# Smoked Pizza...Need Help



## shelton573 (Sep 15, 2015)

I want to try a pizza on my UDS just to see how it turns out.  My question is, should I throw it on the rack or keep it on a pizza pan?  I figured I would try to smoke it at 350 but just wondering if it will burn the crust before the rest is done.  I thought about trying a papa murphys take and bake so I don't put a lot of time into it and run the chance of screwing it up.  Any info is much appreciated!

Shelton


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## jcollins (Sep 15, 2015)

You could use a pizza stone..


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## shelton573 (Sep 15, 2015)

jcollins said:


> You could use a pizza stone..


I don't own a pizza stone but prolly should.  Is there any alternative to a stone?  Thanks!

Shelton


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## jcollins (Sep 15, 2015)

Ive also read that bread + smoke is no good (i have never done it) but what i do know is pizza benefits from temps more like 425 to 450 the hotter the better...as far as an alternative to a stone im not sure about that either, when i make pizza i just use the oven racks. If i am using a fresh dough i will use a pizza pan.


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## talan64 (Sep 15, 2015)

Bed, Bath & Beyond "usually" sells a set with stone and peel in it.  I bought one specifically for my smoker. 

You want to get the temp up to around 400-425, and put the stone in to heat it before, cooking.  Think about the brick oven pizza places out there, they cook it right on the stone surface of the oven, and most of the time even hotter.  I think once you try it, you will be hooked!

I use my stone for more than just pizza too.  I cook onions on it which come out wonderful, smokey and carmelized.


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## shelton573 (Sep 15, 2015)

jcollins said:


> Ive also read that bread + smoke is no good (i have never done it) but what i do know is pizza benefits from temps more like 425 to 450 the hotter the better...as far as an alternative to a stone im not sure about that either, when i make pizza i just use the oven racks. If i am using a fresh dough i will use a pizza pan.


I have had pizza on a charcoal grill and he threw a chunk of wood on for extra flavor but it was also on a premade crust so that might have been the difference.


Talan64 said:


> Bed, Bath & Beyond "usually" sells a set with stone and peel in it.  I bought one specifically for my smoker.
> 
> You want to get the temp up to around 400-425, and put the stone in to heat it before, cooking.  Think about the brick oven pizza places out there, they cook it right on the stone surface of the oven, and most of the time even hotter.  I think once you try it, you will be hooked!
> 
> I use my stone for more than just pizza too.  I cook onions on it which come out wonderful, smokey and carmelized.


Might have to try to find one soon.  I typically back my pizzas at 425-450 so ill have to give it a try on the UDS.  I can get that thing up to about 480 pretty easy.  Do you run any kind of smoke with yours or just the smoke from the charcoal?  If so, what type of wood do you use?  Thanks!

Shelton


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## bluewhisper (Sep 15, 2015)

Don't a lot of the Big Green Egg people bake pizzas?

For some reason, my late father absolutely HATED wood-fired pizza. I never knew why.


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## shelton573 (Sep 15, 2015)

BlueWhisper said:


> Don't a lot of the Big Green Egg people bake pizzas?
> 
> For some reason, my late father absolutely HATED wood-fired pizza. I never knew why.


A lot of the posts I see about smoked pizza use the BGE it seems.  I have never had wood fired pizza so I might hate it too lol.

Shelton


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## bigmoe615 (Sep 15, 2015)

I have a stickburner and tried this exactly earlier this summer. I found a recipe on pinterest (since I've never made homemade pizza) I'll skip all the details of making the dough since I see you were thinking of papa murphy's  (wish I woulda thought of that). I used a pizza stone I got from bed bath and beyond. I put it in the smoker cold and then started the fire so it would gradually heat up. I removed all the other racks. I got the temp up to 420 per the therm but I used the infared therm to see the temp on the stone and it said 500. It worked great pizza came out pretty good in my opinion but I would need a lot of practice to perfect it. But my overall impression was that it wasn't worth all that work. It took quite a but of wood and time to get it to the temp to cook pizza that took about 12 min to cook. Don't get me wrong not talking you out of it but that was just my opinion for my experience. Here are a couple pics of the 2 I made. (Yes i know my dough shaping needs work haha)












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## shelton573 (Sep 15, 2015)

Bigmoe615 said:


> I have a stickburner and tried this exactly earlier this summer. I found a recipe on pinterest (since I've never made homemade pizza) I'll skip all the details of making the dough since I see you were thinking of papa murphy's (wish I woulda thought of that). I used a pizza stone I got from bed bath and beyond. I put it in the smoker cold and then started the fire so it would gradually heat up. I removed all the other racks. I got the temp up to 420 per the therm but I used the infared therm to see the temp on the stone and it said 500. It worked great pizza came out pretty good in my opinion but I would need a lot of practice to perfect it. But my overall impression was that it wasn't worth all that work. It took quite a but of wood and time to get it to the temp to cook pizza that took about 12 min to cook. Don't get me wrong not talking you out of it but that was just my opinion for my experience. Here are a couple pics of the 2 I made. (Yes i know my dough shaping needs work haha)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That is a dang good looking pizza!  There isn't anything with a odd shaped pizza, you can tell it is homemade that way lol.  I guess I never really thought about how time consuming it is vs putting it in the oven.  I think I will for sure do it with a premade pizza first to see if it is worth all the effort.  Thanks for the info!

Shelton


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## bigmoe615 (Sep 15, 2015)

Thanks! Have you tried to get your temps up to 400 and above in your smoker? For my smoker it took me about an hr to get temps up and have it stay there long enough to make sure all that metal plus the pizza stone were hot enough (knowing I would lose a little bit when I opened the door to put the pizza in). As far as the smoke taste...there wasn't a whole lot of it. Only clear heat waves coming out of the stack no visible smoke at all while it was at that temp. After I realized how quick it went I scrounged up something else to put on there when temp started dropping so I didn't feel like I wasted all that wood and time. So overall I would say yes it's definitely possible but may not be worth the effort unless u have the right grill/smoker like BGE  or pellet smoker. Another idea could be to smoke whatever ingredients u plan to put on the pizza (cheese, sausage, chicken, etc) instead of smoking the whole thing?


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## shelton573 (Sep 15, 2015)

Bigmoe615 said:


> Thanks! Have you tried to get your temps up to 400 and above in your smoker? For my smoker it took me about an hr to get temps up and have it stay there long enough to make sure all that metal plus the pizza stone were hot enough (knowing I would lose a little bit when I opened the door to put the pizza in). As far as the smoke taste...there wasn't a whole lot of it. Only clear heat waves coming out of the stack no visible smoke at all while it was at that temp. After I realized how quick it went I scrounged up something else to put on there when temp started dropping so I didn't feel like I wasted all that wood and time. So overall I would say yes it's definitely possible but may not be worth the effort unless u have the right grill/smoker like BGE or pellet smoker. Another idea could be to smoke whatever ingredients u plan to put on the pizza (cheese, sausage, chicken, etc) instead of smoking the whole thing?


When I first built my UDS I accidently got it up in the low 500s because I really didn't fully know how to light it.  That is ok though because I needed to season it and I got it to hold steady at about 480 for over an hour so she will get there haha.  I think I will give it a go as a whole pizza.  I got nothing but time  in the evening hah.

Shelton


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## bigmoe615 (Sep 15, 2015)

In that case go for it! Let us know how it turns out!


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## dirtsailor2003 (Sep 15, 2015)

You certainly can make pizza in your uds. A couple things.

1. get your UDS as hot as you can.

2. remove the water pan if you use one and the diffuser if you use that.

3. if you use a pizza stone, use a ceramic one and heat it as you heat up the smoker. You can also use just the grate, or a metal pizza pan too.

4. fewer toppings is best for wood fired and getting the crust and toppings done at the same time.

I have used my uds many times to make pizza and it turns out great. Currently we use the Mini-ZA. As soon as I can get my wife on board I will build a dedicated wood fired pizza oven.

Check out these threads:

Mini-ZA Door Fab

Mini-ZA Build

Mini-ZA


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## shelton573 (Sep 15, 2015)

dirtsailor2003 said:


> You certainly can make pizza in your uds. A couple things.
> 
> 1. get your UDS as hot as you can.
> 2. remove the water pan if you use one and the diffuser if you use that.
> ...



Thanks for the info DS!  If I put it right in the rack will in not burn the crust with that much direct heat?

Shelton


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## mr t 59874 (Sep 15, 2015)

If you are going to bake a Papa Murphy's pizza, why not use the baking tray it comes with?


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## dirtsailor2003 (Sep 15, 2015)

shelton573 said:


> Thanks for the info DS!  If I put it right in the rack will in not burn the crust with that much direct heat?
> 
> Shelton



Depends upon the temp of the smoker and how close you are to the fire. If your rack is up at the top, and your charcoal is down at the bottom there won't be an issue. With that said I have done pizza right over the coals camping!


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## tucson bbq fan (Sep 16, 2015)

I have done lots of pizza's on my Memphis pellet smoker.  Smoke and dough are a great combination, think of the best pizza ovens that are those large, bee-hive shaped brick or stone ovens that are wood fired.

But:  Pizzas like to be cooked at very high temps.  650-1200 are used in professional shops.  That is what gives you those incredible bubbles in the crust, and they cook in a few minutes.

Store bought, frozen pies are done at lower temps because that is the best most ovens can do.  Papa Murphy's also cooks at lower temps - again due to typical household oven limitations.

You can get a nice pizza at those lower temps, but you can never get the professional ship crust.

pizza stones are a great asset - let them heat up in your grill/smoker and they give your pizza a very even heated surface.  You can get them at Lowes, Home Depot, and almost any BBQ or home cooking gadget store.  The store-bought pies (and Papa Murphy's) tell you for a crisper crust to put the pie on the rack with no pan.  That is because the temps are low.  For high temp - use a stone or you can also get some ceramic bricks and make any size surface with them.  Same basic idea.

I crank my Memphis to 650-700 and do wood fired pizzas on two stones set on the grills.  They are cooked in 4-5 minutes and are wonderful!


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## boboso (Sep 16, 2015)

Inexpensive alternative to pizza stones are availiable at big box hardware stores. Ask for unglazed quarry stone, ( if I remember correctly ) and they can be cut to size instore.


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## noboundaries (Sep 17, 2015)

Okay, you guys have inspired me.  I received a Weber Pizza Oven accessory last Christmas and have yet to use it even though I have to move it every time I use the grill.  The pizza stone I have works great in the kitchen oven at 550F but I've been hesitant to use it in the Weber due to cracking issues I've read for this particular stone when used on a grill.  BUT, I could use my paella pans and cornmeal. Pizza it is this weekend!  Time to start the biga for the dough tomorrow morning.   

I'm definitely going to check out the unglazed quarry stone recommendation.


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## shelton573 (Sep 17, 2015)

Thanks for all the info folks!  I attempted the smoked pizza...notice I said attempted. I fired up the smoker and for some reason it smelled god awful and was rolling nasty white smoke with no wood added yet. It has never done this before so I'm not sure when exactly happened. I used it on Labor Day weekend with great results so maybe I'll throw the charcoal away and start fresh. Anyway, I did not make it to Papa Murphy's but the grocery store here in town sells pretty good pre-mades and I had already bought it so is had to cook it some how. The big gas grill got the nod on this one. I ran three burners on low and got it to 425. I threw down some foil with holes poked it in and tossed it on the grill. Nothing special but thought I would share my attempted/smoked fail. Pizza turned out great on the grill though!  Maybe next time with the smoker. 

Shelton


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## shelton573 (Sep 17, 2015)

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Just a few pics of the grilled pizza. Like I said, nothing special but turned out good!

Shelton


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## bluewhisper (Sep 17, 2015)

Here in town we have a small chain of bake-it-yourself shops, and they're good. They're not afraid of the garlic. One nice thing is, you can order a simple one and then add something like your own hot peppers. You just have to be careful about piling too much on, then it doesn't bake well.

Their instructions call for 450F but I've had better results at 425F.

As mentioned above, it doesn't make much sense to light a fire and cook something for 10 or 15 minutes - but it would make more sense for some kind of event with a series of pizzas to be cooked.


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## shelton573 (Sep 17, 2015)

BlueWhisper said:


> Here in town we have a small chain of bake-it-yourself shops, and they're good. They're not afraid of the garlic. One nice thing is, you can order a simple one and then add something like your own hot peppers. You just have to be careful about piling too much on, then it doesn't bake well.
> 
> Their instructions call for 450F but I've had better results at 425F.
> 
> As mentioned above, it doesn't make much sense to light a fire and cook something for 10 or 15 minutes - but it would make more sense for some kind of event with a series of pizzas to be cooked.



Agreed, I just get bored some times with doing the same ol stuff. 

Shelton


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## tucson bbq fan (Sep 17, 2015)

shelton573 said:


> Agreed, I just get bored some times with doing the same ol stuff.
> 
> Shelton


It is a bunch of time and work for a short cooking time.  What I do is hold a pizza party and invite family and/or friends.  I make up some dough ahead of time, gather lots of different ingredients and make a sauce and shredded cheese mix and then get my smoker heated up.  Then everyone makes 10-12 inch pizzas of their own creation and we cook them 2 at a time in the smoker and then everyone shares.

Lots of fun - we have ended up making 8-10 pies and then throw the rest into a couple of calzones.

Every time now that my son and his wife come to visit - they ask for a pizza night.


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## tucson bbq fan (Sep 17, 2015)

shelton573 said:


> Thanks for all the info folks! I attempted the smoked pizza...notice I said attempted. I fired up the smoker and for some reason it smelled god awful and was rolling nasty white smoke with no wood added yet. It has never done this before so I'm not sure when exactly happened. I used it on Labor Day weekend with great results so maybe I'll throw the charcoal away and start fresh. Anyway, I did not make it to Papa Murphy's but the grocery store here in town sells pretty good pre-mades and I had already bought it so is had to cook it some how. The big gas grill got the nod on this one. I ran three burners on low and got it to 425. I threw down some foil with holes poked it in and tossed it on the grill. Nothing special but thought I would share my attempted/smoked fail. Pizza turned out great on the grill though! Maybe next time with the smoker.
> 
> Shelton


the first time I cranked my smoker up to high temp for pizza, something similar happened.  Turned out, I had built up some residue from many smokes at low temp on the walls, and it had to burn off at high temp before it was good for pizza.  Now, before a pizza night, I fire it up to high heat to clean it out and get ready.


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## shelton573 (Sep 17, 2015)

Tucson BBQ Fan said:


> the first time I cranked my smoker up to high temp for pizza, something similar happened.  Turned out, I had built up some residue from many smokes at low temp on the walls, and it had to burn off at high temp before it was good for pizza.  Now, before a pizza night, I fire it up to high heat to clean it out and get ready.


I would have to say you are prolly correct!  It has been a while since I have burned it that hot so I might need to let it run like that for a while this weekend to burn all the crap off.  Thanks for the input!

Shelton


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