ChopDoes anyone do homemade pizza regularly? And if so, do you use a pizza stone or a pizza steel?
My new smoker can get well over 600°, so I’ve read they can make great outdoor pizza ovens. I’ve never done it so any guidance is appreciated.
Thanks!
aburtch@chopaganda I make homemade pizza every Friday. I recommend a stone over steel, it gives the crust a better texture and holds heat better.
You definitely need a pizza paddle (dusted very well with flour) to make the pizza on and then slide it off onto the stone. The hardest part is making the pizza on the paddle and then still getting the dough to slide right off.
I do mine in a 500* oven, but smoker pizzas are awesome. Get that bad boy HOT and they don't take very long to cook.
@chopaganda Lastly, I used to make the dough from scratch, but it takes much longer. Once I discovered my local grocery store sells pre-made dough balls, I switched to those. You buy them frozen, let them thaw out and rise and then shape the dough and make your pizza. Still has the homemade look and flavor because you cooked it on stone, but saves you the steps of making the dough from scratch.
@aburtch ever use cornmeal instead of flour?
@chopaganda Yes, I've used both. Cornmeal is much coarser, so you need a lot of it to get full coverage. Then you often end up with people eating slices that have a bunch of burnt cornmeal on the bottom. I've had better results with flour, but I know most people use cornmeal.
lostmyshape@aburtch @chopaganda also, never cornmeal unless you like a crunchy crust. If you're doing everything right, semolina (or even AP) with a good peel and practice works every time.
@lostmyshape @chopaganda Totally agree with this part.
@chopaganda @aburtch I prefer steel over stone in traditional oven @ 500-550. Was getting really uneven browning/burning with a stone. Steel has been nearly perfect and doesn't seem to lose as much thermal energy in between pies if doing multiple pizzas. My grocery store dough is crap, so homemade 1000%, especially if round with good rise crust is important to you (NY style is the best).
@lostmyshape @chopaganda Homemade is best, luckily my grocery store doughballs work just fine.
@aburtch @chopaganda yeah I don't know what my grocery store is doing but the dough feels like Play-Doh, is impossible to stretch and bakes like crackers. Smells funny too...
Mike Says No@chopaganda I have a friend who does and he swears by the stone. Gets great results so I certainly can’t argue with him. 
Ash@chopaganda I own a Woodfired Pizza truck, and I make pizzas at home. Go with the stone.
@chopaganda It is in Portland and we are a licensed business. We just do private events/ catering. We do have one pubic event on June 13th in Oak Grove at Awakenings. Serving 5pm till we sell out. If you want to come by Ill give you a pie on the house 😎
HacerElGanso@chopaganda I use the KettlePizza kit (Amazon) on my Weber grill. Get some good wood (it eats it like crazy) and definitely a stone. Awesome results.