Pizza on Kamado

I tried lots of ways to do pizza in a kamado and gave up the high heat method. Getting the top and bottom even is the key (and the trick).

I found using the metal pizza trays with the holes in them the best. Pit temp no more that 250c., bake for about 15 minutes on top of a pizza stone which sat on the grill. The deflector was underneath. Once cooked, you can give it a couple of minutes directly on the stone to crisp the bottom.

No longer persevere with pizza on a Kamodo. They just don't get hot enough.

Do u have the akorn?

I put the deflector in and have the pizza stone on the expansion rack.(I'm sure on the grate would be fine) I get the akorn to around 350c as u have mentioned, both vents open all the way u till around that temp then maybe set half to 3/4. 5 to 10 min to cook, I set my alarm for 5 min and check from there as I'm usually having a beer and can get slack.

I had a thread recently about pizza bases that gave some great tips. I found using semolina flour and working the base free from the chopping board worked best for me, I'm able to transfer easily to the stone without the paper. Pizza bases

Quote from ferni

Yes I have the Akorn CozI'mHausen

Thank you for the tips. I think i'll try it with the deflector in place and use the top extender shelf with the pizza stone on there as you said.

Interesting that you say once it gets to 350c you close up some of the vents but yet Card Shark said he gave up because they don't get hot enough... What's your reason for closing the vent up a bit?

Maybe no need to close it I just did when it got close to temp as I was worried it would keep shooting up. May not make any difference it's just what I did first time so I keep doing it.

I think around 350c is a good spot.

The method described by @CozI'mHausen works for me on the Akorn. Get it up high in the dome and temps around 320-350 and thee top and base will cook together.

Learn to stretch pizza via one of the many methods. For a backyard cook it really doesn’t matter which method. I personally think as long as not rolled with a pin.

Use a proper peel and learn to launch. Use semolina on the peel to prevent sticking. it’s tricky to start.

You’ll probably have to spin the pizza mid way through. A pizza paddle (metal) is great for this.

Lots of people say don’t bother cooking pizza in a Kamado, but it sure beats the electric oven. if you don’t have a dedicated pizza oven I reckon it’s well worthwhile.

Like i said earlier, 250c and bake them rather than high heat in a kamado.

Previously 550F was the number I cooked with in a large BGE. 6 - 8 minutes per pie depending on the wetness of dough. Now, 60 - 80 seconds @900 - 950F in the Valoriani Baby 60.

Valoriani Pizza Oven

I found that trying to get both top and bottom even was a problem with high heat. Pizza really requires heat from above with the dough on a hot stone like a pizza oven does, so trying it on a kamado is all about finding a work around.

I tried baking paper, cooking on a stone direct, high heat, plain trays and just about every other method and like you, I found one or two came out OK but they tended to burn after a while. That's why the lower heat method works better and the trays with the holes in them also helped a lot. Urban Griller cooks his on a kamado at a lower temp too, about 220 I think.

You just need to play around with it and try different methods.

If I didn't have the Maximus pizza oven, I'd probably be looking at the smaller pizza ovens like that cheap one from Bunnings the guys are talking about in here. The difference in the pizzas using a dedicated pizza oven is amazing. The Maximus does them in about 2-3 minutes and only takes about 30 minutes to get going from a cold start.

Quote from ferni

So mixed results. First couple came out ok, very quick 2min in, take baking paper out, then 2 or so more minutes and it was good.

The second 2 burnt on the bottom in about the same time

I couldn't put it on the extender rack because my pizza stone was too big to fit there and let the lid close.

Not sure why the second 2 burnt on the bottom. The last one i even had the temp a bit lower, sub 300.

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How long had you preheated the stone? It may have still been getting hotter even as you downed the temp of the oven.

Mine were taking around 7 or 8 minutes and If I left them on too long they'd burn on top of the crust where the dough was right on the edge of the stone but the bases were sweet....

What you have found is that doing them at 250 is better than high heat so just do the same in the kamado.