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[DavePZ]

Well, the maiden pizza on my Gas Grill "Pizza Oven" is complete, and I have one major issue…the crust on the bottom was burned. Aside from that, the crust was the lightest I have ever made, BUT was barely edible because of the burnt bottom.

I assume I need to lower the temp, but was wondering if anyone has tried this and had the same issue. If so, how did they attack this problem?

Pizza was cooked for 5 minutes, and I wanted to cook longer to get a crisper crust on the top, but I have to pull it out when I peeked in at the 5 minute mark. The temp on the grill showed 450, but it had to be hotter than (i think)...

Dough was a 2 hour-ish room temp rise, followed by breaking the dough in two balls, and a 2 hour-ish fridge rest. Took dough out and warmed up at room temp for 1 hour-ish...

Thanks!

[Bill/SFNM]

Any sugar in dough?

[Essen1]

I don't know if I'd use a metal plate. It might get too hot. You might want to consider putting the same stone down on the grill like the one you have on top.

An IR thermometer is also a helpful tool to measure temps accurately.

[DavePZ]

Thanks guys.
Just to clarify the setup, it is a round pizza stone on bottom, fire bricks on sides, and stone on top.
No sugar in dough. Standard NY dough recipe...

[Jack]

You have too much heat coming up from the burners.  Lower the flame (my preference - see below) OR cook on the top stone, instead of the bottom one.

The theory is that a single stone conducts then radiates head, so the bottom of your pie is getting blasted by the heat being put out by the burner, as it passes through the stone.  The temperature of the stone was likely significantly higher than 450°F.  By changing the configuration to a double wall (upper and lower stone) you will drop the heat flow through the stones significantly and the top stone will heat primarily due to the temperature of the air inside the barbeque, instead of absorbing the massive heat put out by the burner and torching your crust.

When I cook pizza on a grill, I use a single stone.  I cover the bottom of the stone in heavy duty foil and keep the burner output reasonable.  The foil refects a lot of the heat, allowing the stone to come up to a reasonable temperature, as much by the air temperature in the barbeque, as from the direct flame heat.  I also check the crust regularly on the first pie or two, to be sure I have dialed in the correct burner setting.  I have found that if the grill is dirty, i.e. there is a lot of grilling fat etc., on the bottom, (like at a community grill) it will ignite, so be careful. 

Next time make 4-5 small pies, instead of a larger one or two and figure out how to make the grill work for you.  You may even try making a bunch of 6 inch diameter skins, without topping them, until you get the stone/grill temperature thing right.

Jack

EDIT  - How do I know this?  I'm a Mechanical Enginerd (we know heat) and I've burned my fair share of pies on the grill at a swim and tennis club we belong to.  I am often requested to make pizza there, for many of our friends.  It's hard to be sociable and not torch one every once in a while.

[DavePZ]

Thanks Jack, makes sense. I will try the foil for sure.

My thought process on the top stone (and side bricks) was as follows:
When the lid is opened, the air temp will drop significantly (which does not happen in a wood fired oven). To counter this, I figured that the top and side stones, which have obsorbed energy, will maintain this heat when the door is opened, and create a mini oven to insure heat is hitting the pizza from above and below.

I think I may try the following as well: Leave the bottom stone out for half the heat up allowing the top stone to heat completely, then put the bottom stone in for second half of heat up.

Any thoughts?

Dave

[Jack]

The reason I settled in on the foiled single stone is that it's simple and worked.  I don't like swapping stones in and out because it's not easily repeatable if I want to make another or five more pies.  I"m lazy.  I like to set it up, let it settle into a balanced state and then I can make pies.  Timing the addition of a stone does not work for me, just as I can't make pizza in the oven by baking on a stone, then switching to a screen or turning on the broiler.  I kept at it until I have a set up for my home oven and my grill that will work for one pie, or 100.  As fast as I can make them, I can run them through, and they are all pretty much the same.

The bottom line is that you need to find a method that works for your style and grill.  If you only make one pie at a time, then you may have your solution.

Jack

[DavePZ]

Thanks Jack!
I tried the foil under the bottom stone last night, and it made a big difference...I am one step closer to making the perfect pizza...

Dave

[flyboy4ual]

I put a layer of the half size fire bricks under my stone and it worked great to get rid of the burned bottoms.

Scott

[smarttowers]

I like the setup, looks great. I have one suggestion you may try and see how it works. I would stack the fire bricks you have on their side 2 high or maybe even one and put the top stone on that. This should bring the top stone closer to the top of the pizza and hopefully make it cook quicker giving it less time for the bottom to burn the crust.

[Tampa]

DavePZ: I have the same setup and tried it for the first time yesterday.  I got the same results - burnt crust.  But most of the replies to your thread so far don't make any sense to me.  Here's why.

I have a IR Thermal gun and the cordierite stone measured 650F +/- 20F across the surface before I put the pie in.  Six fifty is a fine temperature.  Something else is happening here.  When I called my expert friend/neighbor with a commercial 700F oven and hundreds of successful pizza results, he suggested I probably have either not enough hydration or too much oil.  (I believe he sent you a private note on this.)  In your case, he believes you have too much oil, if I remember correctly.

At one point long ago I was an engineer - so you should stop reading now and move on to the next thread.  There are only three forms of heat transfer: convection, conduction, and radiation.  Throwing a pie on a stone feels like a conduction-dominated environment to me, at least as experienced by the bottom of the crust.  As others have said, once the stone reaches cooking temperature, you can turn off the heat - as far as the bottom of the pizza is concerned.  Thicker stones have enough thermal inertia to fully bake the underside in few minutes it takes to put leopard spots.  That same inertia is why it takes these stones so long to heat up in the first place.

So if the top looks good, but the bottom is burnt, I think my friend Bob is right, it's probably the recipe.  In your case, it is possible that the stone temp was above 700F, but not in mine.


I learned long ago that I often make science mistakes, so please correct as necessary.

Dave

[Tampa]

Jack is right.  When cooking on stone over a gas grill, heavy-duty aluminum foil significantly reduces the chance of a burnt crust.  Per my IR thermometer tests, foil also increases the pre-heat time and max stone temperature which is unfortunate.  I'll be trying one layer of foil (instead of 2) and a pizza screen to see if they produce better results.

(This topic probably belongs in the pizza ovens/home ovens section)