Second would be softer, unless you give the stone some time to reheat. Musings, of course... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbower Posted May 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 My thoughts (the publishable ones) are that cooking hers before the pizza stone is fully soaked will give her the softer crust. As long as I'm adding more heat to the stone via the fire than the pizza is subtracting the stone should be hotter the second time around. Of course, much experimentation is in order and chances are there will be some considerable elapsed time between removing pizza #1 and installing pizza #2 to further heat the surface of the stone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanny Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 Experimentation is good. Hers first is also good. Carry on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted May 27, 2009 Report Share Posted May 27, 2009 The thick stone that comes with the KK doesnt lose much heat at all during the cooking. I let it preheat along with the grill, and once I start cooking I load one right after the other, with no real difference. I am not sure it picks up much more heat during the cook, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 This post needs to be here too! With summer here, my kids are always asking for a pizza night, so how can I say no? I made three pizza tonight, and after 4-5 times using the KK pizza stone, I have to admit that I am quite impressed with it. It absorbs and transfers just the right amount of heat to give you a golden brown crust without over-browning while the top cooks. With the store bought stones, I would need to put a heat deflector and spacer below the stone or my crust would cook too quickly. With the KK stone, I just put the stone directly on the upper grill, above an open fire, and let the whole grill come up to about 500-525 degrees. This yields a perfect hand tossed pizza in just the amount of time it takes me to make a new one - about 10 minutes. The stone holds enough heat that I can remove one pie and immediately replace it with a new one, and keep churning them out for as long as i need to. Here are some pictures of the process: Lightly flour your peel: Lightly flour your dough: Shape into Pizza: Top with your favorite treats: Put it on the grill! Here is the previous one ready to come off: Some more pics to make you hungry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanny Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 I'm glad this post got a bump. Blind date this weekend went well. So, I invited him to supper next week. I happened to mention that it's possible (and tasty) to do pizza on the grill. Of course, he'd never heard of such a thing. He said he'd like some! What was I thinking!! Ok, calm... I've done pizza on the grill. I like pizza on the grill. It's not difficult - except on second date with nice new guy. Oy!! I'm thinkin... fontina, canned whole tomatoes (drained), artichoke hearts, caramelized onions, a few strips of prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, fresh herbs (of course). Salad from the garden, and a bottle of Prosecco. And berry fool for dessert. Speaking of fresh mozzarella, have any of you tried adding that near the end of the cook, so it gets melty, but not browned? It's so yummy when it's just a puddle of fresh mozz. Anyone have thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amphoran Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 Sanny, If you get the temp really up (~800), and the dough stretched thin enough, the'll cook in about 90 seconds, and just melt the fresh mozz. I've been experimenting with the Ischia Island Italian sourdough culture, and it makes a very tasty dough, especially after a three-four day rest in the fridge. Spartanvet88 posted this link: www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm which I've read through several times now, and his recipe works extremely well, especially with the sourdough culture. Cheers, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbower Posted June 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 If you're a Costco member (and who isn't on this board?) look for their Formaggio marinaded fresh mozzarella. It comes in a 40oz plastic tub and is marinaded in largely vegetable and olive oil. Not only are they the perfect size for dropping on a pizza and they last much longer, but they're also a bit more firm in texture than good fresh mozz (which I doubt you can even buy in a store!). This means they take a little longer to melt - a boon for you but a bane for me as I like them a little browned and crispy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanny Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Thanks, Mike. I'm thinking my usual (Wolfgang Puck-like) dough recipe. Not a good time to experiment, if company's coming. It cooks in a few minutes, if the cooker is hot enough. I'm shooting for over 500*. The key to the dough flavor is to make it a day or so in advance. Then it gets that fermenty taste. But if I make some later this summer for myself and someone I'm NOT trying to impress, then I'll give the other stuff a try. Sounds yummy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartanvet88 Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Sanny, This is what my pizza looked like in the KK using the sourdough starter from sourdo.com and Jeff V's recipe. The taste was incredible. If you want other options try pizzamaking.com there's a wealth of info. there. I had my temp. at 750 to 800 like Amphoran. Good luck and Happy KK'ing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amphoran Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Spartanvet, Have you tried both of the Italian cultures? I just received them a week ago, and I've made bread with the Camaldoli one, and Pizza dough a couple of times with the Ischia one. Both were excellent. Next week I'll try the reverse. I can't say enough good things about sourdo.com. A host of traditional cultures from around the world, lovingly kept and well researched. Cheers, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanny Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Thanks! I ordered from sourdo.com (Italian), and that's a great idea about the mozz from Costco. But I do think our local Weggies has some VERY fresh mozz. We'll see. If not, I'm surrounded by authentic Italian delis and markets. A blessing of living near Philadelphia. I'm making a dough now from Reinhard's recipe (from American Pie), and will try it this week. He's got a sourdough recipe, as well, but I don't have the mother yet. I'll do his Neapolitan, and will let you know how it goes. I decided that I'd rather have a different sort of dough (puffy and crackly) than the kind with sugar and oil in it (like Puck, and like American Pie's "American Pizzeria" recipe). Anyway, the recipe makes several dough balls, and gives instructions for freezing for a few days. That'll save me time the night before, when I'll be a lunatic tidying the already tidy house. Why do we do this to ourselves?? lol (he's handsome, and a PhD in chemistry) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartanvet88 Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Amphoran, I've only used the camaldoli for now, I'm in pizzamaking infancy but amazed at what I've been missing! My kids and their friends who used to be Pizzahut snobs are constantly asking when the next Pizza night is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbower Posted June 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 Finally, a real pizza! I used the recipe here for the crust, but it did rise a lot more in the cooker than I remember it doing before. Still it was delicious. I made my wife's first and the dough was very sticky so transferring it to the pizza stone was a bit hard on the aesthetics. It also clumped the dough up a bit creating a much more bready experience that she enjoys. I let the stone heat for a little while afterwords as I made mine (and used a little Pam to preserve the looks a bit more). Basic spaghetti sauce topped with a shredded 6-cheese blend, a few marinaded mozzarella balls, and drizzled with hot chili oil and then cooked at 500F until the cheese started to burn a bit. Not quite the NJ-style crust I remembered but mine was nice and crisp on the bottom and very tasty. My wife's was a lot softer both because I didn't cook it as long and from the cooler stone - both customized the way we like them! I can definitely recommend smaller individual pizzas over one large one if you've got the chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Inspired by FireMonkey's pizza I actually made this last weekend but just got around to posting.. The Today Show's segment has generated lots of inquiries resulting in record sales.. No complaints but as I handle all inquiries personally, I've been more than swamped. We cut corners a bit and purchased sourdough dough from the bakery at the local market.. This dough seemed to have amazing "memory". When you roll it out.. it slowly shrinks back to it's smaller size.. This was very frustrating.. We also had no peel so if the dough was left too long on the board.. it stuck. We finally managed to get a couple in the Komodo and the results were worth all the work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duk Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Looks great Dennis I've always used corn meal on the peel...it seems to let the dough slide better than flour and I personally like the crunch it adds to the bottom of the dough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 This dough seemed to have amazing "memory". When you roll it out.. it slowly shrinks back to it's smaller size.. Sounds like it was too cold. Did you let the dough come to room temp before using it? The finished picture looks like it tasted pretty good, despite the unconventional shape Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted June 17, 2009 Report Share Posted June 17, 2009 Ahh.. dough at room temp.. This dough seemed to have amazing "memory". When you roll it out.. it slowly shrinks back to it's smaller size.. Sounds like it was too cold. Did you let the dough come to room temp before using it? The finished picture looks like it tasted pretty good, despite the unconventional shape Ahh.. dough at room temp? Uhh no actually just out of the fridge.. Thanks, I'll give that a try next time. Yes it was very tasty.. No complaints there.. We also used Sai's home made tomato, ground beef and mushroom pasta sauce which is always in bulk in the fridge for the kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bommer Posted June 17, 2009 Report Share Posted June 17, 2009 My first Pizza Here is my first pizza, used imported pizza flour from Italy...Came out great! Love the KK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
