hey,
Just thought I'd make a new topic with this oven.
Turns out although the oven can indeed reach high temperatures, it's a real b*tch to get your pizza to cook evenly as a whole because typically the stone will absorb -and in turn emit- loads of heat which tends to bake the bottom much faster than the top. As a result, the crust is often times still white whilst everything else is baked through.
With that in mind, I've been trying to tweak the parameters so as to try and nullify these adverse effects.
This time round, I tried a different technique. I put the heat knob (which goes from 0 to 3 1/2) on 1 with the lid open so that the heating element in the lid would not send too much heat to the stone (it is usually recommended to preheat the oven, closed, on 2 1/2 for 10 minutes.) After a 10 minute preheat, I popped the pizza in without the cheese. I brushed the rim of the pizza with olive oil beforehand, hoping for faster coloration. Once in the oven, I immediately cranked the heat up to the max in order to activate the upper heating element whilst the stone would (theoretically) not be too hot. A couple minutes before taking the pizza out, I added the cheese. Below, are the pics of the 2 pizzas I made today. The first, a Margherita (with a few black olives). The second, with Italian salami, Parma ham and mushrooms.
I must say although I'm light years away from pizza perfection, the taste and texture was like nothing I ever obtained. The dough was tasty, light and the perfect combination of chewiness/crispiness. The looks are still very average. As you see, that bloody crust still doesn't brown easily enough. Maybe this oven is just not made for it. I think I can forget leoparding with this oven. But hey, it was good and the dough nicely baked. Overall, it's a decent (though not HUGE) step forward taste and texture-wise. All in all, the aesthetics are still largely absent :/
