what did I do wrong?

[robmiller2001]

Hi

I used this Peter Reinhart dough recipe:

4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached high-gluten, bread, or all-purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 (.44 ounce) teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
1/4 cup (2 ounces) olive oil (optional)
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) water, ice cold (40°F)
Semolina flour OR cornmeal for dusting

 I used his recipe with the olive oil. I tried this on my grill using a pizza stone and made a cover to try and simulate a 2 stone pizza grill (I used a tin roasting pan to cover the stone with the front cut out to raise the temps). I think my temps were way to high. When I opened the grill my pizza stone cracked into 3 pieces when the air hit it? I pushed the 3 pieces back together and put my pizza on. My pie had very thin amount of sauce, cheese, and pepperoni the dough was fairly thin. It cooked in about 1 min 30 secs the top looked perfect a little charring and the cheese was caramelized. But the bottom was burnt completely? From what I read most people could not get the high temps needed on their grill but mine seems to be way to high or should I try a different dough recipe? Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated I would like to try again this weekend.

Thanks
Rob

[Matthew]

Hi

I used this Peter Reinhart dough recipe:

4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached high-gluten, bread, or all-purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 (.44 ounce) teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
1/4 cup (2 ounces) olive oil (optional)
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) water, ice cold (40°F)
Semolina flour OR cornmeal for dusting

 I used his recipe with the olive oil. I tried this on my grill using a pizza stone and made a cover to try and simulate a 2 stone pizza grill (I used a tin roasting pan to cover the stone with the front cut out to raise the temps). I think my temps were way to high. When I opened the grill my pizza stone cracked into 3 pieces when the air hit it? I pushed the 3 pieces back together and put my pizza on. My pie had very thin amount of sauce, cheese, and pepperoni the dough was fairly thin. It cooked in about 1 min 30 secs the top looked perfect a little charring and the cheese was caramelized. But the bottom was burnt completely? From what I read most people could not get the high temps needed on their grill but mine seems to be way to high or should I try a different dough recipe? Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated I would like to try again this weekend.

Thanks
Rob

Rob,
I don't think that the roasting pan had anything to do with the heat.  I don't have a 2stone, but I'm pretty positive that the 2stone pizza grill has a stone on the underside of the cover.  Your pizza stone cracked because of the intense heat from your grill;  they are not meant to go on a direct flame.  I'm not sure what quality of stone you were using but even a high end stone would not be able to resist the heat of an open flame.  Fibrament sells a stone intended for grill using & it comes with a plate underneath to shield the heat.  You also might want to invest in an infrared thermometer to measure the stone temperature before putting the pizza on & definitely eliminate the oil from the dough formulation.  Unless you can make something similar to the 2stone you will find the bottom of your pizza will burn before the bottom cooks properly.  One member uses a 2 stage method to cook his pizza & has achieved good results in doing so.  If you are going to continue this method then the following post may be of interest to you. 
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,8745.0.html

Good Luck,
Matt

[robmiller2001]

Hi

   Thanks for the tips Matt I will give them a try. You suggested that I get a IR Thermometer I have been looking for one that has the right temperature range. What stone temp would be the best for use with this dough recipe (Without the oil)? I still have 2 dough balls that have the oil in them I think I am going to try using them with a pizza stone under the broiler in the oven as I have seen people on this site doing but I would still like to get the grill setup working it looks like some awesome pizza!

Thanks Again!
Rob

[Matthew]

Hi

   Thanks for the tips Matt I will give them a try. You suggested that I get a IR Thermometer I have been looking for one that has the right temperature range. What stone temp would be the best for use with this dough recipe (Without the oil)? I still have 2 dough balls that have the oil in them I think I am going to try using them with a pizza stone under the broiler in the oven as I have seen people on this site doing but I would still like to get the grill setup working it looks like some awesome pizza!

Thanks Again!
Rob

On the grill, I would say you'de be okay at the 700 degree mark, just keep an eye on it.  Then you can finish under the broiler.  I got tired of messing around with my stove, broiler, grill, etc so I had a wood burning oven built.

Good luck & have fun.

Matt

[robmiller2001]

Wow that was a quick response! Thanks again Matt. This weekend I am going to give it another try on the grill and finish it under the broiler and I will post my results.


Thanks
Rob