Would you agree that, in general, intense short bake times have more puff and less crisp, and vice-versa? I am a bit confused by your statement "never mind the temperature". Please clarify...I thought temps are critical to baking dynamics. At 550 with firebrick, I am just not getting the spring I want.
In general...yes an intense heat gives a short bake time and that heat gives an extreme puff even if you press the rim hard. And in general a short bake time does tend to give a softer rim relative to a longer bake time if using the same hydration ratio/formula. But you can still get a relative crisp shell in a short bake time if the hydration ratio is relative low. An obvious example is if you bake a cracker crust in 60 seconds, it'd still be crunchy and relatively dry. I have eaten a few NP pies that were on the dry side with a crispy shell baked in 70 seconds.
Temperature, relatively speaking is important but (for me) it's easier to think in terms of bake times rather than temps b/c everyone's oven is different in baking dynamics. Back sometime, another member and I got into a heated (pun intended) discussion of whether BF/HG flour will burn at 650F and above. In his oven, it did. In mine it did not, even at 725F. The difference was in the specific oven and the fact that I was baking on Firebrick. Perhaps member Scott123 can speak more on the specific properties of firebrick. Firebrick tends to hold heat well but it's not as conductive as cordierite or say steel. B/c of this characteristic, you can use it to bake at higher temps for longer periods of time without risk of burning the bottom especially if that is where your main source of heat is coming from as in the LBE/MBE.
The downside to firebrick is that it can affect the amount of ovenspring you can get compared to using cordierite or even steel. But remember, ovenspring is affected by a lot things, not just heat. It's mainly heat and relatively wet dough (hydration) and gluten strength. If you can balance these 3 factors you can get huge oven spring with a smaller volume of dough and less heat! YES! When I get the proper gluten development/strength into the dough, it puffs up higher at relatively lower temps and a smaller proofing volume in the dough along with using a less amount of dough.
So if you want to increase your oven spring, I'd say ditch the firebrick. Or even better place a thin steel plate on top of the firebrick and use the firebrick for mass. Increase your hydration by 2% points at a time. As you increase your hydration ratio, you may need to do a few extra cycles of stretch and folds between 10m rest periods after kneading if the dough feels to soft or slack. The dough should feel nice and smooth and hold it's shape after you ball the bulk dough mass. Try a LONG bulk fermentation phase, divide the dough and ball when the bulk has at least doubled. Ball gently as to not deflate the dough, and bake at a slightly higher temp if you can or by switching out the firebrick. Aim for a bake time of 4 if you can. You should have a more enjoyable pizza.
ADY/IDY and CY all work great. Preferments with ADY or IDY work great as well. I woudn't say the spring is higher though, but I'm not sure. You can make stunning pizzas with ADY or IDY. I'd just stick with that until you are so bored of awesome pizza and just want to try something new.
Chau
