Deep Dish Pizza FAIL

CPARKTX

First attempt at deep dish tonight and tried following recipe from several posts here. Obviously 35 minutes (I actually checked at 30 and found this disaster) at 475 dome wasn't right. Suggestions?

Skiddymarker

475º indirect at the felt line is OK for a really wet almost impossible to work dough, but will be too hot for "standard" pie dough, IMO. 

35-40 minutes is about right for my 10" skillet deep dish. Usual dome temp is around 450º. Did you have enough oil in the pan? Were all the meat toppings pre-cooked and drained?

What kind of cheese did you try?

Scottborasjr

I've never done a deep dish yet, but that temp seems pretty high. I could be terribly wrong. Most of the recipes I've seen call for 425*

Carolina Q

Which recipe? The one I use is from realdeepdish and it is outstanding. I use a Chicago Metallic steel cake pan though ($10, Home Goods) so I don't know anything about a ceramic pan. 

Recipe here...

http://www.realdeepdish.com/RDDHolyGrail.pdf

More info here...

http://www.realdeepdish.com/

Recipe says preheat to 500° and reduce to 450° when you put the pie on. I just do 450° from the beginning.

My pies, even the first attempt, have been awesome and all looked like this. The one I actually did in the egg was almost as good as the oven pies. Almost.

CPARKTX

Must have been too hot. When I went to clean out the deep dish stone, it amazingly came out reasonably easy and didn't stick, so I must have used enough olive oil (don't have Crisco in the house).

Chubbs

If you use a skillet, platesetter or AR with stone, and BGE feet for spacers, 550 for 20 mins has been perfect for me for 50+ pies.

Austin Egghead

The spacers are the key.  Have done one in metal pan and Emile Henry pie plate.  Liked the way the one in the metal pan cooked.  Don't do them very often because other half not fond of deep dish pizzas.

mccoyfish

I'd still eat it!!!  I could eat pizza every single day!!

duck_hunter

I do deep dish in a CI skillet 375 for 30 - 35, plate setter legs up, pizza stone on stainless grid, I'm not sure why I do low and slow for pizza, other than it worked the first time, but have done 50+ this way with good results, i may have to crank it up to and try some at 550

Griffin

What wasn't right about it? Undercooked? Overcooked? I find that most people get so focused on their set up and a certain temperature, that they overlook what kind of dough they are using and what temperature it should be cooked at. Their is no universal pizza cook temp. Each dough has an optimum cooking temp and people need to learn to that little trick.

Skiddymarker

CPARKTX said:

Must have been too hot. When I went to clean out the deep dish stone, it amazingly came out reasonably easy and didn't stick, so I must have used enough olive oil (don't have Crisco in the house).

Not a big fan of Crisco, but it does work at the higher temps, EVOO will burn at the high 400ºs. EVOO will work if you lower the cooking temp but I do find it harder to work the crust into the pan. Crisco is a breeze. With deep dish I also find getting the moisture of the tomatoes right is important to get a firm pie. I reduce the tomatoes in a sauce pan by about 1/3.