Pizza Crust. How To Bake it Properly.
Pizza dough is just bread you stretch out and load up with toppings. It should be simple but it’s tricky getting all the proportions just right so it comes out just right. I often find the crust comes out a bit gummy and seems a little undercooked at times. I bake the pizza on a pizza pan that has holes in it at about 450 degrees. I have tried pre-baking the crust then loading it up and baking it again for a total of about 20 minutes and it still comes out with a gummy texture. Maybe using pasta sauce is the problem. Pizza sauce is supposed to be thicker and has less water content. I am also thinking about using a baking stone to generate more even bottom heat. Also there are some toppings that have a high water content (red peppers, fresh basil etc.) so maybe I need to use these toppings more sparingly or dry them out more thoroughly. Maybe my bake time could be extended a bit but I am not sure that is the issue as the outside of the crust is perfect and any more time would probably result in the outer edge starting to burn. Anyways, if you have any tips and secrets you would like to share with me that would be great. Meanwhile Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year 2024 to everyone!
If you are really loading up the pie with ingredients, you should probably bake at a lower temperature. Just as with bread, you have to find a temperature that will cook the interior and the crust in the same amount of time.
I'm not hugely experienced with making pizza, but recently I made a few that mainly had chopped tomato and onion tossed with olive oil. So watery but not densely spread around the pie. One version also had shredded cheese. These pizzas were not at all gummy. They were baked at around 450 deg F on a baking steel.
A baking stone or steel will help, I'm sure. Make sure the preheat them long enough, probably longer than you think necessary. If you have an overhead broiler, you could use that too. If it's too strong and tries to burn the topping, cycle it on and off. But you shouldn't need to use it.
TomP
Thanks! Do you remember the total baking time?
Not very well. Around 10 minutes, I think. I'm not sure because I've also cooked the same kind on a stove-top griddle and that took longer. The two kinds are mixed up in my mind.
High temp. 550°F. 10 minutes, On a steel is compulsory.
For the thicker traditional Sicilian pizza a lower temperature and a longer bake is needed.375°-400°F 15 -20 minutes.
Heed someone who knows more than I! The key is to be guided by how the pie behaves. Also, don't load up with too many ingredients until you can get a pie the way you like.
In a perfect world, yes 550, but my oven doesn't go that high, so I either:
1- "bake" on my barbecue grill with a stone (works pretty well, but you have to really watch it)
2- preheat as high as possible with a stone in the oven to hold the heat and place the pie as close to the bottom of the oven as I can
I have also found that how you stretch the dough matters more than you think.
Could you say more about the stretching?
Roadside Pie King is. He has a video that shows the process, and honestly after I watched that video, my pizza got much better. Mostly, I realized that I rush the process too much. Stretch, wait. Stretch, wait, etc. I want to say it was a 10 minute rest between stretches. My theory is that the pie might have been trying to retract when I put it in the oven? No idea, I just know that after I watched it was so much better. I can't find the video right now, but Maybe he'll respond.
The pan is likely your biggest problem, if you’re not overloading with toppings. Even a pan with holes. Better than the pan is a pizza screen. Better than a pizza screen is a stone. As god or maybe better than a pizza stone is a pizza steel. As mentioned… pre-heat longer than you think necessary. 45-60 minutes.
Use the highest temp your oven produces.
Back off on toppings, back off on sauce.
Commercial pizza ovens are nothing like home ovens. Very high heat, and heat from all sides because of the deck, produce a pizzeria pizza.
Achieving a pizzeria result in a home oven is nearly impossible, even with a stone.
I use a screen and prebake. Temperature will vary from oven to oven, but for me 480-500° works best. I dock the dough before pre-baking, and brush it with olive oil before applying toppings. I am not sure sauce liquid content matters all that much - I use plain crushed tomatoes which are more runny than cooked sauces, and it works out fine. I don't put on too much of it though. You can pre-cook your toppings. Mushrooms taste better this way and I suspect bell pepers too. I wrap fresh mozarella in paper towel to remove some of its moisture. Apply basil after baking.
most of the time (it's so convenient), and also tend to load up on the toppings. But get good results despite it.
Watery sauce may be your main problem. Simmer it down to a thicker consistency first.
The usual variables of size, time, temperature, color, and oven type are present. I use a dark, shallow 9" round pan for more even heating. I have not gotten good results in a convection oven - pizza seems to prefer a high % of radiant heat. Even at higher temps, the big gas oven undercooks the top, and I have to move the pie down under the broiler for a couple minutes at the end to finish it. I have a nice pizza stone but don't use it; it doesn't solve the problem. Best results are on the middle rack position in a countertop electric oven with exposed heating elements top and bottom, and bake at 440º for 17 min. That's as hot as this oven gets. But it works well.
I have tried making the pizza in a properly sizes carbon steel pan and cooking the bottom over a stove top burner...then finishing the top(ings) under the broiler. No gummy or raw center crust.
Even Vito is acknowledging the efficacy of par-baking the crust before putting on the toppings.
No time in an oven?
So...yes, sort of. I was trying to ensure fully baked crust. I also brushed the fry pan with olive oil before laying the unbaked crust inside which I think helped to crisp things up. Best wishes. Dave
There's more than one way to skin a cat!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeuimptGGbM
It depends on what is your expectation and perception of a "good" pizza, that is very subjective. For example the pizza favourite in Italy does not quite correspond to the popular pizza in US.
If you are leaning more towards Italian version the following is nicely explained recipe. I have tried it many times by myself and it is really great! The baking stone and high oven temperature are critical in order to make a decent pizza home baking attempt.
https://youtu.be/Cq90lUQUCUo?si=NdBt403XczV1k5j0
Thank you fellow bread bakers for all your helpful advice. You are too numerous to thank individually but each and every comment is much appreciated. P.S. HNY to all!
Update: I baked on the lower rack at 480 degrees for 20 minutes and I kept the pizza pan with the holes in it inside the oven while it preheated then transferred the pie onto the hot pan in the oven. Reduced toppings and used a real "pizza sauce" not pasta sauce which was way thicker. 20 minutes later, no gumline. A bit crispy so next time I may reduce the time to about 15 minutes. The other thing is the dough was a 16 ounce ball stretched out to a 14 inch pan so maybe it is a bit on the thin side. 18 ounces might be a little better for a 14 inch pizza as I like it medium thickness. Cheers to all and HNY 2024!