Clayton_Haapala

My initial attempt at making pizza on my Pit Boss kamado was outstanding. Later attempts have had problems. I purchased the rectangular Baking Steel and BTS'd my next few crusts. This time, I had the steel over 3/4" spacers on my heat deflector on top of the grills, rather than fire->deflector-spacers-steel. Better luck tonight! I made three dough balls from the 24-48 Hour recipe. I found these really easy to work with, but as my wife points out, "the book makes more sense the third time you try it". They rolled out into great shells. I brought the grill up to ~450 on the dome thermometer and kept it there until the steel approached that temp. I know Ken's book says 550F, but the PB dome is hard to get that hot. I parbaked the first shell and that turned out fine, then wife made a crust for Ken's "Artichoke and Bacon" za. Delicious! We ate half of that one. Should have turned it on the grill part-way through for more even browning. Then I formed the last ball to make the Margherita with Arugula and sopressata recipe. Pics follow. Folded it over on the arugula to wilt it. Way yummy. The steel was probably a bit more uniformly hotter at this point, and the crust bottom looks pretty good.

Making up a name for my mother falls into the trap of "If you tell the truth, you don't have to have a perfect memory". And, you shouldn't use the same fake names on multiple sites.

I do 2FA where I can. I'm also using Android Pay where I can. It's faster than a chip card, and uses a pseudo account, so your real card details are not out there in retail-space. A security practice that bugs me is the "mother's maiden name" security questions. Sites should migrate away from those. Much of that data is 1) on the web, and 2) too easy to use on multiple sites.

That stretch'n'slap technique was awesome. Need to see it in slow motion!

Inspired by other contributors, I, too, picked up Ken Forkish's The Elements of Pizza, and just made my first two pies last night. I made the Pepperoni, Mushroom & Onion on a parbaked crust, and a Margherita pizza with arugula. Both turned out great, and my wife is also quiet pleased with the results. I used the Saturday Night Pizza dough recipe, even though it was Sunday. 8:10 am, mix dough. I used Gold Medal all-purpose with an extra Tablespoon of vital gluten. It took me a few minutes to make sure I was doing it right, and it came together fine. 8:25 am, let rest 20 minutes per instructions 8:45 am, remove dough from tub and do the fold/knead operation for a couple of minutes. Dough is looking good and feeling smooth. Cover and let sit for bulk fermentation. Go to church and pray for delicious Za. 11:30 am, remove dough from tub, separate into three pieces and make the dough balls Put the balls on a plate and cover with wrap -- the day is mine 5:00pm light the PB 24, install the deflector after it gets going well and the temp is climbing Lay down three 3/4" copper elbows as spacers, lay round stone on it. It's stable! Yay! 5:30 pm, cursing my Maverick 735 for being 100 degrees hotter than three other thermometers. Grrr, even with a new probe. Dome is climbing over 450, an oven thermometer on the stone is saying ~395, and my Maverick Bluetooth remote is saying ~475 Patience .. OK, go make a pizza (see dough ball pic) Did the 3-minute parbake, then fully dressed that shell with pepperoni, etc. Cooked for another 6 min, looking good Removed and admired. Tastes great! (see pic -- crust could have taken a bit more, but it was tasty with great texture) Made up the Margherita pizza, no parbake, and cooked that for ~ six minutes.Rookie mistake: lifting up the crust too high with fresh moz cheese a bit runny. Removed and admired Covered with arugula, creased with pizza slicer, then folded over in half to wilt the arugula. Awesome. Parbaked the remaining shell for later. Hope you enjoyed the time line.

I've found that my Pit Boss (kamado cooking, in general) cooks moister than my Weber kettle or Genesis, so I tend to spray/mop less. Sent from my Venue 8 3830 using Tapatalk

You probably won't have leak issues. I don't, and I have last year's model. You have the improved draft,too. Sent from my Venue 8 3830 using Tapatalk

And, store it with vents open, even in the short term, to prevent mold from forming inside. Sent from my Venue 8 3830 using Tapatalk

My wife and I got the bowl into the nest by using straps like furniture movers do. It worked, no chiropractor needed after. The beast remains on the ground-level, though. Sent from my Venue 8 3830 using Tapatalk

In my year of owning my PB 24, I have never made a hot-side/cool-side fire layout. Makes sense - I should try it anyway. [emoji16] Sent from my Venue 8 3830 using Tapatalk

Doesn't Ken say you can freeze them? I know he does mention rolling out and parbaking dough "shells" for freezing. I may be making my first KF pies tomorrow! I'll be checking back with you. Sent from my Venue 8 3830 using Tapatalk

Menards has the RO lump, as well. Sent from my Venue 8 3830 using Tapatalk

I'm picking up a Saris 2-bike hitch tray-style mount this week. I can use it right away on my Trailblazer. Will probably add a small hitch to my Legacy sedan in the future. Sent from my Venue 8 3830 using Tapatalk

I've got that book, now, and can't wait to try some recipes. Your Za looks great! Sent from my Venue 8 3830 using Tapatalk

Yeah, All cars/trucks have 4W brakes! Sent from my Venue 8 3830 using Tapatalk