Pie on the Barbie

[Martino1]

Long time it has been, that i tried getting a reasonable pie done at home.
I was always aware since a teenager, that heat is the key to a good pizza, or at least helping tremendously.
Said and done, A canadian Broil King was aquired here in Asia. Probably paid way too much here, but i am using it regularly and now trying to get the secrets of a pie on the BBQ grill as many here.

My target is to achieve a pizza, that has a bit of a rim crisp when you bite in it and then being moist inside. It should be able to hold its shape as a slice.

I made a few attempts and i am coming close what i would like to achieve. One lesson learned when baking with a stone is to go under the pie with a peel after around 20 to 30 seconds. It seems to seal the bottom and IMO helps to prevent burning. Does anyone have had the same experience ?
Anyways,
1st attempt
Heat from below is no problem, this one I found out before i discovered this forum. My pizza soapstone i brought over from europe couldnt stand the heat of my first attempt. The bbw gets around 800F hot or more. So i got a half round metal strainer which i put on the grids to
1) elevate the stone
2) lift the pizza close to the lid of the bbq, where i hoped the convection heat would be higher than the stone temp.
Lesson learned: got enough heat, even on the stone, but not enough heat from top to get a char in the target level. When i opened the lid to turn the pie too much heat gets lost. If i would leave it longer, the bottom would burn
Therefore IMO it is essential to follow the way many have gone, by creating a kind of a chamber to deflect the heat down and preserve it when opening the hood.

2nd Attempt
This time i built a chamber with stones and additionally isolated the grid above for keeping the bbq goods warm (sorry for my English, hope you understand)

Lessons learned:
Pie browns better from top, but burns faster (since the stone sits on the grids). Definitely a stone isolation should take place.
I used the flavorbars which normally sit above the burners to put under the stone.
All in all a good attempt

3rd Attempt
I used the flaps which normally separate the chambers besides the burners to deflect the heat under the grids upwards. Additionally i used my rotisserie burner at the rear.
Lessons learned
- the rotisserie burner absolutely improved the top char and the flexibility, since I can use the peel to lift the pizza and hold it towards (not in) the flames.
- difficulties I had launching the second pie, because the front is not so high and so the pie landed half on front  Unfortunately the second pie should have been my masterpiece for this time and failed so terrible. Attempts to save it and transform into a calzone failed as well  Bad, because the second one was the one with the buffalo mozz that i got here for a fortune, hehe.

Naja, the first one was half with pineapple and ham, a concession to my wife so that i get her to tolerate sticking my head into this website so often 

The dough was an experiment with Local HG flur which has a 13.7 protein and 7% sugar level. I had it in the fridge for 24h and gave it several folds. It ended up being very elastic and spring back, but had a lot of little bubble insides. This you can see on the blown up rim. Also i stretched it a bit to thin in the middle. Next time i use a lower protein flower and dont strech and fold so often. Other than this the first was crispy outside and moist inside.
The baking time was around 2 minutes this time, significantly shorter than before.
I post the pics below.

Let me also say I enjoy this forum a lot and the attitude of the members is so positve and helpful -  unmet anywhere else.

Best, Martin

[Martino1]

Attempt 1

[Martino1]

Attempt 2:

[Martino1]

3rd and latest set-up
- bricks setup
- rear burner
- steel cookie sheet under the stone
- 2min
1st pie good flavor but rim too high, 2nd one a mess. Sorry for the pineapple 

[Martino1]

Last Pie.

Thanks goes to member Tampa for the airflow hint.

[Martino1]

Latest Pie
Dough was frozen for 2 weeks and came our surprisingly well after a 5 hours warm-up and proofing time.
Crust was very light, aerated and with a nice crunch.
Need to work a bit on my skills to stretch the dough out. Seem to have the rim too big.
Cooked at 750F for 3 minutes with rotisserie broiler which required some rotation... keeps me busy.

In my bbq this was the best so far.

[Jackie Tran]

Nice job Martin.  The lastest pie looks like the bake was just right.  Nice open and airy rim as well.  Great job, it looks delicious.

Chau

[Martino1]

wow, thanks Chau. if this comes from you i might actually almost believe it 
still some way to go, trying to come close to your nearlypolitan hybrids is a great aspiration.

so so much to experiment and can hardly make more than pizza once a week.
... but i will try and post my success (and flops  )

[TXCraig1]

Pretty darn good looking pies Martin. I bet you had an ear-to-ear grin when you pulled out that beautiful Margherita!

Craig

[Martino1]

Thanks Craig, If I did not have ears, I would indeed have grinned in a circle 

after reading all your Posts about the bbq mods and mohicans i believed it is possible to get a decent pie there. Still need to work on many things.

At the moment I basically have to knee eye to eye with the flame at the rotisserie burner (no IR, but open flame) and keep the front lid open. Otherwise the rear flame will go off because of oxygen lack.
I also turn the pie constantly, which is a bit of a work, but hey... Gives me a pizzaiolo feeling 

The rear burner really was the decisive element for me to get sufficient top heat, but i wonder if there is a way around. I guess no, cause this thingy really creates a nice flame. I am now using a metal sheet as cover of the stones at the side and this IMO also reflected the heat down. I chained it to the temp gauge hole in the lid, so it will move up when i open the lid widely, enabling me to lauch the pie more easy.

@Craig, when you were baking your last pies on the bbq mod, could you describe your last setup and whether you used the Rear burner to create top heat and maintained the isolation blankets outside on top of the grill ? You are not further isolation the inside of the grill against side heat loss, is this correct ?
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,9614.0.html

I really admire your neapolitan pies in the bbq. (not even mentioning the wfos)

This forum is unbelievable helpful and the openness of the members is outstanding.

Thanks.
Martin


The more i read, the more questions come up 

[TXCraig1]

@Craig, when you were baking your last pies on the bbq mod, could you describe your last setup and whether you used the Rear burner to create top heat and maintained the isolation blankets outside on top of the grill ? You are not further isolation the inside of the grill against side heat loss, is this correct ?
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,9614.0.html

The last set up was 2 of the white pyroblankets folded into 4 layers each (8 total layers) on top of the red pyroblanket folded in half - so 2 layers of that. Both of the white pyroblankets were getting pretty charred by that point, and I'm sure they had lost some of their insulating capability. I added the second white one mostly because the first was getting pretty charred and was starting to fall apart. It never did, but I was pretty careful with it. I never did try to insulate the sides, though I think it would have helped. There was no insulation inside the grill. I used all three burners along the bottom, the IR burner on the back, and a small wood fire in a small cast iron skillet in the back right corner. I liked the Fibrament stone. I also think the aluminum tray under it is important - not just to protect the stone from the flame, but it also reflected back some heat from the burners. Otherwise, the stone would get too hot. The air above the stone needs to be at least as hot if not hotter than the stone. Sometimes I still had to turn down the middle burner to keep the stone from getting too hot. I would turn the pie every 15-20 seconds or so. I'm sure the grill instructions tell you not to do any of these things - especially light a fire inside the grill.

CL

[Martino1]

Thanks craig,
It shows my that the insulation topic seems worth looking at. I also use the rear burner and this really helped significantly. I still lose some heat though.

I made 60% hydration dough and i seem to have to work on the dough a bit more and/or on my stretching technique. I try to push the air to the rim, which works well and the middle is pretty thin. However it is always a bit imbalanced.

Does anyone know a thread in which the stretch-slap technique is discussed ? How do you mange to balance rim and inner part with a high hydration dough (for me 63 is high and hard to handle). I guess i just need experience and a lot of pies that look like those life saver candies 

Anyways, here was my lunch today

[Martino1]

today's lunch setup. improvement with the chain sttached to the hole for the temp gauge and to the cookie sheet.
Helps to load the pie and still maintain a low ceiling.

[Jackie Tran]

looks like you have it dialed in.  I like how puffy the rim looks.  Good job Martin. 

[norma427]

Martin,

Great job with your mod!  Your pies look delicious! 

Norma

[Jet_deck]

Congrats on that pizza, it looks superb!

[Martino1]

Thank you all guys, ... So motivating 
Wanna do dough tomorrow, just don't know who will eat the Pizza  am i a Pizza addict ?
The guy who brings the gas bottles to our house might think i opened a bbq restaurant. Anyways he can soon afford a new rolex.

Not so good as fresh, but i have a toaster, In which can insert and heat up cold pizza and actually even bring it to crisp. during the week it is a nice evening snack.
Have a gd weekend y'all.

[Martino1]

Thank you all guys, ... So motivating 

Norma, you re explicitely included  still laughing about that Sourdough hotel.... Next they will have a school for under- and overferments !

"this high hydration dough had a hard childhood and had to go to a special school for overfermented dough balls"

[norma427]

Wanna do dough tomorrow, just don't know who will eat the Pizza  am i a Pizza addict ?

Martin,

Maybe you need to join us and others members that won’t admit it at

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,10723.0.html

Norma

[Martino1]

Yesterday's Pies
I changed the stone stone with a cookie sheet that lifts a bit up when loading the pies, especially since my top stone almost exploded in the grill at 450 C.

The rear burner helps so much to achieve a top browning on demand. In the end i hold the pie close to the ceiling to get a nijce finish.

80/20 Bobs mill Bread flour/divella 00.
0.07% IDY, 59% hydration. Really well behaving dough 

Margherita and a Flammekueche (German/French speciality) with Sour cream, onions, bacon, pepper, salt, nutmeg