Pizza - Tell Me Why this is Wrong

Wise One

Tonight I did pizza for the first time. Yes, first time ever. After hearing all the stories about the pizza sticking. I decided to try something. I made my pizza, put my EGGsettera and pizza stone in, got the temp up to about 475 and then put a sheet of that new no-stick aluminum foil on the stone before placing the pizza in the EGG. I let it cook for about 15 minutes and it came off with absolutely no problem. In fact, the problem I almost had was that the pizza almost slid off the board (I have no peal - not 'no appeal' just no peal). [p]All in all the first venture was deemed a success by our German exchange student and me. Next time however, I will maje the crust a little thinner. The good news there is that I can then get four pizzas out rather than two.[p]So, why not use the non-stick foil? It seemed to work great. I put corn mean on it and the pizza just slid off onto the plate and obviously it was simple to just lift the foil off th stone.

The Naked Whiz

Wise One,
BOY DID YOU SCREW UP!! You did something out of the ordinary and got good results. Tut tut. Don't let this happen again![p]The only thing I would guess would be different if you didn't have the foil is that the crust might be a bit crispier. [p]TNW

Wise One

The Naked Whiz, and just to put the fears of the environmentalists at rest, the foil is so clean, I think I will save it for my next pizzas. It was good. My dough wasn't the greatest but I managed to make it work. I might just try that again this week.

Bamabob

Wise One,
HI Bill,your first one sure came out better than mine!Tell me about the new fangled foil,where did you find it?My part of Al. just upgraded from Sears catalogs and corn-cobs so we're a little behind on hi-tech stuff:-) Bob

Mac in NC

Wise One, Thanks for your post! I've been hearing everyone else talk about making pizza, I had to order a stone myself. Problem was , I had no peal either. Thus, the stone has sat untouched now for two months. It just so happens that I have a roll of that non stick foil you refered to. Looks like pizza tomorrow... Mac

Aron

Mac in NC,
Before I got my peel, I just used either a cutting board or a baking tray (anything large enough to hold the pizza). I like the peel because the handle makes it easier to maneuver, but not having a peel shouldn't hold you up. Just make sure to use some cornmeal on the tray and the stone (or try the foil if you wish), and the pizza should slide off when you want.

WessB

Wise One,
I think the idea behind the stone is that it being ceramic, hence porous (sp)...it has some interaction with the moisture in the dough. By using foil I would think you would defeat some of the benefits/reasons in using a pizza stone in the first place.....Just my opinion...I personally never had a pizza stick to the stone, did have a couple stick to the peel when I first started making them, experience will get you through that problem...I would suggest you give it a try once without the foil for a comparison. I normally get enough of the cornmeal coming off the peel when I put the pie on that no extra cornmeal is needed on the stone before adding the pie..HTH[p]Wess

Puj

Bill,[p]WessB has zeroed in on the only "negative" to using foil ... and that is the foil will act as a barrier to the stone's utility to drive high heat into the moist dough to attain a little oven spring and crisping of crust.[p]Parchment paper would be another option except that the paper will ultimately burn and lose strength (actually will rip easily). You would need a peel to get the pizza off of the stone.[p]Outside of that, success is success no matter how its achieved ... now go get a peel! [p]Puj

WessB

Wise One,
I did a google search for a peel...the choices are endless..just look thru and find what tickles your fancy...link attached[p]Wess
[ul][li]Peel search[/ul]