I'm done, whipped, I give up. Can't get the hang of the stone. The problem is the need to preheat and then transfer an already built pizza to the stone. It turns into a big-assed taco.
I just ordered a cast iron pizza pan from Camp Chef. I'm thinking build it, grill it, cut it, and serve it from one pan. Then just wipe the thing off, throw on a coat of Crisco, do a quick re-season like I do with my skillets and press.
Anybody got any experience with the cast iron pizza gizmos?
VR,
Harold
Harold, I feel your pain, but don't give up!
When I first attempted to slide a pizza off a wooden peel, it was utterly nerve wracking. I still get a little nervous, but I've figured out a nearly fool proof way for it to work, provided your dough is NOT sticky. I used to use semolina flour as it's much finer than cornmeal and doesn't change the texture profile like cornmeal does, but now that I'm cooking pizzas on a stone that is hotter than 600 degrees, it burns. I tried flour last time, and it works great.
1. When you work your dough into a small round, make sure your board is heavily floured. You don't want any sticky spots on the dough. Once the dough has been stretched into the size you want it, put it on the peel. At that point, take the peel by the handle, and give it a little jerk back and forth. It should slide around easily. If it doesn't move, your dough is too sticky and or there's not enough flour on the peel.
2. Build your pie quickly, and don't ever use warm sauce. I did this once on a metal peel and the results were disastrous. The Missus and I still laugh about it to this day! That was the first and last time we used a metal peel, as they're really meant for pulling pizzas out of the oven, not launching them.
3. When your pie is built, position the edge of the peel just over and close to the outer edge of the stone, and give the peel a quick jerk forward. The pizza will make contact with the stone, and as it does, pull the peel back toward you in a smooth motion, and you're good to go!
One thing you could consider to really get the hang of this is to practice with a batch of dough you don't plan to use to make pizzas with, in other words, you want to master the above steps, and you can either toss the "practice" dough or if it still has life left in it, make bread sticks or something. Once you start getting the actual feel and experience of this working, it will all come together for you.
If someone had shown me these pictures some years back and said there were pizzas I made, let alone launched from a wooden peel without any cornmeal or parchment crutches, I never would have believed it. If I can do it, so can you! (And no, I didn't cook the pizzas on the screen, either. It just makes a great resting surface so the pie doesn't get soggy)
ray:
