First Pizza on a Grill (actually, ever)
While I love pizza, it's a food we reserve for "every now and then." We're fairly low carb around these parts, but in no universe am I swearing off pizza and cookies entirely! As such, what I've learned is that when I do eat the stuff, I don't want to it to be cheap and lousy. (And frankly, this is a good idea in general.) When I have bread, I want it to be really good. Same goes for pizza.
My wife suggested a pizza night last week and I thought, "Hey, I'm pretty sure I saw an article about using the kettle. This seems like it could be... a project!" She had to know this would become a bit of a homework assignment because, well... that's how I roll.
As always, I opted to make as much as I could from scratch. I used Kenji's New York-Style Pizza Recipe (the sauce and crust). Let me vouch for the food processor method. It rules. I also learned I could add some vital wheat gluten to AP flour to give me some bread flour (about 1 tsp gluten per 1 cup flour). The dough set in the fridge for a few days, which indeed gave it some good flavor. In general, I can vouch for all the prep methods in the article.
I did a setup somewhat similar to the one in the video in The Science of Grilled Pizza. I banked the coals to one side but instead of two firebricks, I used a cinderblock and set a pizza stone on it. (More on that in a moment, because I dunno that I am thrilled with the method and want some more feedback.) I also found a use for the dome thermometer on my kettle! I did actually care about the temperature near the top in this case and didn't need a terrible amount of precision. According to that thermometer, I hit well over 700ºF initially. Not bad at all.
I made three little 6" pizzas. The first was a test and the next two were for the kids. After that I did a pair of 11" pizzas which turned out pretty good, but by the last one I was about 250ºF cooler. I think I'll skip the mini pizzas next time. Anyway, pictures are attached and while this was far from the best pizza I've ever eaten, it was superior to any cheap delivery joint.
Now some questions and observations:
1. In the video, there is a two-zone setup. Why? I rotated my pizzas through the cook, but any reason not to just increase the number of coals and reduce the overall time. Getting the top cooked didn't seem like a huge problem.
2. If you want to do pizza, get a peel. I hacked around it but it was far from ideal.
3. I didn't expect the crust to puff up so much. In fact, when initially stretching, I was worried about going too thin! As you can see from the photo, these babies came out pretty thick.
4. For my own taste, I'm going to double the garlic in the sauce.
5. I was careless and on the last rise let the dough dry out on top. This made the dough a pain to stretch properly. On the flip side, without a peel and cornmeal on hand, it made the sliding process from my makeshift versions easier.
6. I was stingy with the toppings for reasons that, in retrospect, make no sense.
7. Being able to control sauce might be the best thing. I like "just enough" sauce. I find most pizzas from the run-of-the-mill chains use too much (and it doesn't taste as good).
8. If I opt to freeze the dough, when is the best time? After rolling it into balls for the second rise?
Overall this was a win. My next go should be much, much better. Any input would be appreciated.
My wife suggested a pizza night last week and I thought, "Hey, I'm pretty sure I saw an article about using the kettle. This seems like it could be... a project!" She had to know this would become a bit of a homework assignment because, well... that's how I roll.
As always, I opted to make as much as I could from scratch. I used Kenji's New York-Style Pizza Recipe (the sauce and crust). Let me vouch for the food processor method. It rules. I also learned I could add some vital wheat gluten to AP flour to give me some bread flour (about 1 tsp gluten per 1 cup flour). The dough set in the fridge for a few days, which indeed gave it some good flavor. In general, I can vouch for all the prep methods in the article.
I did a setup somewhat similar to the one in the video in The Science of Grilled Pizza. I banked the coals to one side but instead of two firebricks, I used a cinderblock and set a pizza stone on it. (More on that in a moment, because I dunno that I am thrilled with the method and want some more feedback.) I also found a use for the dome thermometer on my kettle! I did actually care about the temperature near the top in this case and didn't need a terrible amount of precision. According to that thermometer, I hit well over 700ºF initially. Not bad at all.
I made three little 6" pizzas. The first was a test and the next two were for the kids. After that I did a pair of 11" pizzas which turned out pretty good, but by the last one I was about 250ºF cooler. I think I'll skip the mini pizzas next time. Anyway, pictures are attached and while this was far from the best pizza I've ever eaten, it was superior to any cheap delivery joint.
Now some questions and observations:
1. In the video, there is a two-zone setup. Why? I rotated my pizzas through the cook, but any reason not to just increase the number of coals and reduce the overall time. Getting the top cooked didn't seem like a huge problem.
2. If you want to do pizza, get a peel. I hacked around it but it was far from ideal.
3. I didn't expect the crust to puff up so much. In fact, when initially stretching, I was worried about going too thin! As you can see from the photo, these babies came out pretty thick.
4. For my own taste, I'm going to double the garlic in the sauce.
5. I was careless and on the last rise let the dough dry out on top. This made the dough a pain to stretch properly. On the flip side, without a peel and cornmeal on hand, it made the sliding process from my makeshift versions easier.
6. I was stingy with the toppings for reasons that, in retrospect, make no sense.
7. Being able to control sauce might be the best thing. I like "just enough" sauce. I find most pizzas from the run-of-the-mill chains use too much (and it doesn't taste as good).
8. If I opt to freeze the dough, when is the best time? After rolling it into balls for the second rise?
Overall this was a win. My next go should be much, much better. Any input would be appreciated.
Attached Files
How well did the bottom brown? My problem with pizza on the grill is getting the top and bottom done at the same time. I need to better coordinate the stone temp with the ambient temp.
Comment