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Silvar Beitel[_3_] Silvar Beitel[_3_] is offline
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Default My ongoing pizza trouble

On Friday, June 19, 2020 at 5:05:58 PM UTC-4, Thomas wrote:
> Using 00 flour, making thin pies.
> Cuisinart stone in oven. Whether 550 deg or 450 i cannot get crust to nicley brown before burning top.
> I tried up top in oven and down low.
> I tried low then opening oven door to let top heat out.
> The pies are really good but could be better.
> What do I need to do to get the crust better?


This will be sacrilege to some, but consider baking your pizzas in pans. Sheet pans, cake pans, whatever, thin aluminum. And coating the pans generously with oil (and a little coarse corn meal for effect) so that the bottoms of the pies "fry" in the oil at normal "high" home oven temperatures. Lower rack, of course. Result is a crunchy bottom, not a real char, but still pretty stiff and tasty, and it happens before the top gets burnt.

(I incidentally have a batch of pizza dough (75% hydration) resting in the fridge for home made pizza tomorrow or the next night.)

(And here's something that might elicit your envy or sympathy: I live in a very old (for the USA) New England farmhouse. It's a "center chimney colonial" style house. Said center chimney has five fireplaces and one ... beehive oven. Which would be perfect for pizza (or any wood-fired bread) except for the fact that the last owner who "renovated" the place covered over the oven with a wood (wood! you know, like the stuff that burns!) facing. In years of looking at it, I haven't figured our how to return it to usability without destroying an entire wall in the kitchen.)

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Silvar Beitel