Pizza Bust

[begreen]

We tried cooking pizza for the first time tonight in the wood stove. I let the coals burn down to a level bed, spread them out and put the pizza stone on them. Air control on low. I measured the stone with the IR thermometer 10 minutes later at 446F. Hmmm. Twenty minutes later, ready to put the first pizza on. I set a stopwatch and measured the stone temp - 856F. Getting worried, but folks here say it works great, so here it goes. At 2 minutes, cheese is starting to melt, crust is puffing up. Looking good. Just after 3 min. I notice the crust starting to darken. I took this picture at 3m36s then removed the pizza. Result, beautiful on top, inedible burnt crust on bottom. The second try was at 3 minutes exactly, but it burnt too. So how are folks avoiding getting the stone too hot? (ours has a new crack too now, not too happy.)

 

[hotprinter]

How about trying one of the pizza pans made for your grill? I think they are made by weber

 

[begreen]

Might work. I also thought about making a raised platform with some bricks.

 

[kgrant]

Bet you could make a mean grilled cheese on that stone!

 

[jeff_t]

Might work. I also thought about making a raised platform with some bricks.

That's what I was thinking. I've never tried to make it in a wood stove, but I tried putting the stone directly on the cover over the burner in the oven. Same thing, burned on the bottom. I don't think the average stone has enough mass. I'd like to try a much thicker piece of soapstone sometime, but I really plan on building an outdoor oven this year. Now I use the bottom rack, and the oven set at 500.

Your picture sure does look tasty. The smoke starting to rise on the right side is not a good sign, though.

 

[ironpony]

boy sure looks like it should of worked
maybe just a liitle cooler temp??
I am going to build an outdoor oven this year
they sure do cook pizza fast
maybe a thicker stone as mentioned above
right now I use a piece of granite in the oven
at 500-550
works ok cant wait to get the outdoor one built
sure does look tasty
did you close the door??
keep the air temp closer to the stone temp
might cook a little more even and faster
keep trying

 

[gilmil]

In CT we have quite a few coal fired pizza/bread ovens. The pizza's done from start to finish in about a minute max.

 

[phatfarmerbob]

What design are you all thinking of using for the pizza oven? i have been researching these for about 2 years now and i am gonna start building this spring.. i am going to use the allen scott design .... he wrote a great book on the subject " the bread builders " i highly recomend reading it before you start construction. does any one plan on installing thermocouples to measure temp?

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I'll be building one as well and will likely put in a thermocouple. I plan to put a BBQ smoker on top of it (all brick) and use the pizza oven as a smoker box when BBQing.

PhatfB- thanks for the book suggestion. I'll read that and adapt. My general plan includes hand making some serious heavy tile for the outside to go with the brick and maybe castable refractory for the dome/arch.

 

[jlow]

This is the one I built a few years back. It does pizza in about 2 minutes.


(broken link removed to http://picasaweb.google.com/jlowry10/PizzaOven#)

 

[homebrewz]

When its time to get a new stone, avoid the expensive specialty kitchen stores. Go to your local, friendly pottery supply store and pick up a kiln shelf that's the right size for your oven. I've found them to be more durable than the average stone sold for making pizzas. When it gets dirty, your local potter can fire it in their kiln and clean it up. Also, they make little ceramic stands for shelf stacking in a kiln.. maybe try some of those to elevate the stone in your wood stove?

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Jlow- that's awesome!

 

[Dune]

This is the one I built a few years back. It does pizza in about 2 minutes.


(broken link removed to http://picasaweb.google.com/jlowry10/PizzaOven#)

Yes, beautiful constructional and nice photos as well.

 

[Boozie]

I use a piece of granite in the oven
at 500-550

Since "some" granite emits radon, I would think that heating it up would intensify same.
Just wondering.

 

[Boozie]

We tried cooking pizza for the first time tonight in the wood stove.

So how are folks avoiding getting the stone too hot? (ours has a new crack too now, not too happy.)

Well, that's a shame .... that pizza looks r-e-a-l-l-y good.

Sorry 'bout the stone.

 

[begreen]

This is the one I built a few years back. It does pizza in about 2 minutes.


(broken link removed to http://picasaweb.google.com/jlowry10/PizzaOven#)

At 2 minutes the bottom crust was surely done, but the top definitely was not. We did the second pizza at exactly 3 minutes and the crust also burnt, but not quite as badly. The top however, was not done and we had to finish it with the broiler.

We make pizza once a week in the oven at 500°F and never have had a failure, so this was a bit of a letdown. The problem here is that all the heat is on the bottom. Because I had to let the coals burn down, the stove top was only around 300°F. Unless we can solve the uneven cooking, this is a bust. You need even heat all around the pizza for it to work well.

 

[Milton Findley]

I use a piece of granite in the oven
at 500-550

Since "some" granite emits radon, I would think that heating it up would intensify same.
Just wondering.

I don't think that a piece of granite that I can pick up is going to emit so much radon that I will have to worry about it.

(broken link removed)

 

[madison]

BG, Just an FYI, it is advised NOT to ever expose a pizza stone to moisture, if it has been wet, when heated rapidly it is prone to cracking. I just leave ours in the oven 24/7 and at most, scrape off with a spatula and put it back into the oven.

I did a stomboli the other evening last week in the T6 on a very similar looking square stone, very very few coals and those i pushed to the rear and sides, as I was letting the stove burn down for a cleaning, worked great. Never thought to take pictures.....

Otherwise, i've only done baked potatoes, heavy duty foil, and again, you have to avoid doing this in a cranking stove. Baked sweet potatoes you have to be really careful with the stove temp

Joke-- Maybe it was the "EBT"

 

[begreen]

Ya, we normally keep the stone in the oven too. That is where it came from when I put it in the stove.

Baked potatoes have been a success for us too. We want to try roasting eggplant next for melitzanosalata.

 

[hotprinter]

Try putting it on an AIRBAKE insulated pan, that would keep the bottom from burning

 

[Boozie]

I use a piece of granite in the oven
at 500-550

Since "some" granite emits radon, I would think that heating it up would intensify same.
Just wondering.

I don't think that a piece of granite that I can pick up is going to emit so much radon that I will have to worry about it.

"some" granite emits radon ...... have you read any tests done on granite that has been heated?
Interestingly enough, I received this from Dr. Weil's newsletter this morning:

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/TIP03953/Radon-in-Your-Kitchen-Counters.html

 

[Battenkiller]

Just 1/2 mile down the hill I live on is this wicked nice pizza place. The wood-fired oven gets about 800-850º. The pizzas take about 2 minutes to cook in there, and they are moving them around with a long-handled pizza paddle the whole time, lifting the edges and checking them constantly. They told me that just 30 seconds too much and they get burned. I guess the secret is to keep checking them and get them out immediately when they are done on the bottom.

 

[webbie]

I don't think, without an amazing amount of work and luck, that you can duplicate artisan pizza in a stove...or at home even......

Many have tried - a few have spent hundreds of hour and thousands of dollars and succeeded.......but I think your energy is better spent finding out where, within 2 hours drive, you can find a good one!
http://pizzatherapy.com/bestpizzainseattle.htm

I have heard good things about this place:
http://www.apizzascholls.com/


Our fav place - the Wife is italian, the husband is French and they have a wood fired oven....they have toured the world and the country looking at artisan breads and pizzas.
One bite and you can tell....

 

[begreen]

Trouble with our trial is that the bottom was cooking long before the top. If I pulled it out when the bottom was perfect, the cheese would have just been starting to melt. The secret is to have even heat in the oven. Then it is more a matter of timing based on the temp of the oven.

Craig is right about getting good pizza. It's doubly hard to find on the west coast. Not enough Italians and Greeks out here! The oven is only a small part of the picture. Getting the crust dough right is very important as is every other ingredient, especially the sauce. That's why I was bummed out about the burnt pizza. It had our precious homemade sauce on it from last summer's garden.

 

[Hogwildz]

Well thanks guys, now I am hungry and my mouth is watering. LOL
And round here, all restaurants are closed on Mondays! Damn