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In New York City, you don't order "a piece of pizza"...you order "a slice".
New York pizza is a large hand-tossed thin-crust pie sold in wide slices and baked in coal or wood fired brick ovens, typically with the cheese on the bottom and sauce on top. These large slices are eaten folded in half allowing it to be eaten with one hand.
The first pizzeria in the U.S. was founded by Gennaro Lombardi in New York City's Little Italy in 1905. Lombardi was an immigrant from Naples, Italy and opened a grocery store in 1897 and eight years later, applied for a license to sell "pizza" in New York State.
New York-style pizza has a distinctly flavored crust from the high-gluten bread flour and minerals from New York City's tap water.
Food-development consultant and pizza expert, David Tisi, recently explained to Wired Magazine why New York pizza tastes so great. "As you cook, some ingredients vaporize, and these volatilized particles can attach themselves to the walls of the baking cavity," Tisi says.
"The next time you use the oven, these bits get caught up in the convection currents and deposited on the food, which adds flavor. Over time," he says, "more particles join the mix and mingle with the savory soot from burned wood or coal — the only fuels worth using — to create a flavor."
If you don't have a 100-year old pizza-oven then the next best thing is to grill a pizza on a wood fired Kamado grill.
Great pizza is made in the hottest oven, and a Kamado Grill can get much hotter than any oven in your house. It is the best instrument for making amazing New York style pizza.
Lump Charcoal
A blazing hot grill means a crisper crust and creates those amazing charred spots on the bottom of the crust.
Hardwood lump charcoal is just what it sounds like: a piece of hardwood, with no additives, that has been charred into lumps of charcoal.
Open Flame Pizza
A wood fired Kamado Grill works by retaining heat from a live fire and hot coals.
The heat in a wood-fired Kamado Grill reflects off the dome of the grill onto the pizza. The Duluth Forge Kamado produces a texture in the crust unlike foods cooked in an ordinary oven.
Pizza Stone
In terms of taste, the pizza stone pizza might lack the charred flavor of one cooked directly over the flame, but it will still have a fire-kissed flavor.
A pizza stone will give your pizza insulation from the intense heat and control not burn the bottom.
The stone is a reliable tool that gives grilled pizza a buffer so the dough doesn't burn when left over the flame too long.
Ingredients
- 1 ball pizza dough (about 1 pound)
- 1/2 to 1 cup tomato sauce, store-bought or homemade
- Whole milk mozzarella and grated Parmesan
- Pepperoni or Sausage
- Green peppers
- Tomato sauce
- Olive oil
Equipment
- Duluth Forge Kamado lump charcoal grill
- Bull BBQ Pizza Stone (optional)
- Bull BBQ Metal tongs
- Bull BBQ Spatula
- Bull BBQ Oven mitt
- Bull BBQ Pizza Peel
Instructions
1. Heat the grill to at least 600°F.
2. Set up a table or bench near the grill so you have easy access to everything.
3. Roll out your dough into a thin circle and brush one side with olive oil.
4. Grill one side of the pizza: Lay the dough round on the grill with the olive-oil side down.
5. Brush the top of the dough with a thin layer of olive oil, too. Let the dough cook for about 3 minutes, with the lid off, or 1 to 2 minutes with the lid on.
6. Use the tongs to lift up the dough to check how it is cooking. You want grill marks not burn marks.
7. Flip the dough over with the tongs or spatula. The dough should come up easily and flip without tearing.
8. Top the pizza and put the lid on and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
9. Remove the lid and check the pizza. The edges should be crisp and the cheese should be melted.
10. Gently drag the pizza off with the spatula or tongs and let cool before cutting and eating!
Pizza is America's favorite food and aficionados all agree that New York style pizza is the best and there are currently over 400 pizza restaurants in New York City.
If you don't live in the Big Apple and have access to great pizza 24 hours-a-day, then you might want to think about making your own on a Duluth Forge Kamado Grill.
Duluth Forge Ceramic Charcoal Kamado Grill and Smoker - Extra Large Model
$799.99
Introducing the new Extra Large 24 Inch Duluth Forge Charcoal Kamado Ceramic Egg. Whether you are grilling, searing, or smoking meats or fish, the Duluth Forge Kamado Built-In Charcoal Grill is an ideal product for all your outdoor cooking needs.
Created with high-quality ceramic and commercial-grade stainless steel bands, hinges, springs, and hardware make it more resistant to rust. The one inch thick ceramic walls along with large fire bowl allow for better heat retention and even heat circulation. A kamado is a traditional ceramic Japanese wood or charcoal fueled cooking stove.
The ceramic construction for kamado's means there is no flavor contamination or metallic taste given to the food. Kamado's use lump wood charcoal which creates very little ash which can taint food and is manufactured in an environmentally sustainable manner. Regular charcoal briquettes contain many chemicals that contaminate the flavor of the food.
The round shape gives the best heat distribution, unlike rectangular grills which can create hot and cold spots. The heat retention properties of the ceramic shell can reach up to 1200 degrees F!
The Duluth Forge Ceramic Charcoal Kamado Grill and Smoker are made from the same materials used to make kilns and pizza ovens which are extremely good insulators that radiate heat effectively. The sides and domes absorb heat and radiate it back like a brick oven, so pizza cooks evenly from above.
