Crust won't brown:( | The Fresh Loaf

I recently made PR's Neo-Neapolitan Pizza Dough which is perfection by the way...alas, I can not get this crust to brown. It cooks just fine (not raw/gummy) and is chewy, crispy, flavorful,...but no color whatsoever. What am I doing wrong?

I use a pizza stone on the next to lowest/bottom rack. My oven has preheated on 450 for over an hour (scared to crank it to 500, oven is so old). When making the dough, I added an additional tablespoon of sugar. What gives????

to the lowest rack. if it's gas, you can put it directly on the floor of the oven, and preheat for 90 mins. or, you can carefully move your temp upwards to 475 and the 500. there's no reason the oven shouldn't take it, since insulation doesn't go bad. the other issue you might have is a faulty thermostat. get yourself a good oven thermometer and check the temps at various places in your preheated oven. if the thermostat's gone, it's an easy and relatively inexpensive fix. Stan Ginsberg www.nybakers.com

I think that 450°F is simply not hot enough. Set the oven as high as it will go and I'll bet you will get improved results.

Jeff

Okay. I'll stop being chicken and turn the oven up. Thanks for the responses Jeff & Stan!

I actually tried moving the stone lower before, but the crust did not cook properly. The crust was sort of gummy in the middle and the bottom was tough (but, still not brown).

I do get kind of heavy handed with the cheese/toppings (I like my pizza cheesy). Would I be better off using a perforated pizza pan?

Brush the edges of the dough (and the central expanse if you're pre-baking it before adding toppings) with a light coat of olive oil. Nothing else needed ...

Thank you so much Aliao and Flournwater for the reminder,...I used to brush butter on the edges some time ago, and somehow forgot this step when making PR's dough :) I may have to try the olive oil too some time. Thanks again!