Well firstly, let me say that my family is sick and tired of me making pizzas and making a mess in the kitchen...
I've been experimenting with pizzas these past few weeks, first with store bought fresh dough and now with my own dough. My gas grill and oven pizzas have been coming out all right but ones done on the kettle have been very inconsistent so I decided to experiment again with the kettle yesterday while my family was out all day.

I made 3 identical pies and baked each one differently on the kettle. With the top vent open I was getting a nasty hot spot on that corner directly under the open vent and the crust charred within 4 minutes.
The best of the three came out by closing the dome vent completely and propping up the lid about 1/4" all the way around. The dome temp was about 500.

I made the dough with just AP flour, water, salt, & instant yeast and let it rest over 24 hours in the fridge. I stretched the dough out on parchment and assembled the pies.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: George L,

That pizza looks fantastic! Where did you get that cool griddle?

quote:

Originally posted by George L:
The best of the three came out by closing the dome vent completely and propping up the lid about 1/4" all the way around. The dome temp was about 500.

George, great looking pie, nice job.
By closing the top vent, you force the heat to reflect back on to the top of the pie, giving you the required heat to cook the pizza on the top and bottom at the same time. Getting good reflective heat off the inside on the lid is the key to making great pizza on the grill. Some pre-bake the crust when grilling the pizza but that's not an option in my book, just my prefference. Great move on the vent closing, and raising the lid up just enough for good heat to cook the pie on top and bottom.
If you're interrested, here's a link to my pizza dough recipe.

george, where is the rest of the story ?

Looks great! All of you are freakin' killing me with all of these pizza posts lately.

Anything I can use as a sub until I get a stone/screen/fire bricks to cook these? LOL

Thanks!
The griddle I'm using is a Lodge cast iron 14" pizza pan. You can use it just like a pizza stone.

DAMMIT THAT'S A BEAUTIFUL PIE!!! Kudos!!!

Larry,
That's a winner for sure! I was wondering if you could use the charcoal ring from the 18" WSM to elevate the pan? I have a rotie ring so clearance wouldn't be an issue. I ordered the Lodge pan today after seeing your yummy pics. Thanks for sharing.....

Dan

quote:

Originally posted by Dan Moore:
I was wondering if you could use the charcoal ring from the 18" WSM to elevate the pan?

Dan - I used it and for a couple frozen pies I grilled up and it worked fine. Not sure how much the fire-bricks add for homemade dough, though.

quote:

Originally posted by Mitch Josey: Not sure how much the fire-bricks add for homemade dough, though.

Hi,

I don't think it makes any difference what you use to raise the baking surface. When I use my gas grill I use a rib rack which raises it a tad higher than using bricks. The bricks give me just the right height when using the kettle.

quote:

I don't think it makes any difference what you use to raise the baking surface. When I use my gas grill I use a rib rack which raises it a tad higher than using bricks. The bricks give me just the right height when using the kettle

Mitch and George,

Thanks for the info. Now I know that I have the tools to make pizza on the grill.

I love this forum!

Dan

That's one of the nicest pizzas I've seen done on a grill.

Is that ricotta cheese or fresh mozarella?

I'm ordering that Lodge pan today!

quote:

Originally posted by Joe InJersey:
Is that ricotta cheese or fresh mozarella?

Thanks!
Yes, that's ricotta. I prefer fresh mozza but ran out that day...

George

Hey George, I think that's the best looking pizza I've seen cooked on the weber grill using simple tools/techniques. Well done! You've got me wanting to through a batch of dough together to give it a shot. Up to this point have just been baking them in the oven.

Pretty nice shaping job on the dough too. Very professional looking pie.