I have mentioned my love of the Big Green Egg Ceramic Grill/Smoker, but I wanted to combine it with one of my favorite foods.... PIZZA!
Last Christmas, I received a KitchenAide mixer for Christmas (yeah, I am spoiled) and I mainly wanted it for pizza dough and for shredding the cheese that I would put on pizza. The shredding is done by a Slicer/Shredder accessory and it works perfectly for shredding blocks of cheese. I have included a pic of the mixer I use below. Right above the KitchenAide logo is where the shredder attaches (sorry, I haven't taken a pic of the shredder, but you can see it here.)
Last Christmas, I received a KitchenAide mixer for Christmas (yeah, I am spoiled) and I mainly wanted it for pizza dough and for shredding the cheese that I would put on pizza. The shredding is done by a Slicer/Shredder accessory and it works perfectly for shredding blocks of cheese. I have included a pic of the mixer I use below. Right above the KitchenAide logo is where the shredder attaches (sorry, I haven't taken a pic of the shredder, but you can see it here.)
I found a recipe for making the dough here and followed it for the most part. It makes two pizzas around 10-12 inches wide. I was actually surprised how easy it was to make the dough, but this recipe works to perfection. I have read other recipes that add a half cup of cornmeal and I may try that down the road for kicks.
Once the dough is ready, we usually add sauce (which I currently buy in a can), shredder mozzarella cheese, mushroom, pepperoni, and black olives. I have tried it with sausage and other toppings, but the above is our basic ingredients.
I have a few accessories that I bought for the pizza making process. The CounterArt Bamboo Pizza Peel. This a nice $13 peel that makes it easy to get the pizza on and off the grill. I usually sprinkle cornmeal on it and use parchment paper cut to the size of the pizza to make it easier to transfer the pizza to the grill. I did not want to spend a lot on a peel, so I guess we will see how it holds up over time. However, it has done the job without a problem. With the Big Green Egg (BGE), I also use a Placesetter (feet down, but a lot of people use feet up). I bought it when I bought the Egg and I think it is a necessity. I also have a Old Stone 16 inch Round Pizza Stone. I have heard about some pizza stones breaking at high temps, but I have had this up over 700 and, so far, have not had any issues. I have used different lump coal, but for pizza, I have used Primo 608 Natural Lump Coal. For the dough, I used half Antimo Caputo Chefs 00 Flour and half regular Gold Medal Flour.
Anyway, it took a while to research most of this stuff, so I thought the links above would help.
Once I got the temperature up to about 650 F, I was ready to put on my first pizza. I took it off after about ten minutes (if the pizza is on parchment paper, I let it cook for about 3 minutes and the slide out from under the pizza), but we found that we like the pizza a bit more crispy, so I left the second pizza on for about 3 more minutes. Below is a pic of the second pizza:
Once the dough is ready, we usually add sauce (which I currently buy in a can), shredder mozzarella cheese, mushroom, pepperoni, and black olives. I have tried it with sausage and other toppings, but the above is our basic ingredients.
I have a few accessories that I bought for the pizza making process. The CounterArt Bamboo Pizza Peel. This a nice $13 peel that makes it easy to get the pizza on and off the grill. I usually sprinkle cornmeal on it and use parchment paper cut to the size of the pizza to make it easier to transfer the pizza to the grill. I did not want to spend a lot on a peel, so I guess we will see how it holds up over time. However, it has done the job without a problem. With the Big Green Egg (BGE), I also use a Placesetter (feet down, but a lot of people use feet up). I bought it when I bought the Egg and I think it is a necessity. I also have a Old Stone 16 inch Round Pizza Stone. I have heard about some pizza stones breaking at high temps, but I have had this up over 700 and, so far, have not had any issues. I have used different lump coal, but for pizza, I have used Primo 608 Natural Lump Coal. For the dough, I used half Antimo Caputo Chefs 00 Flour and half regular Gold Medal Flour.
Anyway, it took a while to research most of this stuff, so I thought the links above would help.
Once I got the temperature up to about 650 F, I was ready to put on my first pizza. I took it off after about ten minutes (if the pizza is on parchment paper, I let it cook for about 3 minutes and the slide out from under the pizza), but we found that we like the pizza a bit more crispy, so I left the second pizza on for about 3 more minutes. Below is a pic of the second pizza:
The pizza above was perfect. I found that it is done the way we like it after the edges are a bit burnt. Obviously, people will like a different degree of crispiness, so you would want to try different cooking times.
I have read that cooking on a gas grill will also work, but I haven't tried it. I may try it down the road when I have less time or want to cook something else on the BGE at the same. Now that I got the time down for the crust, I will probably try a few different toppings. I may also just buy a Costco pizza every now and then and cook it instead of using the time consuming, messy process above.
There are a lot of options with pizza, so I plan to try several of them. Please let me know if this article has been helpful or if you have any questions.
I have read that cooking on a gas grill will also work, but I haven't tried it. I may try it down the road when I have less time or want to cook something else on the BGE at the same. Now that I got the time down for the crust, I will probably try a few different toppings. I may also just buy a Costco pizza every now and then and cook it instead of using the time consuming, messy process above.
There are a lot of options with pizza, so I plan to try several of them. Please let me know if this article has been helpful or if you have any questions.
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