I just bought a Big Green Egg, and I'm looking forward to using it for all kinds of cooking: smoking, high heat sears and - most of all- pizza.
I've read various pizza posts on the egghead forums, but many people there seem fairly inexperienced with actually making pizzas. Many folks resort to buying dough from pizza parlors or Boboli because they're afraid to make their own. I'm looking for slightly better advice than that.
I plan to cook at high temperatures, so I assume I'll want a fairly high-hydration dough. I'll probably start with Kenji's Skillet-Broiler Neopolitan dough recipe and make adjustments from there. The biggest potential problem I see with pizza on the BGE is that the stone will get hotter than the surrounding air. I've got a Plate Setter and a thick stone, are there other precautions that you take?
On a few Good Eats episodes, AB cautions the audience about the adobo sauce in which chipotle peppers are packaged: wear gloves (it could burn your skin); don't eat it. BE CAREFUL!
...am I the only person who thinks adobo makes a good dipping sauce? There is only one brand of chipotle peppers available in my grocery store, so I suppose it's possible that this brand is very weak.
What level of caution do you use when you handle the deadly adobo?
This is a bit late, but I forgot to post it last week. I've found that as I improve as a cook, I become increasingly frustrated with the way my parents cook things at their house.
It really struck me this year at Thanksgiving, as I watched them put the turkey into one of those Reynolds baking bags to...steam (?) it in the oven.
They wouldn't listen to my explanation that the bad doesn't actually hold moisture in the meat, since meat moisture correlates only to temperature. (They took the turkey out of the oven at 180 degrees...)
While the turkey was cooking, I watched my dad boil green beans for nearly 30 minutes.
Not to dump on my parents too much, since some of the food was really good. I always try to influence the cooking in a better direction by giving them good cookware as gifts, by cooking some dishes myself for holidays and by feeding them tips throughout the year. It is, however, a slow process.
Does anyone else have similar experience?
Food Network's website has reached new heights of usefulness. They've posted Rachel Ray's instructions for microwaving bacon. Don't forget the paper towels!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/late-night-bacon-recipe/index.html
I saw this ceramic grill at Lowe's the other day:
http://thebayou.com/Pages/Cypress%20Series.html
and I've also seen that a company called Big Green Egg sells something similar. Does anyone own one of these? They claim to be able to reach temperatures north of 750 degrees; to me, that screams "portable pizza oven!"
However, there's no way that I want to drop $700+ on something that isn't transcendently awesome.
Thanks
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@Lance:
Like I said: I tip 20% at restaurants, but I haven't ordered delivery in about 10 years. It's not a matter of me being cheap.
I don't understand the heavy complaining about individual sub-par tips. If drivers are getting consistently ripped off by driving, they should ask instead to work as a pizza cook. If they make out better by being drivers, then they shouldn't complain.