How do you make pizza in your van?

[kourt]

Vanagon friends,

I love pizza. I bet a lot of you do too.

When you need a pizza, how do you make it happen?

Call Domino's? "Deliver to the van down by the river, please."

Eat cold leftovers from the fridge? I've done that many times with my van.

I like to make pizza in the van, and many van friends have asked how I do it, so here it is:

Essential ingredients:
A vanagon
A beach (in this case it was around Mile 5 of Padre Island National Seashore)
A high heat grill (this is a Magma marine kettle grill)
Premade dough (I use a bread machine to make dough before the trip)
Olive oil
A small tube of tomato paste
Spices (oregano, crushed red pepper, salt)
Preshredded cheese (mozzarella or whatever is to your liking)
Precut and precooked meats (smoked prosciutto, bacon, whatever--but cook it first)
Good spatula
Cutting board
Kitchen scissors

You want a clean and hot grill for quickly crisping the dough.

Things move quickly in this method, so you need to have everything arrayed and ready to go. I'm using a REI folding table to make things easy.

Whenever you place dough on the grill, make sure it is oiled first, or you'll be scraping off a burnt crust later.

Don't worry if you don't nail the dough placement at first. Use a spatula to correct its position on the grill.

Before flipping the dough over, oil it quickly. You can use a paper towel to spread the oil on the dough if it's too hot.

This is where you need to be ready and have your act together. Work quickly, now!

Yes, this method is elaborate and some of the equipment is expensive, but it produces some of the best pizza.

I've had really great results using tortillas or greek flatbread on the Vanagon galley stove as well!

Let's see your pizza game!

kourt

[llilibel03]

I just ate dinner and you managed to make me hungry again.
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87 syncro tintop
90 gl tin top
85 westy 2.0 tiico automatic (present)

[erste]

really cool kourt, thanks for sharing

the gals camping next to me at syncrofest used the fire pit, a pizza stone, and the top of a small weber grill to make some really good pizza.

Make a fire
Pre-heat pizza stone
Place pre-made pizza on stone
Cover with lid and bake. Time depends on thickness of the crust and temperature.

So simple and really good. For me the hard part would be the dough.

[dhaavers]

Damn...beats my English muffin pizza recipe all to heck...

I'll be coming over to your camp!

- Dave
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86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
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[Yellow Rabbit]

Nicely done! I often make pizza in our Dutch oven. Camp cooking is a fun hobby.

[jackbombay]

[syncro2x]

I cook mine in a backpacker oven on a coleman hypeflame stove @ 350 t0 400 degrees. Only good for 8 inch pizza. Also makes great nachos and wings. Love this oven.

[levi]

Buddy you make a damn fine looking pizza.
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[sped372]

Dutch Oven. Like you said, no place for single purpose tools. Works to cook just about anything imaginable!
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1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX

[dobryan]

Need help with dutch oven pizza. Do tell.
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'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

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[danfromsyr]

nice
but we just use Naan bread for grill pizza..
I lack the camping couture of fine cuisine. never enough time, space and need to get'r-dun
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[kourt]

I have a Greek bakery near my house, and they make very fine pita bread--thin, slightly toasted, white or wheat. They make great pizzas in a pinch.

I do like the idea of using the Dutch oven.

kourt

[sped372]

[theowendorff]

Kourt, could you post some more photos of your sailboat bbq set up? How did you mount that bad boy? Does your gas line route directly to your LP gas tank?

[vwwestyman]

That little dutch oven is precious! ha ha

I was telling dobryan the other day that these kinds of threads are why I venture over into the Vanagon forum. This kind of stuff doesn't seem to pop up in the Bay forums too much, unless I steal an idea and make one myself!

Also, that is a fine-looking pizza in the OP! I think I may have to try that!

I have made a deep-dish pizza in my giant cast-iron skillet at home. I bet I could do the same in my large dutch oven.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[JudoJeff]

Love my Dutch ovens! Make amazing food in them.

kourt, you’re the best!
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________________________________________
1989 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Burned up on 7/31/16.
1987 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Bostig & Rebuilt, sold
1986 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Bostig Sold May 10, 2021
1999 Ford GTRV Westfalia camper (30% bigger Westy layout)

[Andymon]

When we had our sailboat, we used a pizza stone on the Magna BBQ. Worked great!!
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"Blanch" '85 Westy
"Too many freaks and not enough circuses".

[kourt]

Somebody better get a commission on the Lodge Dutch oven I'm about to buy.

[kourt]

Here's the scoop on the Magma grill setup.

Start with the Magma Bulkhead mount, fastened to the D pillar. If you don't want to commit to this, get the shore stand/tabletop legs and put the grill on the ground.

If you have a swingout rack like I do, make sure your mount is placed in consideration of the rack's swing area.

Here's the arm installed for the bulkhead rack. This looks flimsy but it's not. Rock solid.

Here's the kettle grill installed on the arm.

Fuel option: you can use the small regulator supplied with the Magma grill, and use small propane bottles.

...or you can go big and use the Magma Hose conversion kit and Low Output control valve.

Here's the tee from the hose conversion kit, plumbed into my van's extra gas line that was feeding the Propex heater.

(sorry for the blurry photo) and here's the Magma hose connected to the tee. There are probably other appliances out there that can connect to this, and the propane at this connection point is regulated.

This is the basic plumbing of connections on the driver side of the van, near the tank. This is all brass and sourced from the hardware store. If you no longer use a propane refrigerator, you can use that leftover connection for supplying the grill.

This shows the other propane options that exist before the regulator. The main feature is the 4-way tee supplied with the Bus Depot Propane Extension Kit. That kit also supplies many hoses and options for propane connection options. I also have the Second Chance LPG adapter.

I've used this Bus Depot connector to connect LPG fake campfires and other self-regulating propane devices directly to the van's propane tank. It's been very handy.

It's not easy to get to this point, and you need to know your plumbing materials and methods, or know a propane supplier that will mod RVs for you.

kourt

[borninabus]

this pizza is clearly being made outside the van...

looks good though
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