Parchment Paper and pizza...explain this to me one more time

SaltySam · November 2012

I know that this has probably been discussed to death, but I'm a little confused when it comes to using parchment paper, fresh dough and a pizza peel. I'm frustrated with my dough sticking to the peel, and I've tried semolina flour and cornmeal. I'm pretty sure that the solution is parchment paper, based on all the praise I've seen, but I wanted to be 100% sure of the process itself before I burn a bunch of paper and ruin a good pizza. Tell me if this is the right way:

- Put a piece of parchment paper directly on the pizza peel

- Roll out pizza dough to desired thickness, transfer to parchment paper

- trim around outside of pizza dough, leaving enough to grab later

- transfer everything to grill and heated pizza stone

- after several minutes, slide the parchment paper from underneath the crust

- continue to bake until crust is done

Is this right? Are there any variations? I understand that the hotter the grill, the sooner I need to pull the paper out to avoid burning. Do I need to put cornmeal or semolina on the parchment paper before I put the dough on it?

Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse, but without pictures or videos to help, I don't have a lot of faith in my reading comprehension.

BuckeyeBob · November 2012

Bingo. That's how I do it. Not a big fan of the cornmeal so went to parchment. After pulling the paper, no need for any cornmeal or semolina. Then just cooked to your preferred level of doneness.

jlsm · November 2012

You really don't need to pull the paper, but you should reposition your pizza about halfway through to compensate for high spots, so you might as well.

Little Steven · November 2012

I just throw a little flour on the parchment and roll the dough right on it. I trim the parchment close to the pizza and throw it on the egg. Sometimes I'll pull the parchment but not at the expense of burned hand. I do them quite hot and never have had a problem

DonWW · November 2012

What is the heat tolerance of parchment? I have been under the impression that it is around 400 or so, which is much lower than pizza temperature.

calracefan · November 2012

I do as you stated , pull after a few minutes, continue to cook until done. I have had the parchment discolor from leaving it a little too long !

nolaegghead · November 2012

I've had the parchment paper burn and fuse to the bottom of the pizza. Depends on how hot your pizza stone is.

Little Steven · November 2012

I've never encountered any off flavours when it turns colour. I do try and pull it but if it doesn't come easy and I don't have tongs handy I just let it ride.

Fred19Flintstone · November 2012

calracefan said:

I do as you stated , pull after a few minutes, continue to cook until done. I have had the parchment discolor from leaving it a little too long !

+1. On Pizza Night, we end up with a lot of discolored pieces of parchment.

JwgreDeux · November 2012

I'm in the no parchment camp (even though I have used it in the past and know you can make fine pies with it). A couple of thoughts: if your dough is sticking even with cornmeal and semolina, your dough may be to hydrated. I use an wooden peel and minimal corn flour and have very little sticking even with an 80% hydration dough; second any barrier between the stone and the dough will prevent (even if minimally) the removal of moisture from the dough during cooking and may not let your dough cook fast enough if cooking at higher temps.

If you are going to stick with parchment, it appears you have the process down.

RAC · November 2012

I got a Super Peel a few weeks ago and this thing really works great.

lensegg · November 2012

I would suggest that instead of your step 2 where you transfer the rolled out dough to the parchment paper, that you roll out your dough directly on the parchment paper, IMHO.

ChokeOnSmoke · November 2012

I only flour my wooden peel and put the raw pizza straight onto the hot stone (no cornmeal).

No need for parchment if you do the following.

1.) Have all ingredients cut up and ready to assemble.

2.) Put ingredients on quickly.

3.) Give the peel a little "shake" a few times when you're assembling your pizza so it won't stick.

I've never had one stick doing it like this.

gerhardk · November 2012

lensegg said:

I would suggest that instead of your step 2 where you transfer the rolled out dough to the parchment paper, that you roll out your dough directly on the parchment paper, IMHO.

I am a parchment user but I would not suggest rolling anything out on parchment, you would end up pushing the paper around your work surface but the dough would not get much action. Having said that I don't use a rolling pin at all, take the dough ball push down in the middle working it to about 3/4 of an inch of the perimeter, then pick it up to stretch it, when I have it thin enough I put it down on parchment covered peel. Doing the dough this way leaves you a higher crust around the edge just like they do at your favourite pizza place.

Gerhard

SaltySam · November 2012

Thanks to everyone! I'll make sure to post pics on the next pizza night.

Skiddymarker · November 2012

@SaltySam, late to your post, but didn't see this tip. I trim the paper to the size of my stone, just put the stone on a piece of paper and draw a line around the outside, Trim the paper to be 1/2" less than the stone size, ensures no overhang. Put the paper on the peel. Roll, hand form or whatever the dough to be about the same size as the paper, transfer the dough to it, no flour/meal.

Little Steven · November 2012

gerhardk said:

lensegg said:

I would suggest that instead of your step 2 where you transfer the rolled out dough to the parchment paper, that you roll out your dough directly on the parchment paper, IMHO.

I am a parchment user but I would not suggest rolling anything out on parchment, you would end up pushing the paper around your work surface but the dough would not get much action. Having said that I don't use a rolling pin at all, take the dough ball push down in the middle working it to about 3/4 of an inch of the perimeter, then pick it up to stretch it, when I have it thin enough I put it down on parchment covered peel. Doing the dough this way leaves you a higher crust around the edge just like they do at your favourite pizza place.

Gerhard

I don't roll either, dunno how that came out

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Parchment Paper and pizza...explain this to me one more time

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