Pizza on the Big Green Egg

I put a new gasket in my Big Green Egg after frying the last one.
 
This meant…. Time to do pizza!
 
Here are my dough ingredients.  I used a recipe that used a food processor because I could not find the dough hook for my mixer:
 
 

 
Dough formed in to a ball:
 

 
Rolled out in to a circle.   Stop laughing!
 

 
Topped:
 

 

 
My Egg:
 

 
On the 450º pizza stone.  I could not get the Egg to get any higher than that.  My target was 600º.
 

 
Done after 7 minutes.
 

 

 
 Not bad, but not wonderful.  I used jarred Prego pizza sauce and it was too sour for me.  I also need to find other dough recipes.
 
It's a fun process and dinner wasn't bad, either.
 

You don't need any sauce. peel, seed and dice a few roma tomatoes and spread them over a layer of garlic and olive oil, and then add whatever toppings you like, starting with some chopped flat leaf parsley and a chiffonade of basil.
 
Wait. Was that pineapple I spotted on your pies?

mar52 - Great looking pizzas, even if the flavor was off.  I've used my BGE for pizza and think it gets results close to brick ovens.  I try to get up in the 600 degree range.
 
Try an Italian deli for your sauce.  We usually buy something exotic looking and have good results.
 
Jim

Thanks, hopefully I'll try that one of these days.
 
The first one was topped with garlic granules, crushed oregano and olive oil.
 
The thought process to get me there takes longer than the actual cook.

Marlene, what are you talking about?  Those pies look spectacular!  I'm still fine-tuning this recipe for pizza sauce, but I really like this one.    Chris

Chris, thanks for the recipe.
 
on the pineapple.

Great job Mar Puck, Wolfgang Puck has a easy dough recipe that may work well for you. I bet you were picking up the lid a lot, weren't you ???? you want the high heat from the top of the egg dome to get a good charred chewy crust. Once you have the Egg hot and the pizza is done, it's also a great time to bake some crusty bread and Focaccia...... It just takes doing it, and perfecting it.........

mar52, Thanks for the pizza lesson.  Now I know what those three green ceramic pieces are for

Beautiful pizza! If I don't have left over homemade sauce to use for my pizza's I use Ragu's pizza sauce. They make two, Pizza Sauce and one called Pizza Qick. The Pizza Qick is gross but the plain Ragu pizza sauce is actually pretty good in a pinch.

I have thought about the Green Egg many times. It looks like it made a great pizza. The 450 degrees scares me a little but the crust looked correct. Are you sure your temp gauge is correct? Maybe a little light. Try using this product for sauce. http://www.escalon.net/6in1.aspx with nothing else added except a little salt...Russ

Mar, I think they look great!  On some outdoor cooking forums I frequent pizza is very popular with the Eggheads.
 
Brad

Thanks for all the tips.
 
You calling me an Egghead?

I thought they went under the Egg, between it and the paving stone? That's if you don't have a stand or a table, I mean.
 

joerogo


mar52, Thanks for the pizza lesson.  Now I know what those three green ceramic pieces are for

Mosca, you are correct.
 
They also work perfectly for raising the pizza stone higher in to the dome.
 
I snagged my second set from a customer that didn't want them.  I knew I'd find a reason to have them.
 
 

Is the stand the Egg is sitting in some kind of optional setup?
 
(just learning about the Egg of late)

Mar-very excited to see your culinary skills in action! Your pizzas look great.

Thanks, Ann.
 
TJ,  That table is available from most Egg dealers.  It's not made by them.  It's now available in stainless steel which is a good idea because mine is rusting.
 
I think that I might get a marble tile for the tabletop surface if they're cheap enough at Home Depot.

Table tip: I got mine through ebay, $250 + 60 shipping for a large cypress table with the hole precut. If you're handy, the plans are available many places on the internet; I'm not handy, so I bought one.

bge_tables4less  has small tables right now. Not affiliated, etc. But it's a nice table.

Those pizzas look good. How come you cannot get the Egg to 700 and up. I can get mine there very easy. Clean the dust out from your charcoal, from last burn. will make the air flow better, just go in there and stir the charcoal up.. Load 'er up with charcoal  and go. Oh, no daisy wheel on top. I leave the lid open till about
400 and close, thats about 10 min. Heres a good video of a night time burn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWseH4qoZBc&feature=related

Great Youtube video.  I see that there are more there for me to watch.  I sure didn't get flames like those in the video.
 
When you say you leave the lid open, are you talking about the top dome?
 
Thanks for the help.

mar52


Great Youtube video.  I see that there are more there for me to watch.  I sure didn't get flames like those in the video.

When you say you leave the lid open, are you talking about the top dome?

Thanks for the help.

 
Yes the lid is open while the fire starters are burning and once the charcoal starts to burn, Then assemble the plate setter, and all.  Bottom vent wide open, top open till about 400. then I close the lid(top ). Some of my frinds leave open longer for max. air.  Bottom vent still wide open thru the whole process. Have to get air in there. I leave the daisy wheel off for max air flow. If you use the daisy wheel leave wide open. I let set for about an 45-60 min time frame to heat everything to temp.
Then We Cook.

PNWCHEF
 

I bet you were picking up the lid a lot, weren't you ???? you want the high heat from the top of the egg dome to get a good charred chewy crust. Once you have the Egg hot and the pizza is done, it's also a great time to bake some crusty bread and Focaccia...... It just takes doing it, and perfecting it.........

 
On the other hand once the egg is heated to this temp. and pizza stone also you can open to your hearts delite. Just watch for flash back. 
As for bread, we wait awhile to cool things off. 750 is way to hot for bread. Would not want to lay a good loaf on that stone to ruin it. The Egg will cool down in a heart beat but the stone needs time to adjust.
Now if doing pop-overs and yorkshire pudding in the ball park.

Here are the dough and sauce recipes that I have been using for the past 3 years. I can stop looking now.
 
Artisanal Pizza Dough
 
3 cups bread or all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups 2% low-fat milk
2 tablespoons olive oil -- plus more for bowl
Whisk the flour, yeast and salt together in a large bowl, then pour in the milk and oil. Mix together with a large fork or your hands. Knead once or twice to form a ball. It may be sticky, but that's okay.
Oil a bowl and set the dough in it. Lay a sheet of waxed paper loosely over the top, then cover with plastic wrap. Place a clean dish towel over the bowl and allow to rise at room temperature and undisturbed for 24 hours. Turn the dough once in the bowl about 3 hours before you want to use it. The 24 hour fermentation process takes the place of kneading the dough.
When you are ready to make your pizza, divide the dough in half on a lightly floured board, then proceed with your pizza making. The dough can be frozen for up to a month; Thaw at room temperature before using.
Makes two 12"-14" pizza crusts
Source:
""Pizza on the Grill" by Elizabeth Karmel and Bob Blumer
 
Missouri-style Pizza Sauce
1 16 oz. can whole tomatoes, diced fine
6 oz. can tomato paste
1 1/2 TB sugar
1 t. crushed dried basil
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. dried thyme
Mix together, let sit, do not cook. Makes enough sauce for 4 pizzas. Freezes well.

WOW!
 
Copied, pasted and saved.
 
Thank you!
 
The crust of my dreams is thin, crispy around the edges, pliable in the middle with a little yeasty taste.

Yep, Mar, I think that describes the Artisanal Pizza Dough recipe perfectly. Can't tell you how many pizza dough recipes I have tried over the years - some of them very good. But this one is just too darn easy to achieve that taste and texture that I was seeking.

JRPfeff

mar52 - Great looking pizzas, even if the flavor was off.  I've used my BGE for pizza and think it gets results close to brick ovens.  I try to get up in the 600 degree range.
Try an Italian deli for your sauce.  We usually buy something exotic looking and have good results.
Jim

Here's another place I've been hiding from you! It's a great Italian Deli and Grocery. Supurb Italian meats and grocerys. Grab a sub while you're there.
http://defalcosdeli.com/

My dough is 00 tipo flour, salt, yeast and filtered water and nothing else. Unbleached all-purpose flour can be substituted if you can't or don't want to go out of the way finding the 00 flour. Keep it simple. That is what produces great pizza in Naples. It took me a few years of experimenting to realize the truth.

Nice Recipe and Cooking Technique!

 What is 00 tipo flour, David?  I guess I also need to know...  Where do you buy it?
 
Foodbme...  It's a little out of my way.
 
Don...  Thanks!

http://www.italianfoodforever.com/iff2008/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3392:sanfeliceflour&catid=68:debsblog&Itemid=67
 
http://www.fornobravo.com/brick_oven_cooking/pizza_ingredients/flour.html

Thank you, Sir.

My pleasure.

Caputo is one brand. 00 flour is an Italian extremely fine grind. You will never find it in a supermarket. An Italian import specialty food market most likely would have it. In a pinch all-purpose unbleached is fine if not baking over 700F.

I heard about this products couple of days ago from my colleague. You are right that we can't find Italian products in super market. Their quality are just bang. So every homeowners still demanding it.

Mmmmm I love me some PIZZA!  I was making decent pies on my egg but then started trying to make VPN style pies using 00 flours and wasn't getting great results.  I finally threw in the towel on making pizzas on the egg and picked up a pizza oven.  After almost a year, I'm happy to say I really have it dialed in now!
 

 

 
The egg didn't appear to get enough convection across the top of the pizza when using 00 flour and I also wasn't getting very good "oven spring."
With my old Foccacia style pizzas, they would come out of the egg perfect but that was a different animal. 

Looks absolutely fabulous, ringguy.