Pizza and the Grill

Saturday for dinner my sister Mary decided she wanted to try something new. After exploring her computer, she decided that we should make homemade pizza and cook it on the grill. Now I don’t know if any of you have tried this adventure before, but it is not as easy as it sounds. My sister researched many sites and of course many of them are conflicting as to how this process is handled. One thing all agreed on is you need a very high temperature. I have tried doing homemade pizza myself but in my oven and making my own homemade dough. I used the Caputo 00 flour and bought a good old fashion pizza peel, I had my trusty pizza stone that was nicely seasoned. I had all the confidence in the world, I was going to make pizza.

My first attempt I made the dough exactly as directed it was light and airy, and a bitch to try and make a round pizza. Oh yeah I can picture myself trying to spin this dough like a pro, not. I ended up forming my circle with my hands. I also made sure to bring the temperature up slowly on my stone. I got my oven to the 500 degrees that was recommended. I then added my sauce to the dough and then the cheese. Well first problem, I made the pizza on my granite countertop never thinking about how I was gonna transfer the dough to the peel. Lets just say by time I got it on the peel it was no longer round and my pizza looked like a big ole gloppy mess. Next sliding the dough off the peel, well that didn’t go so well either. By the time I got the dough on the stone the sauce had soaked the dough and as soon as it hit the stone, the stone busted in two. Now I was left with this oozing dough and sauce all over my oven. First pizza a total failure. Did I give up, hell no after all I was determined I could master this.

Second attempt at homemade pizza. I bought myself a nice stone that fit my whole oven and was guaranteed to withstand the 500 degree oven. This time I make the same dough and of course it was no easier to work with then the first time. Again I had to form my circle with my hands but this time I floured the peel and did it on top the peel. Once again as I try to slide my pizza off the peel I end up with a pizza that looks nothing at all like a pizza. I finally get it on the stone and by time it is cooked it looks like something from a horror movie. Second attempt a total failure. Did I stop there, no because now I am pissed off and more determined then ever.

Third attempt at making homemade pizza. Ok now I know my dough is gonna be the thing I need to work on so this time I make it so it is not so loose and airy. This time I am able to spin my dough like you see in a pizzeria, at least in my dream it looked good. I was actually able to spin the dough a little but by no means like I pictured it in my head. This time though, I decided not to add the sauce till I cooked the dough enough to hold the sauce without making a soupy mess. I cook the dough just enough, maybe three minutes, I take the peel and pull out my first round dough and I add the sauce ever so carefully. Then comes the cheese and back in the oven it goes and I mean it did, the dough stuck to the peel so the sauce and cheese hit the stone first followed by the dough that is no longer round and of course by this time I had some very choice words for my pizza. Third attempt at homemade pizza another flop. Did I give up, hell yes after all I am not that crazy. Now when I make pizza I make it sicilian style out of homemade focaccia bread and all my friends rave about how good it is.

Now back to the pizza and the grill. My sister and I go to the store and buy, yes I said buy pizza dough made fresh by the store. We get the sauce and all the different toppings that each person requires. We get all this stuff home and are ready to tackle the task of making pizza on the grill. Now you know my luck by now so once we get home it starts pouring rain. After having everyone’s mouth watering for grilled pizza we think we will have to put it off for a day. No way, the family is not buying this at all, they want to grill pizza and no rain is going to stop them. See I am not the only stubborn crazy person in my family. Well good news the rain does stop so we get the dough out and we let the kids do the first set of pizza’s on the grill. They work at trying to get round personal pan size pizza’s. Ok so they are not quite round and beautiful but the kids made them themselves so hey. Next daddy puts them on the grill to cook, so far, so good. The pizza’s swell up like little balloons because they could not get the dough quite thin enough. When the pizza’s came out the bottoms were a little on the black side. The kids ate a little bit and did not complain but you could tell they were not overly thrilled either. Next comes the adult attempts at making a pizza. I know I try to get my dough as thin as possible but I don’t think we let the dough get to room temperature enough so I settle for having it semi thin. I then add the sauce and cheese and I chose peppers, onions and mushrooms for my topping. My niece chose to do a cheesesteak pizza, my sister and her husband chose a margarita pizza. Now we go to put my pizza on the stone in the 600+ degree grill. Ughhhhh I had mine made on a plate but guess who forgot to flour the plate? By time we get my pizza on the stone it brings back the nightmares of my attempts at home. My nieces was not as bad to get on as she did flour a cutting board so hers slides nicely onto the stone. Now both our pizza’s are cooking and both have swollen up like little balloons. By the time they are done the bottoms are pretty well blackened but aside from that they tasted ok. Now my sister and her husband made a full size pizza on parchment paper and they put it on the stone but the parchment paper caught on fire, we worked fast to get it off the paper and finally their pizza was cooking. The stone that was next to their stone broke in two, so much for there nicely seasoned pizza stone. My sisters pizza also came out with a blackened bottom but they still ate it as it was not all that bad. Now my sister is the one who is determined to master the art of grilled pizza and has told me she plans on doing so by the end of summer. I myself wish her all the luck in the world, as for me I plan on buying mine from the pizzeria if I want a thin crust pizza, otherwise I will stick to my one that I do best.

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