Quick pizza grill table

I'm in Anaheim for a conference this week, but I wanted to get some pics up from a quick build I got done before I left. It actually all came together Monday morning, when I should have been packing for this trip but this was way more fun.

The wife and kids got me an early Father's Day present this year  (they let me buy it when I saw it on sale): a cuisinart outdoor pizza oven! How awesome to be able to cook pizzas this summer w/o turning the whole house into an oven.

Gave it a quick test when it got here on a cool May Sunday and it was pretty great; got up to over 500 degrees in less than 10 minutes, toasted two pies up real nice. Unfortunately, that was about all it had in it using the extra 1 lbs tank I had around for the weber. So started looking at accessories; a stand, an adaptor for a larger tank. All together we're talking about another $100; not a deal breaker but a good chunk of change.

Yeah, I think this will work with the right set up.

While I saved up to get them so I wouldn't feel guilty just buying them right away, it dawned on me I could build a solid stand for cheaper that would probably be a better fit for the space, and look like it belonged on our deck. So that's just what I did.

I had a specific corner in mind for where this was going, so I measured up what I had in mind. I wanted to use the cedar toned 2x4's I built the table legs from, and a tile top to make it more heat resistant. Thankfully I found these wood grain ceramic tile on sale:

With a clear idea of what I was looking for, once I had the 2x4's I got going. Of course, my math was a bit off. I probably should have bought 3 2x4's instead of just two, but I managed to find some good scrap pieces to fit everything together. A few minutes cutting and drilling and viola, one frame.

This was may more important than packing. 

I topped it off with some MDF to set the tile on, and got everything together. I thought about grouting, and then I thought "fuck that." So I took it out to the deck to put a poly coat on and we were done. God I can't wait to get home and cook some pizzas on it!

Behold the power of good planning; this idea was much more formed in my head than I usually start with, and due to that it seemed like it came together very quickly. I still had time to pack, and now I'm just patiently waiting to come home and pick up my accessories. Good times.

Grilled pizza break

It can't be all woodwork all the time. Sometimes there's grill work, sometimes there's pizza. At the best of times, there can be all three. Today felt like it should be one of those times.

I've gotten a pretty good handle on a papa john's copy dough, and it even makes for a decent base on making your own frozen pizzas. I should post on that too sometime. But today I was more interested in seeing if it would hold up as well on the grill. Sometimes it's just too hot to have your oven running at 515 degrees for any amount of time. Today is one of those times, but I'm a little dubious about pizza on the grill. Lunch for myself is a lot less risky to try out stuff vs dinner for everyone.

This dough is pretty sturdy:

1 packet fast-rising yeast (2 1/4 tps)
2 Tbs sugar
2 cups warm water
Mix and proof 5 minutes. Then add:
1/2 tsp garlic salt
2 1/2 cups bread flour
2 Tbs oil
Mix until dough pulls away from sides of mixer.

I made it as soon as I got home from dropping the kids off at camp, which gave it about 4 hours to rise while I got a run in and then worked on the media stand. I took a break around the 3-hour mark to punch it down and let it rise again for that last hour. It made for what I would consider a great looking dough if I was using the pizza stone.

Prep work can be important when you're on the grill, so I got everything ready while the charcoal lit. This dough is pretty hearty so I was sure it could handle three ingredients without any issue.

There was also oil, sauce, and cheese ready to go.

Once things were lit, on to the grill it went. This was mistake number one. I should have moved the coals for more indirect heat. But it cooked up well before I flipped it and put the toppings on.

Raw dough on, only 3 or 4 minutes I think.

Notice the browns already on the outer crust after flipping it

No time for pictures when you're working with high heats, but things looked really good at this point. Unfortunately, the direct heat ended up charring the bottom almost to the point of being inedible. I'm not a huge fan of wood-fired crust anyway, and this was a deep black char across the bottom of the crust. Too bad.

But it was still a decent lunch, and I learned some lessons in case we ever want pizza but it's too hot to turn the oven on. I'd try it again at least. God I love these Fridays off.