The Pie's the Limit
When you need a fun way to serve a crowd, nothing pleases like pizza.
Luckily, we found a way to make restaurant-quality pizza at home. Crispy crust and bubbling-hot cheese demand high heat and most indoor ovens aren’t up to the challenge. Grommet friend and backyard chef Wendy Calia (that’s her on the right) told us about a solution from California — the PizzaQue.
The porous clay stone is designed to help you achieve a perfect crusty crust. A detachable thermometer built into the stainless steel base tells you when the stone is hot enough. Add wood chips to the grill to achieve that delicious wood-fired flavor.
Jen hosts a pizza party in our video and whips out a basic cheese, a slightly less-basic pepperoni and a crowd pleasing fig-Gorgonzola-prosciutto. No matter what you’re cooking, a backyard pizza party is a great way to bring friends together for a relaxing summer evening. Set out a variety of toppings and let everyone get creative building their favorite pie.
What will you cook up?
Bobbi
Everyone loves a good pizza, especially when it's homemade. PizzaQue is the best tool to give you flawless, perfectly prepared pizza every time. Rather than cooking your pizza on a stone in the oven, our PizzaQue is intended for use on the grill to insure the highest cooking heat (and it's extra flavorful when you use wood chips). The removable stone rests on a stainless-steel stand equipped with a built-in thermometer, so you know exactly when it has reached the ideal temperature to produce a perfect crust. This unique technology helps you hit a pizza homerun every time.
I'm so excited that Daily Grommet is featuring Pizza Que today, and I'll be checking in to read your comments. If you have any questions about Pizza Que, don't hesitate to ask. I look forward to hearing from you.
Christine
8/3/2009 12:15 PMThanks for sharing this fun new tool! Two questions...(and maybe I missed the answers in the video) -- but 1) How long does it take to properly cook the pizza on the grill? and 2) the grill in the video looks like a gas grill...but then you walk about wood-fire chips to burn in the grill...so is this for use in a gas grill or wood-fired grill? Thanks!
Jennifer – Grommet Team
8/3/2009 12:51 PM@Christine I can tell you from experience that a nice hot pizza stone cooks the pizza in about 7 minutes. It's quick! If you like it a little bit crisper or the cheese a little brown then leave it on the PizzaQue until you get the desired result. To answer your second question you can add wood chips to your gas grill to enhance the flavor.
Des
8/3/2009 1:08 PMWe've had pizza-making parties / get-togethers and they are a lot of fun. "Kids" of all ages love creating special versions of the pizza with their favorite toppings. But we've never thought of doing them in the summer when the hot ovens would make the kitchen unbearable. This Grommet looks from the video to be a perfect way to have such parties in the summer! Thanks, Jen for this Grommet.
Bobbi – Special Guest
8/3/2009 3:22 PMThe PizzaQue can be used on either a gas or charcoal grill, it works equally well on both. The high temperature creates a crispy texture and the stone gives your pizza that brick oven flavor. The addition of wood chips over the coals or under the gas grate adds to the wood-smoked flavor. (If you're making the fig pizza, I would suggest apple wood chips.) Either way, it's all good!
Craig
8/3/2009 3:25 PMWhat I really like about this idea is the heat and the mess stay outside. Who wants to fire up the oven and make a mess inside when you can enjoy some cold ones and cook pizza on the grill outside.
LindaB
8/3/2009 4:51 PMLooks delicious! Good idea too!
Jules – Grommet Team
8/3/2009 5:48 PM@Craig I would pretend I was in Italy making these pizzas. I noticed that Italian restaurants often don't offer pizza until the evening (at least in the summer) because it is too hot to operate the wood fired ovens during the day. Like the cold ones idea too.
Lucky
8/3/2009 7:38 PMHi! Can I use this same pizza stone in my home oven so that its useable all year long? I don't need 2 pizza stones, right?
Elaine
8/3/2009 9:13 PMMy family was at a BBQ, "PizzaQue" style. hosted by Jen. It was great! The kids participated in making the pizzas which they loved. We tried about 4 different kinds of pizzas and each one was deeelicious. Both kids and adults alike loved making and eating them. No mess or heat in the kitchen - Great idea for a different twist on a summer meal .
Jennifer – Grommet Team
8/4/2009 7:14 AM@Lucky Yes you can use the pizza stone from the PizzaQue in your home oven. The pizza stone easily detaches from the base and can be used in your oven.
Donna
1/3/2011 3:01 PMWe tried the Pizza Que last evening for the first time. We couldn't close the grill cover tightly on the two burner Weber grill. Was this demo done on a three burner? Has anyone else had experience cooking on the two burner? Our pizza was good but it took a long time (about 35 min.) to do each one.
Jennifer – Grommet Team
1/3/2011 3:25 PM@Donna- Yes my Weber has three burners which allowed for the lid to shut and cook the pizza quickly. I know when I BBQ anything on the Weber in the winter in sub zero temps it takes longer for it to heat up and sustain a high temp. If you were using on a cold night it might take the stone longer to heat up. I also pre heat the stone before I start cooking on it. It does not take long to pre heat and the temperature gauge helps out. Let me know if you have further questions.