What is the best kind of method & pan to bake a pizza on so that the crust gets done on the bottom

Jill Henderson
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12 Comments

sexyLAMBCHOPx January 15, 2014
I agree, Pierno, including their hot dog camouflaged with common condiments. But, hey, love it or leave it, right?
 
pierino January 14, 2014
If you should be lucky enough to eat pizza in Italy you will that it is always sparsely topped. It doesn't have a ton of stuff piled onto it (and definitely not pineapple or Thai chicken). The crust is the star. Often it doesn't even include tomato. Italians would refuse to eat anything like a "deep dish" pizza. They would ask, "what's this casserole you put in front of me?"
 
hardlikearmour January 15, 2014
That may be true, pierino, but not everyone wants to eat Italian-style pizza so the cast iron skillet technique is a good one for those who appreciate a thicker crusted or more heavily topped pizza. Go talk to Chicago :-) !
 
pierino January 15, 2014
Believe me, I love the city of Chicago. There are times when I yearn for it. But deep dish pizza is not an attraction. It's like something thought up by Walter Gropius and Mies Van der Rohe. I call it the Bauhaus pizza.
 
hardlikearmour January 14, 2014
Another option for a thicker crusted pizza is in a cast iron skillet.
Preheat oven to 525º F (or as high as it will go if it's below that). Stretch the dough to fit into your skillet, then place it into the skillet and top it. Bake about 15-20 minutes, broiling at the end if you want to brown the toppings and char the crust. You can get away with a more heavily topped pizza than when you use a pizza stone or pizza steel.
 
gigiaxline January 14, 2014
I like to parbake my crust with a light coating of olive oil [sprinkling of parmesan depending on mood] for about 5 minutes. I then pull it out and top it with sauce, cheese, toppings for final baking. This way you don't end up with the doughy uncooked crust in the middle.
 
kimhw January 13, 2014
I Love Love LOVE my pizza stone!!!!
 
Pegeen January 13, 2014
I've used this "gold" perforated pan and it's terrific. Here's a link to it at Williams-Sonoma but I believe you can also buy it from other sources.
http://bit.ly/1dKGxHb
 
HalfPint January 13, 2014
For me, high heat (500F) and a castiron skillet. Yeah, it's a pan pizza, but the crust is always nice and crisp.

Here's a Food Lab for it:
http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2013/01/the-pizza-lab-the-worlds-easiest-pizza-no-knead-no-stretch-pan-pizza.html
 
nana January 13, 2014
Dough..I like Jim Lahey pizza dough recipe..Very hot oven,500-550, preheated 1hr prior to baking..baking steel(I use one by Stoughton
Steel)..keep topping at a minimum and don't add until ready to pop in oven..set rack 8 inches from top and change setting to broil about a minute prior to adding pizza




 
pierino January 13, 2014
The trick to making real pizza is a screaming hot oven. Professional wood burning ovens can reach 800F, yours can't. Yes, some form of stoneware is best. I use two methods depending on if I'm cooking indoors or out. Indoors I use an Emile-Henry "Flame" pizza stone and crank the oven to 500F.
Outdoors I use a wood burning grill which, using lump charcoal or pieces of oak, I can coax up to over 600F. For the stone I use a piastra which is a single slab of stone about 1" thick.
Be sure that you measure the pizza dough to fit your peel and the stone.
 

Voted the Best Reply!

Monita January 13, 2014
Ideally, a pizza stone is best. But if you don't have one, use the back side of a rimmed baking pan. Put it in the oven 15 minutes before you bake your pie. Then slide the pizza directly on top of the pan.
 
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