I third the semolina flour. Made such a difference getting the moist dough off the wooden peel (use the wooden one to make the pizza and put it on the stone, the metal one to turn and extract when done).
Storms rolled through around 3 pm, wasn't sure I was going to be able to cook pizza tonight. Seems every time I think I'm going to cook on the grill, it rains. Had three full sized doughs. One with some sourdough discard and high gluten flour, the other two with Sir Galahad flour (commercial all purpose). Fermented in the fridge a day. The two Galahad flour doughs were actually made on Friday and frozen, then thawed for a day in the fridge.
Lots of pictures, I know, but I learned a few things today cooking on the KettlePizza. What NM Mike said about the second pizza is very true, that stone gets a bit too hot by then and when above about 600*F will burn pretty quickly on the bottom.
My setup is a cordierite stone on the bottom, a steel on the top rack to concentrate heat on the toppings, works pretty well.
First pizza was a sourdough crust for my neighbor Jay. We try to outdo each other with thoughtful stuff, he hasn't got a pizza oven yet, so I've got him there. Stone was only running about 500*F in the middle. The high gluten flour made for an easy cook, turned a 1/4 turn every 2 minutes. Four turns and 8 minutes later and their dinner was done. Delivered in a pizza box, of course (always a nice touch). Do notice the burning on one quarter of the side crust. I had the back "rack" filled with pecan wood and it was just starting to really burn, need to make the first turn a bit quicker.
Second pizza was for my wife and daughter. She was taking an online class at the time for her nursing clinicals, so I delivered a couple of pieces so she could concentrate on her class. Like Mike said, turn it like mad (turned every minute) and watch that crust. It did singe a bit, still edible, but the stone was running at 625*F by then. A bit hot as I'm learning.
Last two pizzas were a split crust. Number three was to potentially replace #2 that I had singed. Wasn't necessary because they both ate #2 (one piece left). Number 4 was mine, had a bit too much cheese and most of the jar of anchovies I had on it went deep. Bottoms were perfect, crust was unbelievable. Stone was running at about 575 on #3, 550 on #4. Two minute quarter turns, went around twice (ie. much longer cook). #1, #3 and #4 were definitely the best. All were very good except #1, can't comment on that one but my neighbor texted me that it was "top notch".
What I learned. Don't try and cook a pizza when that stone is above 600*F. Crust gets done way too fast and you have to raise the pizza at the end on the peel to get the toppings anywhere near done. After the second pizza I took a beer break and waited about 20 minutes to put on #3 and #4. It was worth the wait. Takes a bit longer to cook, but the crust was perfectly crispy on the bottom and chewy in the middle.
High gluten flour crusts can stand the heat much better than using all purpose flour. I'm not sure what chemistry is going on, but the all purpose crusts must have more sugar in them (I never add sugar when making my dough). Sugar plus heat equals browning/burning. Are more alcohols (higher sugars) being produced during the fermentation of the dough? Is the higher gluten (proteins) blocking sugar formation with heat? I know from beer making that starch is converted at certain temperatures by enzymes that are in the barley husks. That's how we get a fermentable liquid when we mash and sparge the barley malt. Does something like that happen with the flour and steam produced while cooking it?
Too much thinking for this simple mind, I need another beer...
