I have been wanting to try pizza on the grill for a long time. Yesterday, my daughter announced that she is going to a backyard pizza making contest at her friend's house. Boy did that light a fire under me! About a month ago, I tested my Vortex as the base for a pizza oven. Yesterday I put it to the cook test.
Firstly, I put the Vortex in wide end up. Fired up 42 briquettes, and dumped them in that baby. Pizza stone on top of an adjustable roasting rack, to get into the dome level. While that was warming up, I started getting the pizzas ready.
Got the first pizza ready, and then everything goes South. I mean waaaay South!! My dome temp is only 325. Way too low for pizza! Can't find the infrared thermometer. Damn! Why didn't I look for it last night?? I quickly chucked some more coals in the chimney and got them fired up. FINALLY found the IR thermometer. Everything is a go. Or so I thought. The first pizza has been sitting so long, I can't get it off the peel! Aaaaaarggh! I finally got half of it off the peel, but all squished up, and topping was everywhere. I spilled half of my beer, and I was really royally pissed by this time! ๐๐๐ก๐ก Well, I was about ready to quit right there. But I kept on. The next pizza was a work of art by my son. He was very meticulous about getting the toppings just so. I just wanted to get the damn thing on the grill! This time I used parchment paper, (thank you @Breadhead!) and slid that puppy on the pizza stone slick as you please. Checked in 3.5 minutes later; almost done. Pulled it off at 5 minutes. Beautiful!
The last one was ham and pineapple. My favorite! And I don't care what anyone says, it's STILL pizza with ham and pineapple!! ๐ Upon biting into it, my son said, "You could serve this in a restaurant!" Well I almost fell on the floor. I thought it was good, but not that good! And my son is fairly picky about what he eats. So I will take it!
Overall conclusion: about a 75% success. I am not 100% pleased with the crust. But I learned some valuable lessons. I will be trying this again.
P.S. The photo that looks like alien offspring was the first pizza, the total failure. I posted it to show that this was not all smooth sailing.
Tips/Lessons learned:
1) Find all of your tools the day before!
2) Mis en Place is VERY important in pizza making. Have everything ready to go.
3) Have a plan, but be ready to be flexible.
4) Don't let your daughter "help" with the sauce unless you demonstrate what you want first!!! ๐๐
5) Don't push your dough. Let it relax, and tell you when to stretch it.
6) Parchment paper is your friend.
7) Have fun! Grilled pizza is the bomb-diggity!! ๐๐๐
Firstly, I put the Vortex in wide end up. Fired up 42 briquettes, and dumped them in that baby. Pizza stone on top of an adjustable roasting rack, to get into the dome level. While that was warming up, I started getting the pizzas ready.
Got the first pizza ready, and then everything goes South. I mean waaaay South!! My dome temp is only 325. Way too low for pizza! Can't find the infrared thermometer. Damn! Why didn't I look for it last night?? I quickly chucked some more coals in the chimney and got them fired up. FINALLY found the IR thermometer. Everything is a go. Or so I thought. The first pizza has been sitting so long, I can't get it off the peel! Aaaaaarggh! I finally got half of it off the peel, but all squished up, and topping was everywhere. I spilled half of my beer, and I was really royally pissed by this time! ๐๐๐ก๐ก Well, I was about ready to quit right there. But I kept on. The next pizza was a work of art by my son. He was very meticulous about getting the toppings just so. I just wanted to get the damn thing on the grill! This time I used parchment paper, (thank you @Breadhead!) and slid that puppy on the pizza stone slick as you please. Checked in 3.5 minutes later; almost done. Pulled it off at 5 minutes. Beautiful!
The last one was ham and pineapple. My favorite! And I don't care what anyone says, it's STILL pizza with ham and pineapple!! ๐ Upon biting into it, my son said, "You could serve this in a restaurant!" Well I almost fell on the floor. I thought it was good, but not that good! And my son is fairly picky about what he eats. So I will take it!
Overall conclusion: about a 75% success. I am not 100% pleased with the crust. But I learned some valuable lessons. I will be trying this again.
P.S. The photo that looks like alien offspring was the first pizza, the total failure. I posted it to show that this was not all smooth sailing.
Tips/Lessons learned:
1) Find all of your tools the day before!
2) Mis en Place is VERY important in pizza making. Have everything ready to go.
3) Have a plan, but be ready to be flexible.
4) Don't let your daughter "help" with the sauce unless you demonstrate what you want first!!! ๐๐
5) Don't push your dough. Let it relax, and tell you when to stretch it.
6) Parchment paper is your friend.
7) Have fun! Grilled pizza is the bomb-diggity!! ๐๐๐
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