How To Set Up for Pizza
THE EGG = THE PERFECT BAKER'S OVEN
Dry, even heat is what's needed to transform doughs and batters into crisp, golden versions of their former selves. Which is why our Big Green Eggs make great baker's ovens — whether you're preparing pizzas, baking breads or trying your hand at pastry.
The set up for baking is similar to that of other indirect cooking modes, bar one crucial difference: the ConvEGGtor should be put in with the legs down, not up. The space this creates underneath allows the EGG to reach blisteringly high temperatures.
Once you’ve perfected pizza on the EGG, you’ll be well placed to tackle a whole host of other bakes, which is why we have focused on it here.
Invest in a Baking Stone
The key to a crisp pizza crust with beautifully caramelised toppings is less moisture. Moisture leaves you with a soggy base and toppings that slide off. A Baking Stone helps to extract moisture, by drawing it through the base. Plus, the more you use it, the more seasoned and non-stick it will become. A good sprinkling of flour is all you should need to stop your dough sticking.
Fill it up
It can take a little bit of time for your EGG to reach the consistent high temperatures needed to achieve a perfectly crisp base and bubbling mozzarella topping, so be sure to light it ahead of time. Maintaining a steady heat is essential, so make sure you always top your charcoal up to 5cm below the rim of the Fire Ring, no matter how many pizzas you intend to bake.
Aim high
The frequent opening and closing of the lid will cause the heat to fluctuate so aim for 300˚C, even if the recipe calls for slightly less. Once the EGG is up to temperature, insert the ConvEGGtor with the legs down, followed by the Stainless Steel Grid, then the Baking Stone. Close the dome and wait for the temperature to go back up. Once this is achieved, close your rEGGulator and Draft Door by half, then in small increments until you achieve a steady temperature.
Big Green Egg Pizza Wedges
If you are using the Big Green Egg Pizza Wedges, follow the steps above untill you are ready cook. Burp your EGG and insert the Big Green EGG Pizza Wedges by setting one wedge on each side, making sure tabs are facing down and resting against the inside edge of base. Slide wedges along the gasket so that they meet evenly in the back center of the base. Shut the dome so that it rests neatly on top of the wedges. While cooking pizzas with the wedges in place, keep the rEGGulator closed and adjust the draft door to maintain desired cooking temperature.
At the end of your cook: You will need to remove the wedges in order to close down your EGG. To remove the hot wedges, wear proper heat resistant EGGmitts or Silicone BBQ Mitts. Carefully open the dome of the EGG and remove the wedges and set them on a heat resistant surface to cool.
Important: Be sure to place the wedges in a safe place out of reach of children and pets. You can now shut down your EGG in the normal fashion by closing the dome and ensuring that both the rEGGulator and the draft door are fully closed.
Other helpful tips
While our Baking Stone will go a long way towards reducing unwanted moisture, there are other measures you can take to ensure a crisp pizza base. The first is to reduce your pizza sauce to about 1/3 of its original volume; you don't want it to be too wet. Meanwhile, leave your mozzarella to rest for an hour before adding it to the top of your pizza, so that the water it's stored in has time to drain away. Lastly, keep your toppings simple. Add too many ingredients and your pizza risks becoming overloaded and not cooking evenly. Just make sure when distributing them that there's something different with every bite.
