Pizza Advice

[texastweeter]

the oven floor or stone is not hot enough

[jlazar]

Thanks to everyone for your ideas and suggestion. Here is how I would recap the responses and how my BIL will proceed.

1. Dough Hydration. One key is to have your hydration ration keyed for your cooking temperature. Try making you own dough based on your cooking temp. Also ask the pizza shop what the hydration level is for their dough and what temp they cook at.

2. Heat/Fire Management. Heat the oven up for at least an hour to make sure your tiles are heated and not just the ambient temp. Most seem to agree 500-600 is the best cooking temp.

3. Toppings. Too much "stuff" on the pie or too thick of dough will not let the center cook properly. If the toppings aren't getting cooked, but the crust is, then consider picking up the pizza partway through with the peel, and lifting it toward the ceiling for a bit.

All of your info has gotten me wanting to try to make a pizza in my Chubby G2 when I get home. The highest shelf is the hottest and I would cook on a preheated pizza stone. I am pretty sure and can get up to 500 on it if I use a whole chimney of coals to start. While make my own dough and use store cheese and toppings. Will give some feedback once I do it. Thanks again for you great help.

[RonB]

One more thought -

If the pie is cooking too fast on the bottom, a pizza screen can be placed under it after the bottom sets up:

https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_9?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=pizza+screen&sprefix=pizza+scr%2Caps%2C146&crid=33BTRRZD69F4P

[EdF]

#2 depends on the cooker, which is why an infrared thermometer is useful. Ooni Pro, for instance, only takes 25 minutes to 850F when fired with a lump base and kindling topping.

Oven architecture matters.

[Attjack]

Here's an idea for your chubby. I think my Blackstone works so well because it has 2 stones, one on top, and one on the bottom. Seems like you could do that with your chubby.

[JGo37]

I do pizza the right way with what I have. I never thought of using my Blackstone, and wouldn't now that it came up. I use a Weber Kettle, and it does have the gourmet grill insert, but I don't use it or the Weber stone. I have a bigger stone that sits several inches higher, and up into the lid, where there is more hot air rising maybe? I bring the stone up to 500F, checked by IR, throw a couple chunks of wood in the right-side up vortex, peel off and cover. I've had good luck so far and have never tried anything topping-dense, like a commercial supreme. It's about less but unique & better stuff. The two of us would eat half a delivered pizza. The kettle pizzas don't leave left overs.

Because I have a bigger stone and am making smaller pizza, for two - maybe try smaller pizza Naples style (the thin crust gets a bit thinner towards the center)? It seems to me that would be like making pizza for two on a big stone. My pizza seems to always be evenly cooked.