The Big Green Egg is one of the best grills out there and for good reasons. Not only can you grill, stew, and smoke in it but you can also cook pizza and if you are wondering how you can cook a pizza on the Big Green Egg then continue reading the post.
Cooking pizza on the Big Green Egg is a little trickier than you might have thought. But it is not that hard, and you can do it as well.
It does produce a powerful heat, considering that it only uses charcoal as fuel. It features a fantastic airflow and the iconic ConvEGGtor, which allows you to bake in it.
If you want to cook that Neapolitan-style Pizza, you are going to need to consider at least two things. First, is the heat, which is taken care of by the Big Green Egg, and then the thickness which is up to you.
If you may have noticed, the thinner the dough is, the crispier the result will be once it gets out of the grill. Cooking pizza on the Big Green Egg is a combination of your skill and the grill.
The Big Green Egg is a great grill, but when it is used as an oven to bake something, it can almost perfectly recreate what a wood-fired brick oven produces with its power.
To be perfectly honest with you, the grill can heat up to temperatures that most home ovens cannot reach, and so they perform better when it comes to both baking and the grilling part.
This is a tremendous two-way machine addition to your kitchen, so investing in it will be worth it.
Now, if you already have one and you want to know how you can cook pizza in the Big Green Egg, then we have the perfect guide for you so you can make amazing pizza at any size.
First, you will need to prepare the Big Green Egg
In order to prepare the grill, the first thing you need is to make sure that the grill is clean. Remove all the excess ashes from any part of the Big Green Egg and make sure that there are no blocked airways.
Having a smooth interior and edges will allow the air to flow quickly to heat up the entire grill. Remove all the ashes from the bottom and scrape off the bits of food that got stuck on the grates.
Then start filling up the grill with enough charcoal for it to run about 30 minutes. Start the fire with at least three charcoal starters.
Place the draft door at the bottom of the oven and leave the cover open for at least twenty minutes. If you see the charcoal glowing even before the 20-minute mark, then you can proceed.
Now you can close the Big Green Egg until it reaches at least 700 degrees Fahrenheit or you can heat up for 300 degrees Celsius.
Note*
Make sure to use the proper charcoal when cooking. There is a Premium Organic Lump Charcoal that the Big Green Egg recommends.
The right size of charcoal will allow the grill to heat up quickly and leave no cold spots compared to larger pieces of charcoal.
Install the Accessories
After about 5 minutes or when the grill has already heated up to the desired temperature, place the convEGGtor on the grill.
The convEGGtor is made with a unique design that makes sure that the grill will have enough airflow for the entire grill to heat up.
It is also made out of ceramic so you can be sure that the convEGGtor will conduct heat properly. Therefore, it will heat up any cookware that is placed on top of it.
Installing it will help the Big Green Egg to reach its full potential and you will be able to cook pizzas, aside from just grilled food.
You can do this in two ways. It will bring different processes to cooking the pizza, but either way, it will cook your pizza perfectly.
The first thing that you can do is to place the convector the usual way. With its feet up, place the ceramic convector on the grill first.
Then you can follow this with the stainless steel grid, and then with the baking stone placed directly on the grid.
This technique will allow you to cook pizza at a slower pace. Again, depending on the thickness of your crust, cooking pizza with the convector positioned like this will take about 10 to 20 minutes.
The slower cooking time of the pizza in this setup is because the pizza is only being cooked by radiating heat from airflow. This, however, will bring the bubbles up on your pizza.
The second technique is to use direct heat. This is done by putting the ceramic convection in a position where it can give off direct heat to the baking stone.
To do this, you need to put the convection feet down, so that the bottom is exposed directly to the fire.
Then put the baking stone right on top of the ceramic convection, this will allow better heat contact between the fire and the baking stone.
The method discussed above will heat the baking stone pretty quickly and will retain the heat for a longer time. This setup is suitable for cooking at a faster rate.
It is perfect for making those perfect Neapolitan-style Pizzas that you want. Just remember to keep your pizza dough thin.
A baking stone is not always necessary. You can place the pizza directly onto the grates of the grill, and it will still be cooked in a nice way.
However, if you want that great evenly-cooked bottom of the pizza, then you can use a baking stone to attain that.
Do not use the grill alone when cooking pizza, especially if you are cooking it with the second technique of placement. The direct heat will just burn the bottom of the pizza without thoroughly cooking the toppings.
Tips to guide you in cooking an even better pizza
1. Observe the oven’s temperature.
From the moment that the charcoal is fired up, you need to keep track of the temperature of the Big Green Egg so you know when and when not to proceed to the next steps.
Make sure that you can reach up to the maximum temperature of the grill, and when the accessories heat up, then you can put the pizza on.
Measuring the temperature is easy as most of the Big Green Eggs produced now have a built-in thermometer. All you need to do is to calibrate it, and you are good to go.
However, if you do not have time to calibrate your thermometer and you need to cook right away, you can use laser thermometers to get the accurate temperature of the grill.
2. The Pizza Stone
Again, this is not required, but it does give off a better, more even finish on the bottom of your pizza. It also prevents the pizza from burning by blocking direct flames.
Using a pizza stone is fairly easy and safe. What you need to do is to place the pizza stone inside the grill for preheating.
It will allow the pizza to rise instantly and make the dough crispier. Since the pizza stone can retain great heat, it can cook a lot of pizzas consecutively without heating it up again.
3. Placing the Pizza Inside
It is always best to use a pizza peel when placing the pizza inside the Big Green Egg. in order for the pizza to not stick into the pizza peel, sprinkle some cornmeal or flour into the peel.
It will also help if you put some on your pizza stone as well. Every time that you place a new pizza make sure to sprinkle flour again for the same reason.
4. Keep the Lid Closed
Keeping the lid of the Big Green Egg closed will bring you at least two benefits. First is that your pizza will cook faster.
The other is to keep a consistent heat inside. The air or wind that flows inside the oven cools it down, so you just need the proper amount of airflow – nothing more, nothing less.
Conclusion
Owning a Big Green Egg is an excellent addition to your cooking sessions. It can help you in a lot of ways.
Since it can come up to 700 degrees Fahrenheit, you can cook the best pizza in it as well as other recipes that you need in your backyard party.
You can also use cookwares so you can roast, stir-fry, and even braise in the grill. See, the airflow and fuel can be controlled so you can cook at a lower temperature if you need to.
Try following the guide above and tell us how well it works for you. If you do not have one, make sure to also check out the best Big Green Egg in the market and start using this fantastic product!
If you want to check out more grills, do take a look at Extra BBQ Sauce so that you can get the perfect grill for yourself!
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