This past Sunday we hosted a birthday party for my now 4 year old and while planning the event before the big day I thought, "Hey. Let's bake some pizzas on the Big Green Egg!". I would soon find myself regretting the idea.
After several full days of getting the backyard in order: putting up pop-up tents, gathering enough outdoor chairs, grocery shopping and procuring liquid refreshment, the big day arrived. I had it all planned out. The guests were scheduled to arrive at 1pm so the grill would have to be lit no later than 12:30 to get the temp up to 600. But....guests began arriving at noon!! And to my horror, I realized that I had run out of charcoal starters! It's not like you can run out to the closest grocery store and pick these things up. The starters that Publix, Kroger, (insert your grocery chain here), sell contain chemicals that Big Green Egg says you must stay away from as those chemicals could seep into the ceramic.
So now what???? I've got thirty hungry kids and twenty adult appetites to fill! Luckily I remembered that I still had my trusty canister charcoal starter that I used during my pre Egg days. I stuffed some paper in the bottom, filled the top with lump coal and voila! In a few minutes it was ready to go and I dumped the red hot coals into the fire box of the Egg. Now it was time to put the plate setter, legs up, in the grill. Whoops! The darn thing slipped out of my hand, hit the grill and cracked right in half.
Crap!!!! Now what???
You can't bake pizzas without this thing. You need something to block the direct flames/heat from the coals in order to bake a pizza. So I dive into my plethora of Eggccessories. Someone was kind enough to buy me a pair of grill mitts for Christmas last year. I never thought I would use them but I sure was thanking God for these puppies now. After some finagling, I was able to get the broken pieces of the plate setter to rest against each other. Thank goodness!
Once the temp was at the ideal 600 it was time to make the pizzas. It's a good thing these things only take six minutes to bake. Once you get going they just fly off the grill. I think I ended up baking something like fifteen pizzas. It was all such a blur that I honestly lost count. Everyone enjoyed the food and many commented on it being the best pizza they had ever had.
I'm not quite sure who to declare the winner on this one. The grill was a difficult foe this round but I was still able to turn out some tasty food. I'd have to say it was a tie.
Man 1 - Grill 1
I have to say that my old, neglected, canister charcoal starter really saved the day and I would recommend to anyone who likes to grill should have one of these in their arsenal.
Pick one up here:
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