I purchased two take and bake pizzas from Gularte's Pizza & Deli in Diamond Springs, Calif., last night. My usual practice is to call home and ask my son to preheat the home oven to 450 degrees. He set the oven as directed. When I arrived home 15 minutes later, I learned the oven wasn't working.
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| To bake the pizzas -- 16-inch large and 12-inch medium -- I inverted a 14-inch regular camp Dutch oven and set it on a lid rack. After lighting a chimney of lump charcoal, I piled burning coals on the top (normally the bottom) of the oven. A number of coals were stuffed under the oven as well. To lift the oven off of the lid, I wore heavy welder's gloves. |
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| The 16-inch pizza had to be trimmed to fit inside the Dutch oven. I folded the dough over into a braid, trimmed the cardboard tray and set the pizza in the inverted lid. I set the on the lid and loaded it with coals. Since mesquite lump charcoal (I use Lazzari brand) burns very hot, I was confident I had sufficient heat to bake both pizzas. Each pizza took around 25 minutes to bake. |
When I do the invert thing, I put a wok ring on it to help hold the charcoals in place. This is a great method for things that need a flat surface, like cookies and pizza. Good fast thinking. Loved see it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ron. The wok ring idea is a good one. I find with lump charcoal you have less of a mess from ash.
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