First off, let me say congrats to the winners. Going in, I knew my idea wasn't on a par with other throw down entries I've seen in the past. However, I wanted to compete and this is all my feeble mind could come up with.
In the end, the chosen appetizer worked out well for me. We had a ten inch snow storm come through the weekend I was planning to smoke. I spent more time on my front end loader than I did cooking. It ended up being a VERY primitive smoke done on my charcoal grill. I didn't have the luxury of any thermometers or the experience gained on my normal smoker.
With the Super Bowl coming up, I wanted to incorporate football into my theme. What goes better with football than pizza? Okay, Okay--I know. BUT--I haven't figured out how to smoke a beer without it evaporating. All in all, it turned out well.
My appetizer was the:
HICKORY SMOKED CHEESY CRUST PIZZA
Here's the photojournal:
The grill. I made this about twelve years ago taking an evening class at the local vo-tech. Making it gave me the experience with their machines to make a nice gun safe before the class was over.
The fuel. All I had on hand for fuel was some store-brand charcoal with mesquite chips and some hickory chips my brother had won as a door prize at a competition. I actually spread a few chips on the cooking grate above the coals to achieve my smoke.
Coals getting ready.
The Ingredients.
Mix the two crust packages together following the directions on the pizza crust package. Using corn meal to reduce the tackiness of the dough, spread out the dough. Cut your crusts out with the cookie cutters.
Rub the stone down with corn meal, leaving some so the crusts won't stick. (think of putting down corn meal to a dance floor so your feet don't stick) Smoke the crusts for about ten minutes then turn them over. When the crusts are browned, bring back in and put the toppings on.
Sauced up.
Ready for shrimp.
Loading them up.
Ready for the smoker.
Place back on the smoker for about twenty minutes or until cheese is browned nicely.
On the smoke.
The finished product.
In reality, this smoke turned out great for me personally. It turned into a group effort. My wife and two children helped me add the toppings. (I think they wanted to make sure it was to their liking.) Each expressed a desire to "help" again some time.
The result of the smoke had mixed returns. When I placed the toppings back in, I added more hickory chips. It gave the pizzas a bit more of a smoke flavor than I personally like. My daughter agreed with me. My wife and son thought it was great "as is".
Tomorrow, the kids will be gone to a Super Bowl party. My wife asked me what I wanted to do during the game. I told her I didn't care. She said, "Maybe we could make another shrimp pizza."
Thanks for letting me play!
In the end, the chosen appetizer worked out well for me. We had a ten inch snow storm come through the weekend I was planning to smoke. I spent more time on my front end loader than I did cooking. It ended up being a VERY primitive smoke done on my charcoal grill. I didn't have the luxury of any thermometers or the experience gained on my normal smoker.
With the Super Bowl coming up, I wanted to incorporate football into my theme. What goes better with football than pizza? Okay, Okay--I know. BUT--I haven't figured out how to smoke a beer without it evaporating. All in all, it turned out well.
My appetizer was the:
HICKORY SMOKED CHEESY CRUST PIZZA
Here's the photojournal:
The grill. I made this about twelve years ago taking an evening class at the local vo-tech. Making it gave me the experience with their machines to make a nice gun safe before the class was over.
The fuel. All I had on hand for fuel was some store-brand charcoal with mesquite chips and some hickory chips my brother had won as a door prize at a competition. I actually spread a few chips on the cooking grate above the coals to achieve my smoke.
Coals getting ready.
The Ingredients.
- One package of regular pizza crust mix
- One package of cheese biscuit mix (I used Bisquick 3 Cheese)
- One can of pizza/spaghetti sauce
- Small amount of corn meal
- One package of shrimp (already scaled and cooked)
- One cup of pinapple bits
- One package of canadian bacon
- One package of mini pepperoni
- One package of shredded mozzerela cheese
- One package of finely shredded blended Italian three cheese
- Cookie cutters and pizza stone
Mix the two crust packages together following the directions on the pizza crust package. Using corn meal to reduce the tackiness of the dough, spread out the dough. Cut your crusts out with the cookie cutters.
Rub the stone down with corn meal, leaving some so the crusts won't stick. (think of putting down corn meal to a dance floor so your feet don't stick) Smoke the crusts for about ten minutes then turn them over. When the crusts are browned, bring back in and put the toppings on.
Sauced up.
Ready for shrimp.
Loading them up.
Ready for the smoker.
Place back on the smoker for about twenty minutes or until cheese is browned nicely.
On the smoke.
The finished product.
In reality, this smoke turned out great for me personally. It turned into a group effort. My wife and two children helped me add the toppings. (I think they wanted to make sure it was to their liking.) Each expressed a desire to "help" again some time.
The result of the smoke had mixed returns. When I placed the toppings back in, I added more hickory chips. It gave the pizzas a bit more of a smoke flavor than I personally like. My daughter agreed with me. My wife and son thought it was great "as is".
Tomorrow, the kids will be gone to a Super Bowl party. My wife asked me what I wanted to do during the game. I told her I didn't care. She said, "Maybe we could make another shrimp pizza."
Thanks for letting me play!
