The Big Green Egg brings the versatility of a kitchen to your backyard. Whether you’re planning a delicious meal for two or cooking for the entire family, what’s better than freshly baked pizza? It’s creative and easy, and all you need is a Big Green Egg and your favorite ingredients. The Buxton Complex in Ewing, NJ, offers Big Green Eggs in a variety of sizes, as well as accessories. Here, we’ll explain how to bake the perfect pizza on this innovative backyard appliance.
Prepare Your Big Green Egg
The secret to creating a perfectly baked pizza lies in your recipe and your cooking appliance. The Big Green Egg works just as well as wood-fired ovens (if not better) because the heat from the natural charcoal radiates within the walls of the domed egg. This helps your pizza to cook thoroughly and evenly. Indirect heat – or convection heat – allows it to cook without being directly exposed to the flames, preventing singed edges and burnt crust.
Big Green Egg is compatible with a wide variety of EGGcessories specially designed for pizza, including:
- ConvEGGtor: Placed underneath the food, it acts as a heat shield that deflects high temperatures and safeguards your meal.
- Pizza and baking stone: A staple for any Big Green Egg owner, the baking stone works well for pizza, calzones, bread, and other culinary creations.
- Deep dish pizza and baking stone: This accessory not only lets you prepare your signature deep dish pizza but also lasagna, cinnamon rolls, quiche, and other dishes.
- Aluminum pizza peel: When you’re ready to serve, the pizza peel with a soft-grip handle makes it easy to plate your pie.
- Ultimate pizza wheel: Sharp and precise, the pizza wheel has a rotary blade that effortlessly cuts slices and acts as a guard to protect your hands as you work.
If you have an EGGspander system, you can customize your cooking setup. This kit is ideal when cooking for a crowd from the comfort of your backyard. Also, parchment paper helps prevent your pizza from sticking to the cooking surface.
Plan Your Big Green Egg Pizza Recipe
The next thing to do is figure out what type of pizza to make. Which recipe will be most enjoyed by the people at your table? Will you need more than one pie to satisfy a crew of hungry guests? Don’t forget the kids – it’s often more fun to let them create personal pizzas. Let’s start with the basics:
- Pizza dough: Thick crust, thin crust – you prepare your pie just the way you like it on a Big Green Egg.
- Sauce: Tomato sauce is a staple for any pizza, but specialty recipes may call for barbecue sauce, pesto, or others.
- Cheese: From mozzarella to a blend of mouthwatering cheeses, there are numerous options.
- Meat: Whether it’s pepperoni, sausage, chicken, or a vegetarian substitute, meat makes an EGGcellent addition to any pizza.
When it comes to toppings and spices, think of flavors that will blend well together. Prepare a vegetarian pizza with a nutritious rainbow of color on each slice, or serve a Hawaiian pizza with sweet, ripe pineapple chunks. Once you have your recipe down, it’s time to get started.
Get Cooking
After getting everything you need for your Big Green Egg, it’s time for the fun part – cooking. Take care of everything outside with an outdoor countertop. If not, it’s just as easy to handle the meal prep in your kitchen and then work your way outdoors. Here are the steps for making your pizza:
- Set the Egg for indirect cooking at 600°F.
- Select a size for your pie (ideally 10 to 12 inches wide).
- Check the Egg – by the time you’ve hand-kneaded the dough and added your desired toppings, your Egg should be up to temperature.
- Place your pizza on a preheated baking stone inside your Big Green Egg.
- After about 5 minutes, check in on your meal – it should be lightly brown and crispy on the edges.
The team at The Buxton Complex encourages you to try some Big Green Egg recipes and find one that you truly enjoy preparing for yourself or friends and family. In addition to cooking appliances, we also offer Big Green Egg tables with extra space to keep your go-to seasonings and utensils handy. From our location in Ewing, NJ, we proudly serve customers across Mercer, Bucks, Hunterdon, and Burlington counties. For more information on our selection and how to enhance your EGGperience, contact us today.