Can I use just one size pizza disk?

[redox]

It seems a pizza disk (Lloyds seems to have good ones) needs to be added to my pizza arsenal. A 16 inch disk is the largest my oven can hold. It seems unnecessary to have more than one size. Am I right in assuming that I can just put a 12 inch pizza on the disk, or any other size up to 16 inches?

[mkevenson]

Redox, I don't see why not?
Mark

[redox]

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something obvious that would make it irritating to use for multiple sizes. I don't mind buying stuff I need, I just hate buying something that won't work like I thought. I thought I'd get a 16 inch pizza disk and 12 inch cutter pan (to make a smaller pizza for two people) from Lloyds. Kinda pricey, so I needed to make sure they'd work for me.

[Pete-zza]

Jay,

What kind of pizzas do you have in mind to use with the Lloyd disks and cutter pan, and which specific disks and pans are you looking at?

Peter

[redox]

I bought a couple of nice anodized NSF certified 16 inch cutter pans from some dollar store for almost nothing and I've used them happily. Now I need something for just my wife and me. A 12 inch cutter pan seemed about right since I want to try some thin/cracker crust pizzas.
I didn't see any reason why I couldn't use Lloyd's 16 inch hexagonal pizza disk for smaller pizzas but was afraid that I might have a fatal flaw in my plan that somebody smarter would see immediately. Then if I did need to make a 16 incher, I'd have that capability, too. I thought the ability to easily move the pizza to a higher shelf in the oven could be useful in mid-bake. Oops, I forgot to mention that the disk is to try some American or even NY style in my conventional electric oven. I thought I might get some nice top browning on an upper shelf after starting lower. Also, I don't see me straining the air conditioning this summer by pre-heating my oven for an hour. Also the pizza disk will fit in my gas grill so I'd like to try that.

[Pete-zza]

Jay,

To answer your original question, I have a 16" dark anodized perforated disk (not the hex disk) from PizzaTools (which is related to Lloyd Pans), and I have used it for pizzas smaller than 16". I have done the same with pizza screens. Both the screens and the disks we're engineered for conveyor ovens, not home ovens, although they will work reasonably well in home ovens. I also have a 14" dark anodized nonperforated cutter pan, also from PizzaTools. If you are not looking for a distinct rim, you should be able to use such a pan for a smaller size pizza although I haven't used mine for that purpose. Either way, the cutter pan is a good choice for cracker style pizzas. it's my favorite pan for that style of pizza.

Peter

[redox]

I also have a 14" dark anodized nonperforated cutter pan, also from PizzaTools. If you are not looking for a distinct rim, you should be able to use such a pan for a smaller size pizza although I haven't used mine for that purpose. Either way, the cutter pan is a good choice for cracker style pizzas. it's my favorite pan for that style of pizza.

Peter

I was hoping to use the pizza disk for smaller pizzas. I wasn't intending to use the 12 inch cutter pan for anything but 12 inch pizzas. I'm looking forward to experimenting with both of them. Thanks again for your very helpful input.

[Pete-zza]

Jay,

I just saw your Oops comment. While I haven't used a dark anodized perforated disk for the American style, I believe that it should work for that style. In fact, a few years ago, and as I reported over at the Papa John's clone thread, PJ started to replace its screens with dark anodized perforated disks.

I have not had good results using the dark anodized perforated disk for the New York style. But I have to confess that I haven't spent much time trying to find a solution. The disk should be fine as a carrier, but you might have to slide the pizza off of the disk and onto an oven rack at some point to get better bottom crust browning. Costco uses seasoned perforated disks for its food court pizzas, but they use conveyor ovens and apply heat more uniformly to the pizzas, both top and bottom.

Peter