Pizza Stone / Homemade Pizza Advice

TallBoy29er · Post by **TallBoy29er** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:52 pm

Hey all -
In the past, I've read in certain threads about pizza stones that others have recommended. I've tried searching, but cannot find those prior threads. If you have a pizza stone that you enjoy, or if there is any other homemade pizza advice that you think is worth sharing, please do. Our family loves spending Friday night hanging out making dinner, so all thoughts are welcome.

Much appreciated -

tainted-meat · Post by **tainted-meat** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:56 pm

What has/has not worked for us:

heat the pizza stone before using
put some corn meal on it before the dough
don't use whole wheat dough that needs kneading

because it breaks part too easily
heat up the crust after kneading in the oven to make it crisp
don't use too much sauce or the pizza falls apart in your hand
if you use vegetables cook them in a skillet first or the water also breaks the crust apart
pepperoni goes under the cheese (personal preference)

when used correctly it's much better than a pan

Enjoy, we love ours!

jebmke · Post by **jebmke** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:06 pm

I do pizza on the grill. No stone, no pan, no mess.

tainted-meat · Post by **tainted-meat** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:10 pm

^^^Going to have to try that this summer.

good thread btw and I look forward to the responses.

TallBoy29er · Post by **TallBoy29er** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:13 pm

jebmke wrote:I do pizza on the grill. No stone, no pan, no mess.

Could you please elaborate? I have a Weber grill. It heats well, and gives pretty accurate temps. How do you make grill pizza?

livesoft · Post by **livesoft** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:14 pm

I used to work in a pizza joint. I was often the only worker in the establishment, so I did everything that you can imagine in a small diner that was mainly selling pizza for eat-in and take-out. We also sold unbaked pizzas that we made. Folks would put down a small deposit on the pans, but could bake them at home. After a pizza was cooked, we removed from the pan and toasted the bottoms on oven brick. I suppose one could do the same thing at home.

I do pizza on the phone now. We used to make it at home and we have a pizza stone. The problem is that it costs more to make homemade pizza than to buy them from the local pizza places.

I wonder if there is a better family meal that the family can make on Friday nights. For instance, we had salads tonight, so that involves some of the same things that pizzas involve: knives for instance. One could make homemade bread, too. My son makes crockpot meals at home because that is what he learned to make in college, so that is another possibility.

TallBoy29er · Post by **TallBoy29er** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:21 pm

livesoft wrote: I wonder if there is a better family meal that the family can make on Friday nights.

You always have a twist. Nice. Two points you made I'd like to address. 1. Buying pizza, not making pizza, can be cheaper. I agree COMPLETELY. But teaching my kids how to fry veggies, roll dough, and use the oven, cannot be accomplished by my local pizzeria. And making is more fun. Call it my price to admission for the movies. 2. Is there a better meal to be had on Friday nights for a family? Well, pizza can be pretty healthy. I run ultras and do 100+ mile bike rides, as does my wife who can smoke me on foot; my kids and wife and I go for long hikes, and they happily walk w/out being picked up. You have a fair question, but we can maintain health and all the while still eat pizza.

Cheers to you all!

Teague · Post by **Teague** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:22 pm

Half-inch sheet rolled steel, scrap bought for 75c/lb at local steel yard. Guaranteed not to break!
pizzamaking.com, a great resource for the home pizzaiolo.

TallBoy29er · Post by **TallBoy29er** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:35 pm

tainted-meat wrote:What has/has not worked for us:

heat the pizza stone before using

Thanks! What temp do you heat to prior to placing the dough on it?

renue74 · Post by **renue74** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:40 pm

I bought a kettle pizza insert for my weber grill. It lets you slide the pizza into the grill without taking the top off and losing heat.

I take 4-5 pieces of oak and lay in the back of the weber and let them burn. The grill gets up to about 800 degrees. I use a standard plain ole pampered chef stone in the grill. My wife hates me because I've basically burned it to a black unrecognizable stone.

The only problem I have is my pizzas seem too "fat." I need to roll the dough out thinner.

I found a great gorgonzola and carmelized onion pizza recipe. It's takes a long time because of the caramelizing of the onions, but it has a great flavor.

tainted-meat · Post by **tainted-meat** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:43 pm

TallBoy29er wrote:
tainted-meat wrote:What has/has not worked for us:

heat the pizza stone before using
Thanks! What temp do you heat to prior to placing the dough on it?

about 450 for about 10 minutes or so. basically, you want it really hot (don't touch it though because it holds heat for a long time)

livesoft · Post by **livesoft** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:46 pm

TallBoy29er wrote:2. Is there a better meal to be had on Friday nights for a family?

I wasn't thinking healthy, but was thinking more instructive which I see is something you hinted at. How about Breakfast for Dinner? Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Pancakes, Waffles, Oatmeal, Cinnamon rolls, Omelets, mmmm. I made myself hungry because, after all, a salad just doesn't cut it.

TallBoy29er · Post by **TallBoy29er** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:07 pm

livesoft wrote:
TallBoy29er wrote:2. Is there a better meal to be had on Friday nights for a family?
I wasn't thinking healthy, but was thinking more instructive which I see is something you hinted at. How about Breakfast for Dinner? Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Pancakes, Waffles, Oatmeal, Cinnamon rolls, Omelets, mmmm. I made myself hungry because, after all, a salad just doesn't cut it.

Fair enough, I like your train of thought. Although, "hinted" is a bit conservative, as I believe i was pretty explicit.

Nosotros estamos en acuerdo.

tigermilk · Post by **tigermilk** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:17 pm

Step 1 - buy a Fibrament stone. More expensive than big box stones, and they stink he first time heated (you have to "cook" them before their first use), but it's the best stone I've used.
Step 2 - make a polish with 50 grams each of water and bread flour. Add under a gram of yeast. Stir up, cover, and let sit for 8+ hours, the longer the better
Step 3 - to the polish you made in step 2, add 80 grams 00 flour, 45 grams bread flour, 3 grams yeast, and 5 grams salt. Mix in 60 grams of warm water, knead, and let rest for 90-120 minutes. Note, steps 2 and 3 yield 1 pizza.
Step 4 - preheat over to 500 with the Fibrament stone pretty close to the broiler element.
Step 5 - add toppings, slide onto stone, and turn the over to broil
Step 6 - cook, eut, eat, and enjoy

Mrs.Feeley · Post by **Mrs.Feeley** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:20 pm

I have this one:

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products ... DUCTSEARCH

Pre=heat at 400F for about a half hour. Some say an hour. I leave it in the oven all the time.

noraz123 · Post by **noraz123** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:23 pm

I used to swear by a baking stone, as they work great. I would highly recommend that if you use one,preheat it for 15-20 minutes at as high a temperature as you can. HOT, YOU WANT HOT. Pizza should cook quickly (7 minutes or less).

However, another thread on this forum pointed me to using a baking steel. Same as the stone, but more heat capacity and faster heat transfer. I preheat it for about 20 minutes at as high a temperature as I can. Pizza cooks in about 3-4 minutes and turns out great.

I used to make my own dough,but have since found Trader Joe's pizza dough to be almost as good with much less work.

Letting dough come to room temperature before handing works best for me.

VaR · Post by **VaR** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 11:01 pm

I am also a convert from the baking/pizza stone to a pizza steel.

emilyinsf · Post by **emilyinsf** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 11:25 pm

We love making homemade pizza. For the dough, we use the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day olive oil recipe but without the pan of hot water to create steam that they recommend. It makes about 5 pizzas. It might not be the best recipe out there, but it is easy and forgiving with time, so we like it. We don't try to slide the pizza onto the stone any more. It required too much flour/cornmeal and would stick if left out for topping too long, which made it difficult for the kids to "help". Instead, we make the pizza on parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet. You can slide the parchment and pizza easily off the cookie sheet and into the oven. Then slide the parchment out from under the pizza as soon as the dough is set (a few minutes) so that the crust crisps.

We cook it at 475. At 500, the crust would burn before the top was done.

The kids prefer tomato sauce (crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, and salt cooked for 10 hours on low in the crockpot and frozen in small containers), cheese, and pepperoni. The adults like the kale pizza here: http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the- ... pizza.html

We tried the grill years ago and never got it quite right. We'll have to try again this year.

noraz123 · Post by **noraz123** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 11:48 pm

tainted-meat wrote:What has/has not worked for us:
if you use vegetables cook them in a skillet first or the water also breaks the crust apart

+1 for this. For toppings like onions and peppers, I will often put them in the oven while the steel is heating up for a few minutes. This helps remove some water so they don't ruin crust, and also ensure that they are done in the few minutes its takes the pizza to cook.

Leeraar · Post by **Leeraar** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 1:07 am

We have a stone that I don't use. It just lives in the oven to provide thermal mass.

We have gravitated to thin-crust pizza made on 18 inch round perforated steel pans.

Dough: Flour, water, salt, yeast. No oil, no egg. Make dough (3 c flour, 2 t yeast), let it sit for an hour. (I add 1 t Italian herbs and 1 t garlic powder to the dough.) Divide in two, roll / form into thin sheets on two 18 inch pans / trays. Preheat oven to 450 while you assemble the pizzas.

Spread 1/2 c tomato sauce on each crust, and reserve 1 c Italian shredded cheese for each. Go easy on the toppings.

1. Diced fresh pineapple, deli ham. Top with cheese.

2. Fresh spinach leaves, goat cheese. Fresh sliced mushrooms, optional. Top with cheese.

3. Omit tomato sauce. Fresh spinach leaves, goat cheese. Top with cheese. Beat 1 egg with 1/2 eggshell of water, drizzle over the pizza.

Bake at 450 for about 12 minutes.

It's fun to let the kids create and assemble their own, and to explore things like deep dish Chicago style.

L.

mjdaniel · Post by **mjdaniel** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 7:38 am

I used to use a pizza stone until it cracked and cost a lot to replace. I have been using unglazed quarry tile for years now. The tiles are placed on the rack in the lower oven and stay there whether I am cooking pizza or something else in that oven. They are very inexpensive and if one breaks, you just replace the one tile. I used to be able to buy at Home Depot, but they don't carry them anymore, so the latest case I purchased was from a flooring store. I preheat the oven to 500 and leave for 30 to 45 minutes so the tiles are good and hot. I set the timer for 12 minutes and may leave it in for 1-2 minutes more depending upon how it looks. At Home Depot, I was able to purchase individually, so I bought what I needed. At the flooring store had to buy a case, but still not very expensive.

jebmke · Post by **jebmke** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 8:03 am

TallBoy29er wrote:
jebmke wrote:I do pizza on the grill. No stone, no pan, no mess.
Could you please elaborate? I have a Weber grill. It heats well, and gives pretty accurate temps. How do you make grill pizza?

Pretty much the same way you'd do it in the oven.

I heat the grill (Weber gas) to 425-450. Make sure it gets up to temp and stays for a while so the grill body is fully heated.

I slide the crust onto the grill using a wood paddle with a little corn meal that acts like ball bearings. Cook the crust for 5-10 minutes until tan on the bottom, flip and put on the toppings. Cook another ~10 minutes or so.

Normally we will saute topping ingredients like zucchini, mushrooms, peppers etc before hand to sweat out the moisture. We rarely use any meat other than a little prosciutto -- if I used anything like sausage I'd pre-cook it most of the way first.

TheGreyingDuke · Post by **TheGreyingDuke** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 8:41 am

Here is my list;

1) Make the dough using 00 Italian flour if you can find it reasonably priced.

2) Prepare the dough and then retard its rise by placing it in the refrigerator for 8-24 hours (you can then freeze some for future use)

3) This little unit has transformed my pizza: http://uuni.net/, it gets to 900 degrees (F) and gets you the char that only high heat can get you. Pizza is done in 3 minutes

szmaine · Post by **szmaine** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 8:49 am

I read about the pizza steel but wasn't going to fork over $100 for it. I found a local steel yard and got piece of 1/4" cold rolled cut to fit my oven for a mere $13. You need an inch or two space side to side for circulation, front to back takes care of itself being limited to fitting on the shelf. Someone mentioned 1/2 steel..IMHO, this is just too heavy to be moving around.

The method, in a nutshell is to heat the oven as high as it will go for an hour, usually 500 (though my oven is 50 degrees high so even better) with the steel set on the shelf about 8 inches from the broiler element. After you launch the pizza on the steel (I use parchment paper on the peel because I haven't mastered using the peel alone) you need to turn on the broiler to get the top browned before the bottom burns. The oven door will need to be propped slightly open with a metal utensil or the broiler will not go on with temp already so high.

It takes some practice but I did turn out really nice NY style pizzas right away in about 5-6 minutes. It is really fun too. Here's a thorough article on the method.

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2 ... ivers.html

Edit: you gotta clean up that steel really well and season it before use. Lots of hot soapy water first, wipe with acetone, rinse repeat until you cannot get any black residue what so ever. Then heat smoking hot on the top burners rubbing with oil and cloves of garlic. Also the edge will need to be filed smooth as the cut edges can be sharp.

szmaine · Post by **szmaine** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:11 am

Teague wrote:Half-inch sheet rolled steel, scrap bought for 75c/lb at local steel yard. Guaranteed not to break!
pizzamaking.com, a great resource for the home pizzaiolo.

+1 Excellent resource!

szmaine · Post by **szmaine** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:14 am

renue74 wrote:I bought a kettle pizza insert for my weber grill. It lets you slide the pizza into the grill without taking the top off and losing heat.

I take 4-5 pieces of oak and lay in the back of the weber and let them burn. The grill gets up to about 800 degrees. I use a standard plain ole pampered chef stone in the grill. My wife hates me because I've basically burned it to a black unrecognizable stone.

The only problem I have is my pizzas seem too "fat." I need to roll the dough out thinner.

I found a great gorgonzola and carmelized onion pizza recipe. It's takes a long time because of the caramelizing of the onions, but it has a great flavor.

You need to learn to stretch out the dough and give up rolling. It's not that hard with nice elastic dough.

Can you share that recipe? It sounds killer!

mkc · Post by **mkc** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:15 am

Another convert from stone to steel. Not just for pizza but for bread as well. I saw an immediate improvement in oven spring even baking at the same temperatures. I think the recommended steel "variety" is A36 if you have access/can DIY vs. bakingsteel.com.

Also a huge fan of pizzamaking.com. The folks on their forum are incredibly helpful (just like BH).

Michelle

Atilla · Post by **Atilla** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:26 am

Using a cast iron pan works well.

rustymutt · Post by **rustymutt** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:30 am

More important than a stone for pizza, is the flour you use. You want 00 milled flour. This gives the elasticity to flour, salt, water mix and makes the best crunchy crust I've ever had. You may have to special order this type of flour. Then use lots of olive oil on whatever you cook it on. Also infuse the flour with garlic flavored olive oil for extra yummy pizza. I like keeping the pizza less than 12 inches for handling it easier. Cook temp as hot as your oven goes, 550 here. In and out in about 5 minutes. Don't crowd the toppings. I even mix a whole wheat flour in 50/50 ratios, still turns out crunchy and crisp. I've also used a dark colored no stick pizza pan that worked very well. Didn't even preheat it. But do use garlic infused olive oil in the bottom of this pan.

EvelynM · Post by **EvelynM** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:23 am

Please don't scoff!

But I use Trader Joe's pizza dough (the herb dough is great) and make my pizza on a large floured cookie sheet - 500 degree oven. The pizza is wonderful! I make a large pizza every week and have it for breakfast (I work on a farm and need something substantial early in the morning). I use: pesto sauce combined with tomato paste/garlic/onions/mushrooms/bell peppers/black olives/tofu/oregano/mozz cheese. Very hearty and delicious. I just don't have the time to fool with making dough and using a stone, although I admire people who do!

BIGal · Post by **BIGal** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:30 am

Big Green Egg (large). Plate setter (ceramic addition to purchase with BGE). Warm up to 550 or 600. Betty Crocker dough that you mix up. Pepperoni and hamburger (our favorite). Spread dough on parchment paper (a must so it will not stick to the plate setter) trim edges of parchment slightly. Open BGE sloooooly to avoid flash....transfer pizza on parchment to plate setter...cook for 8 minutes...check crust and remove or cook for another minute or two......You will love it....

mjdaniel · Post by **mjdaniel** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:36 am

I also use Trader Joe's ready pizza dough. Also use their pizza sauce, (skim mozzarella, or smoke mozzarella, or mozzarella in liquid), anchovies, organic basil, and Italian sausage. There are times I will make my own dough or pizza sauce, but I like the convenience of walking out of the store with everything I need plus it tastes good.

AnonJohn · Post by **AnonJohn** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:54 am

As very infrequent poster, but avid forum reader (who has learned a lot - thanks bogleheads!): Finally, a thread where I can give back!

The simple answer: +1 to tigermilk. Fibrament stones are excellent.

The complicated answer: It depends on what kind of pizza you like. If you like deep-dish (Chicago style), very good results can be had with a cast iron skillet. For pan pizza, I'd recommend the lodge logic cast iron pan. For grilled pizza: Directly on the grill, as was mentioned, is great, just use copious amounts of olive oil to work the dough, instead of flour. You can also use the lodge pan to good effect on the grill.

Assuming you like thin crust (since you were asking about a stone), more advice.
1. Use a peel. If you only get one peel, make it wood. If two, metal is better for removing the pizza, but not for insertion. Use semolina or corn meal on the peel.
2. Hotter the better: 550+, and preheat at least 20 minutes.

Now that we're warmed up, let's get into this! First, I learned 80% of what I do from Jeff Varasano's epic "War and Peace of pizza blog posts". His blog has change, but a lot of the info on his site: http://www.varasanos.com/pizzarecipe.htm

For the dough, I keep a sourdough starter in the fridge. Works perfectly if you make pizza weekly. I make dough in a mixer, using the starter. I can post the recipe if anyone is into sourdough. It rises in two round, oiled, ziplok containers for several hours, until partially doubled. Then it goes in the fridge for 2-4 days, until I'm ready to use it. The flexibility is nice. Just take it out a few hours before use. If it's less risen, leave more time, or the opposite. This sourdough approach is similar to tigermilk's polish, which is slightly simpler, but might not yield as nuanced a crust without lactobacilli. I expect my approach and his/her's would generally produce similar results with experience. Tigermilk: I've not tried broiler + Fibrament. Intriguing!

The sourdough approach is finicky, but with experience allows great results with ordinary flour. You can make your own starter or buy one. Both easy enough.

The Varasano approach to dough is great. You work the somewhat wet dough into shape, e.g. on silicone mats, tugging with your fingers. Easy, and unlike a roller, you leave pockets of air for nice bubbles in the crust.

Sauce:
I keep mine simple. One 14 oz can of the best tomatoes I can get (usually home canned) + 1 can paste + some garlic. Puree in small food processor. I also recommend Don Pepino's sauce. If you can get it in the 5lb can at a wholesaler it's quite cheap.

Protip from the Silver Spoon: Before saucing the dough, or even putting it on the peel, mist the top well with olive oil. Helps avoid sticking together, but also improves the cooking of the dough at residential oven temperatures.

Cheese: I'm going to bow out here. I like mixes with some provolone. But these days I sadly keep my saturated fat intake down. Obviously I can't give up pizza, so I made these changes: Before cheesing the pizza, I sprinkle the sauce liberally with nutritional yeast. Then I put on some NO FAT mozzarella. (Yes, horrible in principle, but it works out OK). Then I top with some fattier cheese (moz, parm, cheddar, prov, whatever's handy). You need the fat on top to prevent the cheese from crusting weirdly. Believe it or not, I think this is at least 90% as good as a traditional approach.

Toppings: Nothing useful, although if you're in pursuit of low fat pizza, I can say that seitan pepperoni doesn't suck. It's like a slice of pepperoni flavored meatball. Which is weird but tasty. Can recommend a recipe if anyone wants it.

Final health note: I've recently had some success mixing in (~25%) Bob's Redmill 10 grain flour. I like the results a little better than just mixing in whole wheat.

Final advice: Some pizzerias, including Bertucci's, will sell you their dough. Can be an easy short cut to good results.

@TheGreyingDuke - thanks for that link!

Leeraar · Post by **Leeraar** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 11:26 am

I saw somewhere where someone had hacked the self-clean cycle on their oven so they could bake their pizza at 900 degrees.

I get bread flour at Costco ($13 for 50 lbs) and instant yeast at Gordon Food Service ($7 a lb). The point about instant yeast is that you don't need to proof it.

L.

btenny · Post by **btenny** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 12:05 pm

This is my next purchase for my grill next summer. A "pizza box". The key thing is it has hot covers above and below so it cooks from all sides like a real pizza oven. We have tried the single sided inside oven pizza stone and weber one sided pizza stone and both cook the pizza mostly from the bottom so the pizza is just not done right.

http://www.amazon.com/BakerStone-O-AHXX ... B00GJIEBDO

3504PIR · Post by **3504PIR** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 7:27 pm

I bake pizza on my green egg using a pampered chef stone I "narrowed" from my wife. The stone is great as it has a metal rack to pick it up and move it around. I dust the stone with flour before placing the dough. I use only a single chip of hickory for wood flavor. I've found that too much wood will absorb into the dough and over flavor the pizza.

c078342 · Post by **c078342** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 7:50 pm

^^^Going to have to try that this summer.

Summer? You are in Kentucky. We're in Connecticut and grill out all year. Last couple of winters has required a few days hiatus due to the grill being snowed under. But ...

Grilled pizza is tasty. Roll the dough out, put it on the grill until it starts to blister a bit. Take it off, flip it and brush with EVOO, build pizza on the grilled/oiled side and put it back on until it's done. Yummy and easy.

Kosmo · Post by **Kosmo** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:32 pm

The sauce makes or breaks the pizza. Don't use jarred sauce from the store, make your own. Crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, olive oil, seasonings to taste.

nyclon · Post by **nyclon** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:43 pm

TallBoy29er wrote:Hey all -
In the past, I've read in certain threads about pizza stones that others have recommended. I've tried searching, but cannot find those prior threads. If you have a pizza stone that you enjoy, or if there is any other homemade pizza advice that you think is worth sharing, please do. Our family loves spending Friday night hanging out making dinner, so all thoughts are welcome.

Much appreciated -

We use a silicone baking mat like this one http://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Non-Stick ... B00629K4YK

It creates delicious crusts and evenly bakes.

For pizza sauce try putting the following in a saucepan to saute for 30 minutes: dicE a few fresh tomatoes, a little water, minced garlic, basil and a touch of salt and olive oil.

Enjoy!

GreenGrowTheDollars · Post by **GreenGrowTheDollars** » Sun Jan 17, 2016 3:02 pm

Now I'm hungry. Again.

tennisplyr · Post by **tennisplyr** » Sun Jan 17, 2016 4:50 pm

I think less is more. Not too much tomato sauce, not too much dough. For me, garlic and olive oil @400 degrees for about 20 minutes. My fav is with some pepperoni. PS, I'm Italian and have been doing this for decades.

dratkinson · Post by **dratkinson** » Sun Jan 17, 2016 7:10 pm

A recent episode of America's Test Kitchen had favorable things to say about a pizza steel. Don't remember which.

Scrap steel is .50/lb here.

I cook my store-bought pizza in the oven (electric) on a broiler pan/tray. Broiler tray is thin and gets hot fast, and holes ensure bottom crust is never soggy. Closest thing to cooking on a bare oven rack, without the cleanup mess. Don't recall looked to see if pizza bottom was toasty brown. Twenty minutes to heat oven (oven temp is off*, but hanging gauge helps dial it in), 10 minutes to cook pizza. (*Temp became off after using oven's self-cleaning cycle to burn off crud on thrift-shop found cast-iron skillet. Never again.)

The Broncos are playing. Maybe pizza and salad tonight.

For a salad, I like raw spinach, drizzle with (bottled) lime juice, sprinkled with grated Parmesan and crumbled Gorgonzola cheese.

Suddenly I'm hungry.

Beck49 · Post by **Beck49** » Sun Jan 17, 2016 8:17 pm

We make a lot of pizza at home, but what works for us may not work for you. I recently ran across a website of someone who is absolutely fanatical about making pizza. What you may find helpful is that he tries so many variations of dough, sauce, temperature, etc. so you get a more comprehensive analysis. I certainly learned a few things. Good luck.

http://www.varasanos.com/pizzarecipe.htm

HAMnEGGr · Post by **HAMnEGGr** » Sun Jan 17, 2016 10:43 pm

Pizza Steel is the way to go. For cheaper, the lodge cast iron pizza pan does a great job (much better than a stone in my opinion)...

My method before I built a wood fired pizza oven:

-put one oven rack on absolute lowest level of oven just above heating element
-put another rack 4-6 inches from broiler
-turn oven on to 550 and put pizza steel on lowest rack
-heat steel for a good 45-60 mins until it is saturated with heat
-then switch oven to broiler
-meanwhile prepare pizza (takes broiler a few minutes to get fired up too)
-then slide pizza onto pizza steel
-place under broiler for 2-5 minutes
-finito!

HAMnEGGr · Post by **HAMnEGGr** » Sun Jan 17, 2016 10:48 pm

rustymutt wrote:More important than a stone for pizza, is the flour you use. You want 00 milled flour. This gives the elasticity to flour, salt, water mix and makes the best crunchy crust I've ever had. You may have to special order this type of flour. Then use lots of olive oil on whatever you cook it on. Also infuse the flour with garlic flavored olive oil for extra yummy pizza. I like keeping the pizza less than 12 inches for handling it easier. Cook temp as hot as your oven goes, 550 here. In and out in about 5 minutes. Don't crowd the toppings. I even mix a whole wheat flour in 50/50 ratios, still turns out crunchy and crisp. I've also used a dark colored no stick pizza pan that worked very well. Didn't even preheat it. But do use garlic infused olive oil in the bottom of this pan.

00 flour is for Neapolitan wood fired pizza. Waste of money for home pizza makers who cannot get an oven to 900 degrees... If I were baking a pizza in a standard oven, I would get the highest gluten flour I could find...

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:06 am

I bake our pizzas on our Kamado grill. Lump charcoal at about 650 degrees or so makes the absolute best!

Here's my method: http://kamadojim.com/classic-margherita-pizza-recipe/

lthenderson · Post by **lthenderson** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:26 am

Like many others above, I use a large square pizza stone set close tot he broiler with the oven set as high as it goes. I let mine preheat about a half hour before cooking my first pizza. The one new thing I would contribute is that I like to put a lot of ingredients on my pizzas and had a hard time sliding them onto the baking stone so close to the broiler. I eventually found the following:

http://www.amazon.com/New-EXO-Super-Pee ... +composite

It allows me to put the pizza into the oven effortlessly without every spilling a topping or burning a hand.

One of our favorite pizzas to wow people with is a crab rangoon pizza. You can google up several recipes online that are quite good. Another thing I like to do is instead of using a tomato sauce to make a spiced garlic oil sauce in place of it. To about a quarter cup of good olive oil in a pan on the stove I add an entire bulb of minced garlic, basil, oregano, a dollop of anchovy paste, red pepper flakes as desired and stir until fragrant. I let it cool and then sauce my pizza crust with it. I almost ever use tomato sauce anymore on pizza.

AddingUp · Post by **AddingUp** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:53 am

I have this pizza stone, and I highly recommend it.

http://www.pamperedchef.com/shop/Stonew ... Stone/1350

rixer · Post by **rixer** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:13 am

Here's how we do it.

We get a pack of frozen cheese pizza's from Costco. Then we slice up pepperoni, mushrooms and whatever else we want or have available to load upon top of the frozen cheese pizza.

Next, I place it in the Traeger smoker/grill on high for about 15 minutes and viola! It's Pizza Time.

TnGuy · Post by **TnGuy** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:49 am

America's Test Kitchen recommendations:

Pizza Stone - Old Stone Oven 4467 14-Inch by 16-Inch Baking Stone

Baking Steel - Baking Steel - by Stoughton Steel

David