Pizza crust

Poststructural Pub
1

I’m making pizza at home. I have a bakers stone, which I pre-heat for an hour at 400F. I can make the crust so it is thin in the middle with the rim slightly thicker. Its a small stone so the pizza max dia is 8 inches.

When I bake the pizza, the top comes out fine, the rim that touches the baking stone is crispy, but the middle part is slightly soggy, good enough to eat, but not crispy.

Any suggestions? I’m trying to perfect a Margherita, mozzarella, tomato and basil, pizza so its not over loaded on the sauce.

2

bake the crust for a bit BEFORE putting the toppings on. I almost always do mine this way.

3

Agree, and maybe crank it up another 25 degrees.

4

with a lot of baking experience I can add the following.
you should preheat your oven AS HOT AS IT CAN GO.
pizzas need HIGH heat, 400 is far too low.
so, what is your max oven temperature and, next, have you checked it with an oven thermometer?

pizzastones/ baking stones should be an inch/ slightly more thick.
they need long preheating, an hour minimum.

and how thin, is your thin bottom :slight_smile: quarter inch? more?
you will get it right I am sure.

and for real good pizzas, use sourdough to make the dough with.
another tip, replace half the flour with part polenta.

berti

5

Hard to get it right at home. Our ovens just aren’t equipped or it’s a big deal, like pre-heating for an hour for something you’ll eat up in minutes. The best pizza crust I ever had was from a wood-burning oven in Italy.

I think, but have never seen, that a pizza stone with holes would work. I have a tin circular baking pan with holes that is great for heating up puff pastries, etc. The next step would be the combo of the heavier material but with venting to prevent soggy middles.As long as the oven was hot enough, the tradeoff would work.

6

oh and just to be sure: don’t think I am a pro baker because I am not :slight_smile:
I do bake at home so that is what I was talking about.
oven needs to be AT LEAST 450…baking time usually 20 minutes.

berti

ps and pizza stones with holes don’t work no.

7

So, my oven has this setting called “clean…”

8

Might I suggest acquiring a “Big Green Egg” for your pizza making?
Trust me on this one…

9

I’ve noticed that commercial pizza makers use an oven which is much hotter than a typical home oven, maybe nearer to 600F, or something like that.

In the past, I’ve tried making pizza at home, but could never match the results of a good pizzeria.

Now, there’s Italian style pizza, and then there’s Greek style pizza…

:wink:

10

You guys are making me hungry.

11

Thanks for the advice, especially the oven heat. I did think of making it in my Weber BBQ, but I didn’t know if I when to put the stone in. I usually warm it up from cold when I turn the oven on.

12

Preheat it in the oven then tranfer to the grill. Wear gloves, not that I ever do, hence my wife’s expression “another Le Cruset Moment”

13

I make grilled pizza; it’s a different beast from the standard pizza.

Make the dough in whatever shape you like and put it on the medium-hot grill. Take it off before it burns too badly. Then flip it over, put the sauce, cheese, and toppings on, and put it back onto the grill, but over a part that’s not being actively heated. Leave it till it’s all warm and bubbly. It sounds weird, but it’s really delicious.