Home style pizza

[guido]

I thought last weeks was busy, so I reduced by an onion but added mushrooms and changed the cheese to mozzarella. Nothing succeeds like excess. Better preheat on the stone too...

[dgaddis]

Alright Pizza Kettle owners. Tell me about it.

Used mine for the first time last night. I had read up on it and watched some YouTube videos and the main takeaways I saw where:
1 - Takes about an hour to get up to temp
2 - It's hard to hit 800+ degrees
3 - Putting something above the pie helps cook the top faster

So here's what I did. I put my charcoal basket in the front of the grill and left it empty, I then filled the back 2/3rds full of lump charcoal. I topped that with a chimney worth of lit lump, and put some chunks of oak on top of that. I put an extra rack in the top of the insert, with my baking steel above the pizza stone (for radiant heat down) and tinfoiled the rest of the rack so all the heat had to go across the underside of that rack and out the front of the insert.

It worked. I had plenty of heat...but in the wrong places. The stone wasn't heated evenly, there was a 100 degree difference between the back and front of the stone. And, my stone was too hot (see the pics below!! - that was only half an hour after putting the lit coals on the grill). The bottom of the pies was burning before the top was fully cooked.

SO, here's my theory for next time.

I'm gonna keep the tinfoiled upper rack w/the steel on it. But I'm going to put a lot less charcoal in the grill, and adjust how it's arranged. I'm going to put a small bed directly under the stone to try and get more even heat on the stone, but not so dang hot. And a small bed in the back with a few pieces of wood to get some small flames up the back and really hot air above the stone.

ALSO, I'm not doing this on the deck again. It throws off too much heat, and the open mouth of the insert leaves the chance for a piece of lump to pop and throw a spark out. There was a 4x4 post about 18" away from the side of the grill and it's surface temp was 130*F at one point, ambient temp was in the 40s.

Insert set up.


Lack of heat was NOT my problem. That thermometer tops out at 700*F. I had it pegged.


Damn. This was near the back of the stone.


I took them off before the bottom was completely burned, but it was still burned, and the toppings weren't quite where I wanted them.

[rwsaunders]

I’ll find the instructional video, but from my limited experience...

A. It’s important to keep the heat at the back of the grille and not under the stone...my pies have burned under those conditions that you described. When you observe a wood fired pizza oven in action, note that the fire is in the back and not underneath the hearth stone.
B. Lump charcoal gets hotter than briquettes but loses its temperature faster...I use a mix of lump and briquettes and I place a piece of hardwood (i.e. log) on top of the back of the grate to maintain the heat.
C. 977F is pretty damn hot...I’m usually in the 750-775F range without trying and that seems to work...YMMV.
D. I place the stone on the grate after the charcoal is lit in the chimney and I’m looking to establish the fire.
E. Rotate the pies as they bake with a peel as the back of the grille should be hotter and therefore the pies will cook unevenly if not rotated.
F. Yes, the damn thing does throw off a lot of heat and I have it located on a small section of brick pavers.

Looking good for your beta run!

[guido]

Indoor pie with an un-distinguished crust.



Tasty anyway...

[rwsaunders]

I played with my new countertop oven and it stepped up to the plate. 50/50 semolina/KA white four dough, topped with sweet peppers, mixed olives, prosciutto and a mix of mozzarella and pecorino romano. Drizzled a little honey on the perimeter for good luck.

[guido]

Great looking pies RW!

[rwsaunders]

Thanks Guy...time to experiment with some longer fermenting dough in order to achieve the elusive leoparding. I believe that Nick C had a recipe somewhere.

[rwsaunders]

Ladies and Gents...worth a watch...My man Alex (French Guy Cooking) visiting the best Pizzeria in the world...

[guido]

A little over cheesed. Oh well must practice...

[Ras72]

A little over cheesed...

Not possible Guy!

Looks amazing.

[Too Tall]

Pizza-foo is strong with this crowd. I've been experimenting with left over dough to make fold over pizza. Hard to call it Calzone, I simply toss left overs into the crease, some cheese, EVO and see what happens. I'm finding that you need to have a decent humidity level in the oven so that the crust is not too crisp.

[m_b_b]

Apologies in advance for the lack of photographic proof, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of this Ooni Koda. A long cold ferment plus the heat management tips above (preheat longer than you think you should so things stabilize, then turn down the burner just before you slide the pie in) seem to be key.

This is all with a Neapolitan lean dough. I'm interested to try more of a New York style dough with some oil in it to see if I can get some more crisp on the crust. The opinion in my house is that the only real pizza comes from New Haven, so while Neapolitan is appreciated, more crunch would be better. I had things working well with a stone in a 500F oven, but I can't help but think the Ooni can improve on this. Does anyone have experience with an oil-containing dough in one of these gas-fired outdoor ovens? Any tips? Lower heat + longer cook seems to be the way to go.

[guido]

Valentines "not too special" pie

[robin3mj]

Ladies and Gents...worth a watch...My man Alex (French Guy Cooking) visiting the best Pizzeria in the world...

Enjoyed this.
I am still suspect of anyone who does not fold their pie to eat it.

Two other pizza related comments:
1. Branca, in Pittsford NY makes a nice pie
2. This website is worth bookmarking if you travel to random cities and find yourself in need of a decent pizza. AVPN - The True Neapolitan Pizza Association (that said, I cannot vouch for Orso in Falls Church. the preparation is fine but the sauce and cheese leave a little to be desired...)

[Too Tall]

I'm with you on the not folding pizza.
FWIIW one of the best toppings I've ever made was roasted eggplant. The process was dog simple and done well in advance.
1. Cut / Peel eggplant into cubes and toss with salt and evo.
2. Place on parchment paper in a 325 oven and forget about it until the smell drives you nuts.
3. Done.

The roasting and reduction creates a sweetness. Ymmm

[rwsaunders]

Don’t hate me, but I traveled to pizza Mecca this evening and had wood-fired Margherita Manna from Heaven at Ken’s Artisan Pizza in Portlandia. Ken Forkish is the man behind the Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast recipe book and videos and his product and team lived up to the hype. Next trip I need to visit his bakery, where it all started and continues to carry on.

Flour Water Salt Yeast — Ken's Artisan

[skouri1]

I took them off before the bottom was completely burned, but it was still burned, and the toppings weren't quite where I wanted them.

I think the solution to this is to precook your veggies--sautée those mushrooms in a pan for a lil with olive oil, then throw them on the pie. You wont have to risk burning the bottom to get em done.

[guido]

I think the solution to this is to precook your veggies--sautée those mushrooms in a pan for a lil with olive oil, then throw them on the pie. You wont have to risk burning the bottom to get em done.

Ding, ding, ding!

[robin3mj]

Jamie Oliver bread dough recipe for crust
sauteed broccoli rabe
salami
buffalo mozz
san marzano

[dgaddis]

Don’t hate me, but I traveled to pizza Mecca this evening and had wood-fired Margherita Manna from Heaven at Ken’s Artisan Pizza in Portlandia. Ken Forkish is the man behind the Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast recipe book and videos and his product and team lived up to the hype. Next trip I need to visit his bakery, where it all started and continues to carry on.

Flour Water Salt Yeast — Ken's Artisan

^^That's rad RW! I got into bread via FWSY, and his pizza book, Elements of Pizza, is awesome too. His place is smaller than I expected it to be.