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Pizza struggles

Rubmyrock
Rubmyrock Posts: 266
edited July 2012 in EggHead Forum
Cooking at 450. Rain hendered my temp. Anyway it's been 50 minutes and the cheese I the middle is not done but crust is very done. Cooked on top of a plate setter legs down with fire brisk on grate underneath

Comments

  • paqman
    paqman Posts: 4,661
    To achieve good results, I had to use a raised setup (platesetter in PSWoo2 with woo extender and stone on top).

    If your dough contains sugar + oil, do not exceed 550F (450-500) is good.

    If your dough does not contain sugar + oil, as hot as you can get is the best.  I posted a thread recently with a recipe shared by @nolaegghead.

    ____________________
    Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage. •Niccolo Machiavelli
  • paqman
    paqman Posts: 4,661
    Here's the link to the thread: http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1141565/finally-the-pizza-dough-recipe-i-was-looking-for

    The Caputo 00 flour gives a better texture than bread flour.

    ____________________
    Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage. •Niccolo Machiavelli
  • ncbbq
    ncbbq Posts: 257
    @paqman, if you lose the sugar but still add the oil can you cook high temp? I tried making dough yesterday and actually used that recipe because I saw you post it in another thread. I did not have the caputo flour so I substituted with all purpose. It was OK but it didn't brown up like I like it. From what I've been reading some people say the oil helps in the browning. I like cooking at the high temp (650) because I have done it with store bought doughs with good results. I guess it is not necessary to use the high temps but I do like it because the pizza is done really fast which is good for doing multiple small pizzas.
  • Rubmyrock
    Rubmyrock Posts: 266
    An hour long cook for the first one. Crust was way overlook but the toppings perfect. I'll try the high temp next time
  • Rubmyrock
    Rubmyrock Posts: 266
    No more cooking pizza or anything else with dough.. From this day forward I'm deeming anything that did not once have a heartbeat, un-egg-worthy...
  • Wow...an hour? At 500, a pizza should be done in 12-15 minutes (unless you have done some sort of thick crust or mega topping thing). Was the plate setter hot when you put the pizza on? I let my pizza stone heat to temp for at least 30 minutes.
  • paqman
    paqman Posts: 4,661
    @ncbbq wow, in my experience, anything over 550F resulted in burnt crust before the toppings were ready (when using store bought or a dough containing sugar).

    Adding oil alone will change the texture but it will tolerate higher temp than with sugar but not as much as without.  I guess it depends how you like your toppings, I like when the cheese starts to make a crust and is well browned...

    @Rubmyrock an hour long cook for one pizza?????  Your thermometer must be out of calibration... Or maybe your toppings were too wet.... what did you use?

    ____________________
    Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage. •Niccolo Machiavelli
  • Rubmyrock
    Rubmyrock Posts: 266
    The second pizza burned crust even worse but in only 30 mins at the same temp. I assume the plate setter heated up
  • Brownie
    Brownie Posts: 1,023
    Chin up Rub, When you feel like you want to give it another try there will be plenty of support here for ya. I recommend a pizza stone, the rest is all practice.
  • ncbbq
    ncbbq Posts: 257
    @paqman, yeah I usually go light with the toppings and just like the cheese melted. Still experimenting though. Believe it or not the best store bought dough was the pillsbury in the can. I have also tried Trader Joe's. After jumping in and trying to make my own I think I am more intrigued by that and want to work on that now. I need to order some of that Caputo 00 and give that a try. I may experiment with lower temperatures some too and see how that works. Always an adventure.

    Just thought one difference for me is I do not have a raised rig putting the pizza higher up in the dome like I think you had. This may be why my high temperature results are a little different. I do plate setter legs up with the grate on top of that and pizza stone on the grate.
  • Chin up Rub, When you feel like you want to give it another try there will be plenty of support here for ya. I recommend a pizza stone, the rest is all practice.

    well said
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • NewEnglandEgger
    NewEnglandEgger Posts: 104
    edited July 2012
    Chin up Rub, When you feel like you want to give it another try there will be plenty of support here for ya. I recommend a pizza stone, the rest is all practice.
    Agree...pizza is definitely a learning/experimentation process. I have yet to produce one that I consider really good. I'm still puzzled by Rub's experience. I cannot imagine what is causing the toppings to take 30+ minutes to cook. Ya do have the dome closed, right! ;) TC
  • hogsfan
    hogsfan Posts: 128
    edited July 2012
    I burned a LOT of pizza at first. I found through trial and error that the best things to help my situation was 1) a heat deflector of some sort below the stone, 2) raising the stone high in the dome, 3) allowing the stone to heat up for about 25 minutes (if you don't have an IR Therm) before cooking, and 4) shooting for a cooking temp between 500-550 (our pizza dough is about the thickness of Papa John's hand tossed dough and we probably use about the same about of toppings as they do.)

    These variables have helped us a LOT. I also want you to know that it's REALLY worth the trouble once you figure it out. It's hard to eat commercial pizza anymore. 

    Hope this helps.