Pizza on the BGE

So, I have cooked many successful pizzas on my egg, and tonight was no good. I used some cornmeal on the stone to keep it from sticking, and the crust did not get crispy at all. It turned out very soft and not good. The stone was wet when I put it on, but I let the grill go for about 15 minutes to dry the stone out before I put the pizza on. Was it the cornmeal? Thanks.

NO, I use cornmeal every time on mine. Without it it would be a sticky mess.

I do pizzas on my egg once a week. I love it.

Did you make the dough, or was it store bought?

I suspect that either the temp was not high enough (over 500), the pizza stone was not preheated or the dough mix was no good. Usually when this happened to me I did not get the stone preheated and my temp was not hot enough.

Do you have a pizza board? I bought a cheapy board and it makes all the difference in the world getting pies in and out.

I always use cornmeal too. It's a must.

When I bake with my pizza stone, here's how I do my crust and it comes out crispy every time.

Spread cornmeal on stone (not preheated actually!).

I stretch out my dough to fit the stone and rub some EVOO on both sides of the dough. Place it on the cornmeal. On the top of the dough, I add some Italian seasonings, mainly garlic and oregano to the EVO-oiled dough. Then, I bake it at near 500 degrees for about 7-8 minutes until the crust is just beginning to get crispy but before it's actually done...still some slight "doughiness" remaining to the touch but with a hardening outer crust. I remove it from the oven and THEN add the sauce/cheese/toppings and bake it again until the cheese begins to get a golden brown bubbly goodness to it.

Crust is never doughy, always perfect.

I realize this thread is not about using an oven, but the 500-degree temp carries over to any heating method to get the best pizzas, also, I believe my technique work work well with other methods. The goal is the same, crispy crust without burning the cheese. If you bake the crust first, then add toppings, you can get the crust to your liking, then all that remains is heating the sauce and melting the cheese. If using meat, it must be fully cooked prior to adding.





(for the record, I've managed 2 pizzerias in my working life - side/secondary jobs to my accounting career).

I've never had a problem using cornmeal while making pizza on the BGE. This may be overkill, but I have one of those infrared temperature gauges that measures the surface temp of the stone. You may not have preheated the stone long enough, especially if it was wet to begin with.

I am thinking it was the stone. Next time I will make sure it is good and hot. Seared up a few ribeyes and red potatoes tonight, real good dinner!

I think that the recommendation is to preheat the stone for an hour. The comment about it going on wet, makes me think that the stone was at a pretty low temperature.

FWIW, I like using parchment on mine.

The egg sat for at least 15 minutes at close to 700 degrees. At first the stone was steaming, so I wiped it off with a dry towel, and then let it bake until the steam quit. Then I threw on the pizza. Ill try again this weekend.

futurman said:

The egg sat for at least 15 minutes at close to 700 degrees. At first the stone was steaming, so I wiped it off with a dry towel, and then let it bake until the steam quit. Then I threw on the pizza. Ill try again this weekend.

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Better order fresh seals now. Mine burned running it that hot while doing pizza. No biggie to replace.

petr said:

Better order fresh seals now. Mine burned running it that hot while doing pizza. No biggie to replace.

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Same here. I found a high heat nomex seal that seems to be holding up much better than the felt.

My seal isn't doing too bad, considering all the steak searing I have done with it, dome open. Where did you find the nomex seal?

They sell the Nomex gaskets at the BGE dealers now. Be sure and put them in a hot dryer for about 30 minutes before you put it on, because they have a tendency to shrink a little when they get hot.

Sounds great! My seal has about 15 cooks on it, and probably about ten more before it hits the ole dusty trail. I can't help it if I like my steaks seared well! I had two foot flames shooting out of the top of my egg last time I did steak. Even when I burped the lid, it still shot a fireball out the sides. Thermometer was pegged!