Pizza Cook

[SmokeOCD]

The concept of a steel plate (or cast iron) is the retained energy in the plate. The Grill Grates will not have as much retained energy as a 1/4" or thicker steel plate. However, aluminum transfers heat much faster than steel or iron. Some of the guys on the pizza forum experimented with aluminum and it was just too fast. The pizzas were burning before they could cook the toppings.

The RecTeq griddle may work out. It's not as thick as the plate I used, but it may be adequate. Only way to tell for sure, is to try it. I was running in a common home oven at the time. It was capable of about 525F and that's where I ran it. I let it heat up for an hour then threw on a pie. I'd wait until it came back up to temperature before loading a second or third pie. I made some tasty NY style pies on that plate.

If you go on amazon or google you can find "baking steels" or "pizza steels" all over. Thicker is better as it has more retained heat to cook for the time needed. I'd recommend at least 1/4", thicker is better. Avoid stainless steel as the thermal transfer rate is half of regular steel or cast iron.

Here's a cheap one. https://www.amazon.com/Steel-Plate-A36-0-25-Thick/dp/B081Z3FKQM/ref=sr_1_30?crid=4RM8JNA00OWK&keywords=pizza+steel&qid=1658957436&sprefix=pizza+,aps,157&sr=8-30

Thanks - I was just thinking out loud though. The Sear Plate did work for Frozen, but it's perfed so I just thought the existing piece of seasoned steel may work (for fresh). It's 20lbs, 19.5x19.5 - I'll try it one day. Otherwise I already have a few pizza stones I can use. It's not so much the cost of acquiring something new, it's the storage requirements of the new thing(s).

 

[Roaniecowpony]

... It's not so much the cost of acquiring something new, it's the storage requirements of the new thing(s).

Man, do I understand that.

 

[Dr.Floyd]

Since daughter and her friends ate all my pizza last night, I made another tonight.

 

[C. Keeper]

Since daughter and her friends ate all my pizza last night, I made another tonight.

View attachment 16854

Looks good from here

 

[sdynak]

Since daughter and her friends ate all my pizza last night, I made another tonight.

View attachment 16854

Looks good from here too!! What temp did you use?

 

[Dr.Floyd]

Looks good from here too!! What temp did you use?

I cooked it at 375 degrees temp in pizza oven was 650 degrees. Took about 4 minutes to cook. I think next time I will go 4 1/2 - 5 minutes. Get a little more char on the crust. But the bottom came out crunchy and a nice golden brown.

 

[sdynak]

I cooked it at 375 degrees temp in pizza oven was 650 degrees. Took about 4 minutes to cook. I think next time I will go 4 1/2 - 5 minutes. Get a little more char on the crust. But the bottom came out crunchy and a nice golden brown.

Good stuff.. I'm still new at mine so this helps.

 

[Dr.Floyd]

Second attempt came out a lot better!

 

[SmokeZilla]

Second attempt came out a lot better!

View attachment 16995

That looks great. I make a lot of pizzas myself. I was using the Bull but have a dedicated pizza oven that can hit 900F in about 20 minutes. With 2 stones, and 3 shelves, I can turn it to low and it will maintain ~650 for a long time depending on how often it is opened. We typically do 5 16” pizzas in about 14 minutes. It also has a smoke tray that can change the profile of a pie very nicely. One thing we do that helps is to pre-fire the dough before you put the ingredients on it. This allows the dough time to rise and turns out a very nice crispy crust. When doing Chicago or Detroit style pizzas (deep dish) make sure to put lots of butter in the pizza tray at a cold temperature and it will bind with the dough pretty well during the cook. I use that technique due to the longer (~45 minutes) time it takes for a true deep dish pie. Cook on and enjoy the pies.

 

[Rectechie]

Cooked 3 pizzas tonight and my daughter and friends ate them all before I got pictures. The first one was a pain. Stuck to the peel and burned on the bottom, but was still eaten. The second and third came out much better, basic pepperoni and a caprese.

Spread a little corn meal on a wooden peel before laying out the pie to prep. Make sure the stone has preheated at least 30 minutes after reaching target temp. I cook a 400 and it takes 14-15 minutes per pie.