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[Grilling24x7]

I've been having problems making a perfectly circular pizza.  I realize that will take some time and practice.  However, recently I've been trying to make pizzas that are exactly 15.5 inches in diameter.  I want to max out my pizza stone's diameter.  Last night I made one that probably pushed close to 16 inches.  Certain parts were hanging over the stone and they caused the pizza to be a bit misshapen and deformed looking.  I normally form a dough by flouring it and then pulling with my fists along the circumference of the dough.  This allows me to stretch out the pizza without thinning out the middle too much.  Normally I try to avoid touching the rim to it keeps some size.

I'm curious if anyone has any tips/tricks to getting a perfectly shaped and sized pizza.  I'm thinking about making some marks on my pizza peel so I know how far I can stretch it out.

I also have a 17 inch pizza screen but I haven't tried a NY style recipe on it b/c I still want to enjoy using the stone.  I've heard of some people baking on the screen and then switching to the stone but with my 17 inch situation I can't imagine having 1.5 inch hang off on each side.  This brings up another idea - what would the result be if I made a 17 inch Lehmann dough on my screen and baked in the lowest oven rack at 500 degrees.  Would it have NY style characteristics?

Any thoughts are welcome.
John

[Guts]

I'm curious if anyone has any tips/tricks to getting a perfectly shaped and sized pizza.  I'm thinking about making some marks on my pizza peel so I know how far I can stretch it out.

 Might be a good starting point, Yep place the cold stone on the peel and draw a circle on your peel. sounds good to me.

[Pete-zza]

John,

The pizza sizing issue comes up from time to time at the PMQ Think Tank, as noted, for example, at http://www.pmq.com/tt/viewtopic.php?p=34283#p34283. You will see from the referenced thread that Tom Lehmann recommends using a marker to form circles of the proper sizes on the peel. But, beyond that, I believe that if you were to ask professionals how to achieve perfectly round pizza skins, I believe the answer would be experience and practice (as Tom Lehmann himself noted in the abovereferenced thread). However, for most of us in a home setting, we are unlikely to make enough pizzas to develop dough shaping skills that are consistent from one pizza to the next. One alternative, which I believe would work in your case, is to use your pizza screen in conjunction with your pizza stone, particularly if you want to make pizzas that are larger than your stone can handle. I have several pizza screens of different sizes so I find that I can make perfectly round pizzas by using the proper screens. You can make skins smaller than a particular screen size if you use a tape measure to measure out the skin as it is formed. I discussed some of the possibilities using screen/stone combinations, plus other possibilities, at Reply 45 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,2223.msg20965.html#msg20965.

Another alternative is to use a pizza mold as shown and discussed at http://www.marsalsons.com/default.aspx?pageId=45. Two sizable pizza chains, Sbarro and Papa Gino's, use such molds in their stores. The advantage of such a mold is that it forces you to define the diameter by pressing a flattened dough ball into the mold, especially in the channel at its perimeter. Once the basic shape is achieved, the skin can then be opened up to full size. With some experience, the final skin should be fairly consistently round and of the proper size. Of course, in your case, if you use a peel, the final size of the skin will be limited by the size of your stone.

Peter

[Matthew]

If you are using a 16" peel you can stretch your dough a little smaller, top your pizza & then do a secondary stretch to the peel perimeter prior to baking.

[Pete-zza]

John,

I forgot to mention it in my last post, but if you want to see examples of pizzas made using a pizza mold, check out this thread: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,9410.msg81526.html#msg81526. You will also notice that the pizzas are baked on screens in a deck oven.

Peter

[Grilling24x7]

One alternative, which I believe would work in your case, is to use your pizza screen in conjunction with your pizza stone, particularly if you want to make pizzas that are larger than your stone can handle.

This is where I get lost. I have a 17 inch screen and I would just LOVE to be able to do a 17 inch NY style (I've done awesome Papa Johns clones with it but never a NY in conjunction with the stone).  I don't see how this would work.  Others have suggested baking on the screen to firm up the bottom and then transfer to the stone.  But what about the hang off?  Last night I had hang off and I totally messed with the rim.  Perhaps I'm over thinking the situation.  Would baking on the screen firm up the rim enough where it wouldn't drop down on to the rack that the stone is sitting on?  Obviously I wouldn't be able to hang off by 4 or 5 inches, but I'd like to see if I could hang off maybe 1 inch?  From my experience of hanging off the stone (however never using a screen first) I have had disaster.  I see that you suggest in your link that the pizza is rigid enough to be transferred to the stone.  I will have to try this next.

Look at last night's pie - a little distorted from hanging off the stone.  But, there was no screen first.

Note - the pizza tray that I use in the photo is a 17 incher.  And the pizza stone I have is a 15.5 inch diameter stone.  So you can see that I'm exceeding the stone a bit.

[Pete-zza]

John,

My pizza stone is 14" x 16". That means that the largest pizza I can make directly on that stone is 14". However, if I want to make say, a 16" pizza and also use that stone to get a bottom crust that is more typical of a NY style, I use my 16" pizza screen in conjunction with the stone. I dress the pizza on the 16" screen, bake the pizza (on the screen) on an upper rack position until the rim of the dough expands and starts to turn light brown and the cheeses start to bake, and then move the pizza off of the screen onto the stone. At that point, the crust is firm and will be rigid. It won't bend and droop over the edge of the stone. I have described this method many times before for a NY style. For example, see the pizza in the photo at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6515.msg55855.html#msg55855. As you can see, the pizza is entirely flat. I have used the same method to make 18" pizzas, with an example at Reply 644 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,576.msg55299.html#msg55299.

Instead of the above method, I could have dressed the pizza on the screen and put the combination directly onto the preheated pizza stone. Of course, the pizza on the screen will overlap the stone but that hasn't posed a problem particularly since the lower heating element does not extend beyond the edges of my pizza stone and, hence, isn't in a position to burn the bottom crust overhanging the stone. However, in my oven I have found that I prefer the method described above, mainly because I don't have to wait for the pizza screen to get up to temperature before the pizza starts to bake.  With the above method, I seem to get a better oven spring.

Using either of the above methods won't give you exactly the same results as baking the pizzas directly on a pizza stone of the same size. So, these are compromise solutions. But, for me, they are good enough if I want to make a pizza larger than 14".

Peter

[ThunderStik]

Grillin,
          Im not trying to be an ass but... the easiest trick is to make smaller pies and make them well or just get a bigger stone.

Practice and experience will get you better handling and shaping skills. I make 16" pies, but my stone is 18x20. Im have no interest in makin a good skin and topping it up only to fight and hope I dont have a mishap at the stone. Its not worth it. Eliminate the variable. Just my .02

[Grilling24x7]

Grillin,
          Im not trying to be an ass but... the easiest trick is to make smaller pies and make them well or just get a bigger stone.

Practice and experience will get you better handling and shaping skills. I make 16" pies, but my stone is 18x20. Im have no interest in makin a good skin and topping it up only to fight and hope I dont have a mishap at the stone. Its not worth it. Eliminate the variable. Just my .02

Very good point!  But I'm just messing around and trying to push the limits of my system.  I do have a few pals that have commented on the fact that while my 14 or 15 inch pizzas are amazing they prefer a larger pizza so there is more cheese area.  So I'll give it a shot to see what the screen/stone combo can do.  I'd be happy if I could constantly put out 16 inch pizzas, but I'm hoping that the screen can get me to the 16 inch range!  Mine are all coming out in the 14-15 inch range when I try to stay on my stone.  A few inches, as you know, makes a huge difference in a pizza.