***Blackstone Pizza Oven Appreciation Thread***

[Free Mr. Tony]

A couple pizzas from tonight

Buffalo chicken for my wife. Ranch mixed with Franks buffalo, a tiny bit of Mozz, Asiago and parm mix, blue cheese, chicken, and roasted onion







A deep dish triple rise pepperoni. Thin sauce, Mozz, Asiago and parm around the edges.







This was delicious. Sometimes the old standbys are the best.

 

[Moose]

Well, I got 3 practice pizza's out of the way and need to figure a few things out. Getting the pie off the peel is my biggest issue.

My first was a pure cheater just to check things out. Used an uncooked flour tortilla for the crust. It was easy. Just should have cooked at a higher temp.

The next 2 were using OLD frozen Sam's Club pizza balls. STICKY! Had so much trouble I ended up getting parchment out and placing it over the dough on the silicon sheet, then flipped it over and slowly peeled the sheet off. The next one I just went ahead and rolled it out on a piece of parchment, then placed another on top to roll it out.

I think these frozen dough balls are probably at least a couple of YEARS old. Ah well, strictly for practice.

Trying to figure out what kind of ZA I want to do for dinner......

Papa Murphy's sounds easy. :mrgreen:

John, try the Primo Taglio pizza dough at Von's - this is the best store bought dough I've found. Did you use any flour on those dough balls when you worked them?

 

[ncmoose]

i just transferred mine on parchment and removed it after the dough set at about a minute

 

[kurtsara]

i just transferred mine on parchment and removed it after the dough set at about a minute

That is what I do also.

 

[Taylormade]

At what temp are you guys cooking your pizzas? I've been too hot and not hot enough... I'm thinking 450-500 is where I want to be but would like confirmation.

 

[Gnolydnar]

I cook at around 600F. I make a simple dough of OO flour, kosher salt, yeast, and water. Let it rise for 3 days in fridge, then rise again at room temp before working it to toss. I get a light, slightly chewy crust with a few charred spots on bottom. I use rice flour on the peel. Works for me.

 

[Moose]

At what temp are you guys cooking your pizzas? I've been too hot and not hot enough... I'm thinking 450-500 is where I want to be but would like confirmation.

Higher heat, with stone temps at 575 and above fundamentally change the "character" of the bottom crust of pizza, and in a very good way. You simply won't get the level of crispness at 450-500 you would at 575 plus. When I used to cook pizza in the oven, I cooked it at convection cranked all the way up to 550. It was as close to what I can get in terms of what I was looking for in my crust that I get using the BS oven, but still fell short.

That said, I'm mostly in the 625-675 stone temp ballpark. There's other factors to consider as well, the biggest being the hydration level of your dough. Lower hydration doughs can really "dry out" at higher temps. This is why some folks like to use Italian "00" flour, which can really withstand super high temps of 750+.

In other words, don't be afraid to crank it up, and get a high heat IR thermo if you don't have one! It's an invaluable tool to know the temp your stone is at!

 

[Taylormade]

Yeah, that makes sense as I cook pizzas on the kamado at 600+ with excellent results. I'll keep playing. Thanks.

 

[SoCalWJS]

John, try the Primo Taglio pizza dough at Von's - this is the best store bought dough I've found. Did you use any flour on those dough balls when you worked them?

I threw a bit on. May not have been enough. Dough was probably a bit beyond it's expiration date. :mrgreen:

Tried a dough ball from the local Von's here a while back on the BGE. I wasn't real impressed. No clue of what the name of it was though. May give it another shot.

Ended up trying a Papa Murphy's - and wouldn't you know it, the propane tank ran dry about a minute before I figured it was going to be ready. :doh:

 

[Free Mr. Tony]

At what temp are you guys cooking your pizzas? I've been too hot and not hot enough... I'm thinking 450-500 is where I want to be but would like confirmation.

The contents of your dough are going to play greatly into the sweet spot for temperature. I've been using a triple flour dough lately. 1/3 high gluten, 1/3 all purpose, and 1/3 bread flour. It's a good mix of light, chewy, and a little crunch.

The circle pizza I posted on the last page was 62% hydration with the above flour ratio. The bottom stone was 633 when it went on. I dialed it back a bit when I'm doing the pan pizzas to give the middle of the dough more time to finish.

Don't be afraid to play with the regulator either. I find the actual flame knob very inexact. Even though you can turn continuously, it seems there are only about 3 actual flame positions. At least that's how mine is. The regulator let's you fine tune the flame more than the actual temp knob.

 

[g257945]

The contents of your dough are going to play greatly into the sweet spot for temperature. I've been using a triple flour dough lately. 1/3 high gluten, 1/3 all purpose, and 1/3 bread flour. It's a good mix of light, chewy, and a little crunch.

The circle pizza I posted on the last page was 62% hydration with the above flour ratio. The bottom stone was 633 when it went on. I dialed it back a bit when I'm doing the pan pizzas to give the middle of the dough more time to finish.

Don't be afraid to play with the regulator either. I find the actual flame knob very inexact. Even though you can turn continuously, it seems there are only about 3 actual flame positions. At least that's how mine is. The regulator let's you fine tune the flame more than the actual temp knob.

Great info on the 3 flour mix Tony, I'll have to give that a try! On a side note, Chris and Doug did their first smoke last night on your old 36 and it turned out awesome. Did you order your 270 yet?

Scott

 

[Free Mr. Tony]

Great info on the 3 flour mix Tony, I'll have to give that a try! On a side note, Chris and Doug did their first smoke last night on your old 36 and it turned out awesome. Did you order your 270 yet?

Scott

I like the texture that the hi gluten gives, but not when it is 100% high gluten. A bonus for those who aren't used to working with dough is that the high gluten flour really adds some strength to the dough ball making it much less likely to tear while stretching. It does take a little more effort to open up, but is stronger and holds its shape better if you are new to stretching.

That's great that they got a smoke in on the Lang. I'll miss it I'm sure. It's super easy to run, so they should be smooth sailing from here. Haven't got the 270 yet. There is an Amish BBQ store in the middle of Ohio that I will probably buy it from when ready. It's about 3 hours away. Hopefully in the next month or so, but I've got other smokers so not in a massive hurry.

 

[Taylormade]

Ok, got another cook under the belt tonight and learned more about the cooker. Most of it should be common sense, but common sense isn't always available to me... heh.

I turned the oven on, walked away for a few minutes to grab a few brewskies from the shop. When I got back to it, the oven was already at 700 degrees.

I agree wholeheartedly that the way to control the flame is by the regulator dial and not the designed dial on the face. I also laughed at the "three actual flame positions" comment tonight. "Holy cow, he's right!"

Anyhow I turned the regulator down so that it was just below 600 according to the gauge as well as the IR thermometer. What I DIDN'T do was give the stone enough time to cool down with it. So I got a perfectly crisp crust in about two minutes but the toppings weren't quite where they needed to be.

So lesson learned is to bring the oven up to temp and then hold it rather than letting it get too hot and then trying to reduce it.

 

[DBBQ]

I just love my blackstone. I usually use tipo00 flour like many others, but have even used storebought dough with superb results. I came from a Kettle Pizza on my Weber which I made hundreds of great pies on, but this is so much simpler and more efficient.

 

[SoCalWJS]

Anybody ever used one of these to cook the "uncooked" Flour tortillas you can get at Costco?

Thinking I'd give it a try tonight. The ones I used to get at a restaurant in Old Town San Diego were cooked on a rotating stone (only heated from the bottom) were out of this world (not the same thing, I know, but..... I can hope)

 

[Taylormade]

Anybody ever used one of these to cook the "uncooked" Flour tortillas you can get at Costco?

Thinking I'd give it a try tonight. The ones I used to get at a restaurant in Old Town San Diego were cooked on a rotating stone (only heated from the bottom) were out of this world (not the same thing, I know, but..... I can hope)

Post up your findings please! We spend a lot of time (and money) at Costco.

 

[Zak]

Just got it yesterday and put it together however i noticed the steel plate that the pizza stone sits on is warped from them welding the down-shaft adapter on, which probably isnt a big deal but i'd prefer the stone in direct contact with the steel plate for proper heat transfer. Anyone else with this issue?

Update: I contacted Blackstone about the issue and they're sending a new one out today. I just hope the new one isnt warped also. Great customer service!!!

 

[Free Mr. Tony]

Anybody ever used one of these to cook the "uncooked" Flour tortillas you can get at Costco?

Thinking I'd give it a try tonight. The ones I used to get at a restaurant in Old Town San Diego were cooked on a rotating stone (only heated from the bottom) were out of this world (not the same thing, I know, but..... I can hope)

Haven't tried the uncooked, but they are great to make quesadillas with the packaged tortilla shells. No oil necessary on the shell. Just put it on dry, and flip once. Comes out perfectly charred and crisp in a minute or two.

 

[ssv3]

Anybody ever used one of these to cook the "uncooked" Flour tortillas you can get at Costco?

Thinking I'd give it a try tonight. The ones I used to get at a restaurant in Old Town San Diego were cooked on a rotating stone (only heated from the bottom) were out of this world (not the same thing, I know, but..... I can hope)

I've tried them plenty John. They're really good. Honestly I wouldn't even fire up the BS for them since they cook so quick. I usually do them in a CI pan or any pan heated over the stove. They cook in less than a minute.

 

[SoCalWJS]

I've tried them plenty John. They're really good. Honestly I wouldn't even fire up the BS for them since they cook so quick. I usually do them in a CI pan or any pan heated over the stove. They cook in less than a minute.

Kind of what I decided too. I was hoping that there was enough room I could cook 3-4 at one time and speed the process up. Not quite enough room for that, so back to 1-2 at a time. Interesting results. Maybe a bit better than the CI Pizza pan I usually use. Different texture. Still not as good as those hand made ones I've had at Restaurants....

Going to try the Primo Taglio from Von's tonight. Any suggestions on temps? Haven't really gone much over 500-525 so far. Thinking of heading towards 700 this time.

Tempted to throw the crust on at 500 or so for a moment to firm it up before I load it up. Still having problems getting the blasted pies off my peel(s)...