Cooking

[Ron]

Browsing through the forums here has confused me somewhat.  So I was wondering, I read where someone suggested placing your pizza on the bottom rack of the oven at 500.  If you do this this, do you have it set to broil?  I assume yes because having it that close to the element would burn the bottom rather quickly, no?   And one more, I did a search for the "window pane" test but couldn't find an answer to what it means, only references to people doing it.


Cheers

Ron

[Ron]

Anyone???

[Steve]

Ron,

I now put my stone about 2 notches from the top. That way I can turn on the broiler when the pizza is just about done to finish off the top. And, hot air rises, so it's safe to assume that the upper part of the oven will be the hottest. Make sure you give your stone a good hour to preheat.

Steve

[varasano]

Steve,

FYI, I say in my recipe to move the stone to the top, but recently moved it to the middle and it's pretty much the same. The games I play with foil are more relevant than the stone position, I think.

Jeff

[LeeB]

I use to cook with my stone in the middle with the temp around 450 - 460.  Then I started reading that most of the guys were doing 500 and greater with the stone on the lowest rack.  The last 2 pizzas I have done with the temp at 500, stone with pizza on the bottom and an additional stone 2 racks down from the top to help maintain the heat and cooked for 10 minutes. The crust has been great, however the cheese was totally white on both pizzas. 

The taste was good but I'm trying to figure out where to go next so I can get the cheese to brown up a bit.

[Pete-zza]

LeeB,

A few thoughts come to mind. One, you can bring your cheese out early to warm up before using so that it will cook faster (it may help though to slice the cheese while it is cold, if you are using the cheese in sliced form). Second, put the cheese (sliced or otherwise) on top of the sauce so as to be more exposed to direct heat. Third, select a cheese that is known for its quick browning characteristics. Fourth, let the pizza bake longer if it isn't in danger of burning on the bottom. Fifth, you can turn on the broiler and move the pizza under the broiler for the final minute or two of baking, and pull out the pizza when the cheeses are suitably browned. The broiler can be turned on when the pizza goes into the oven, or part way through the bake time, which is what I do when I use the two-stone method. You may have to experiment with positioning of the stones and use of the broiler to get the best results from your particular oven.

Peter

[LeeB]

Thanks for the input Peter,  If I remember correctly don't you usually cook yours on the bottom for around 7 minutes and then pull the pizza out and place it on the top stone?  It sounded like your top stone was basically placed in the middle of the oven, rack second from the top.  And one more, when you place it on the top stone under the broiler, you do close the oven door for the additional 2 minutes right?

[Pete-zza]

LeeB,

I have been using the two-stone method most recently for the Neapolitan style pizzas using the Caputo and other 00 flours. The bottom stone is placed on the lowest rack position and the upper stone is placed on the second rack position down from the top. I could go up one level higher but that might put the pizza too close to the broiler element. With the Neapolitan style pizzas (about 10-12-inches in diameter) I have been using about 5-7 minutes on the bottom stone, or just until the crust starts to brown and everything on the pizza is getting bubbly. I then move the pizza to the top stone under the broiler for further browning of the crust and cheese--about another minute or two. At this point, I leave the oven door open a bit, just to be able to closely monitor the progress so the cheeses don't overbrown. I usually have the opposite problem to yours, i.e, the cheeses browning too quickly. But that's another topic in itself.

Peter