Little help with pizza

Steve-O

While I have been turning out some pretty good pizzas lately, they are still not "perfect". Usually I find that the cheese and toppings are getting done before the crust is quite where I would like it to be. I am using a plate setter and pizza stone, egg at 550¡ and I put the plate setter and stone in 10-15 minutes before the pizza goes on - this is while the egg is still heating up to 550¡. What is needed here to get the crust a little more done along with the cheese - lower temps and longer cooking times or hotter temps and shorter cooking times? I am guessing the former, but would like some eggspert's advise. TIA!

Tim M

Steve-O,[p]Try leaving the stone and setter in a little longer once it reaches the desired temp. Then add the pie. This should allow the setter and stone to be a little hotter and that is what cooks the crust.[p]Tim

Shelby

Steve-O,
550* should be plenty hot enough, provided the stone/plate setter are allowed enough time to heat up. I use a bread dough machine to make my dough. It takes 90 minutes. I set a timer for 45 mins and when it goes off, I start the egg. Once the coals are started, I add the plate setter/stone and they heat for a good 30 mins, giving me a nice, crispy crust.
One question...how thick is your dough?

The Naked Whiz

Steve-O,
As I remember, the guideline is to let any ceramic stone, in your oven or in your egg, heat up for 30 minutes once you reach the cooking temp. I buy unbaked pies from a pizza joint and do them at 550 also, but I let the stone heat for 30 minutes after I get the egg near 550. The pies go for about 7 minutes and come out deeeelish![p]TNW

Steve-O

Shelby,
The dough is not very thick - pretty close to what most places would call thin and crispy. I saw your post below after posting my question and tried it tonight - I added the plate setter and pizza stone as soon as I got the fire going. They were in for a good 20-25 minutes before I added the pizza. It did help. Next time I will leave them in a bit longer before adding the pie.

Shelby

Steve-O,
Don't ya' just hate having to keep eating these slightly less than perfect meals just so you can get it right!

Steve-O

Shelby,
YEP - But somebody's got to do it!

BBQBluesStringer

Steve-O,
The stone bakes the crust, while the air melts the cheese and any other goo you have for toppings. This is key. I suspect your stone is not up to 550 in just 10 minutes. Let it sit for half an hour before you put in your pizza.[p]You can heat your stone way past 550 and then throttle back the air temperature, too. For example, let the stone stabilize at 750F, then cut back the vents to lower the air temperature to 550F. In crunch time I've seen pizza ovens cranked to 1000F with no real difference in the quality of the pizza. You've got lots of room to experiment. Even your mistakes are fun to eat![p]BBS-