What to put on the bottom of pan to prevent sticking

[dlgustjs0822]

Hi guys,

First of all, I want to tell you that I am very new to pizza making.
I am planning to make 2 14" pizzas tomorrow.
I have 2 pizza pans. One is non-sticking pan, and the other one is not.
Do you grease the pizza pan or sprinkle flour on the pan to prevent the dough from sticking?
I want my pizza new york style... foldable!
On my last attempt, for some reason my pizza turned out to be cracker-like on the bottom.. Only on the bottom where it touches the pan!
I really have no idea why that happened.
Do you have any suggestion?
Thanks in advance!   

[scott123]

NY style should not be baked on a pan. It should be launched with a wooden peel onto a pre-heated stone, and preferably a stone with lots of thermal mass and conductivity.

Tell me about your oven. Highest temp on the dial?  Gas or electric? If it's gas, does it have a broiler in the main compartment or is the broiler separate?

[patdakat345]

Mix 1/3 liquid lecithin and 2/3 salad oil ( canola, grape seed) in a jar, shake. What you now have heavier version of Pam. I use a paint brush to apply to screens, trays, pans, sheets, etc. Alittle bit goes a long way. No need to refrigerate.

pat

[The Dough Doctor]

Dig;
To answer your question as to what to put on the bottom of the pan to prevent the crust from sticking, you should season any bright aluminum pan before using it. This is done by setting your oven temperature at 425F, then brushing the pan, inside and out, with salad oil, place the pan in the oven to bake for about 20-minutes. Be sure to place a piece of foil below the pan to catch any oil that might drip off, and be prepared to handle the smoke created by the seasoning process. I like to do this at least twice, the pan should now have a light gold tint to it which will continue to darken to almost black with continued use. DO NOT allow a seasoned pan to soak in water, to do so will make the seasoning peel off like a bad sunburn, you will then need to strip all of the seasoning off of the pan and start all over again. Remember the admonishment about the cast iron skillet? Never wash it! Just wipe it out. This should also apply to a seasoned pizza pan. The darker it gets, the better it bakes. One other thing, you will always need to put just a very thin coating of oil in the pan to allow the baked crust to release properly.
I'm betting the cracker like crust you made was baked in the bright pan. The bright surface reflected heat away from the pizza so you had to bake it longer to get color on the crust, this resulted in extreme drying of the crust, hence the cracker like characteristics.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[Tscarborough]

Find an oil with a smoke point higher than you plan on cooking at and use that on a clean pan or as a seasoning agent.  I wash my pans and my cast iron skillets, with soap and hot water at that.  A well seasoned skillet or pan will wipe 99% clean, but the outside won't, and 99% clean is not good enough for me.

Cast Iron cleaning for tough stuff, like fried cheese grits:

Heat skillet up full of water to just under a boil.
Dump water and scrub under running warm water (I use Scotchbright pads and dish soap).
Rinse, dry and into the cabinets.

[dlgustjs0822]

NY style should not be baked on a pan. It should be launched with a wooden peel onto a pre-heated stone, and preferably a stone with lots of thermal mass and conductivity.

Tell me about your oven. Highest temp on the dial?  Gas or electric? If it's gas, does it have a broiler in the main compartment or is the broiler separate?

Thanks for your reply. I don't have a pizza stone and my oven is electric with the highest temp of 550C.
Does that mean I won't be able to make a NY style pizza even if my dough is perfect?
I guess I will get a pizza stone and a wooden peel then..

[dlgustjs0822]

Dig;
To answer your question as to what to put on the bottom of the pan to prevent the crust from sticking, you should season any bright aluminum pan before using it. This is done by setting your oven temperature at 425F, then brushing the pan, inside and out, with salad oil, place the pan in the oven to bake for about 20-minutes. Be sure to place a piece of foil below the pan to catch any oil that might drip off, and be prepared to handle the smoke created by the seasoning process. I like to do this at least twice, the pan should now have a light gold tint to it which will continue to darken to almost black with continued use. DO NOT allow a seasoned pan to soak in water, to do so will make the seasoning peel off like a bad sunburn, you will then need to strip all of the seasoning off of the pan and start all over again. Remember the admonishment about the cast iron skillet? Never wash it! Just wipe it out. This should also apply to a seasoned pizza pan. The darker it gets, the better it bakes. One other thing, you will always need to put just a very thin coating of oil in the pan to allow the baked crust to release properly.
I'm betting the cracker like crust you made was baked in the bright pan. The bright surface reflected heat away from the pizza so you had to bake it longer to get color on the crust, this resulted in extreme drying of the crust, hence the cracker like characteristics.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation. You said the bright colored aluminum pan needs to be seasoned. If the purpose of seasoning the aluminum pan is to get the color darker, do you recommand buying a dark colored pan? And is it possible to create a NY style pizza from a pizza pan or should I get a pizza stone? When using pizza stone, do you lightly greasy it as well?
Thanks

[rcbaughn]

No grease on a stone ever, you just simply dress the stretched dough on a lightly floured pizza peel and slip it onto a preheated stone. Preheating the stone for a long time, around and hour or so is how long I go, helps to get a crispy crust, good oven spring, and good color.

Now if your making a Pizza Hut pan style pizza that is a different story on greasing a pan up, but since you want a NY style, a pizza stone is needed pretty badly. I got mine for $20 at Bed, Bath and Beyond and have had good luck with it. Will a more expensive stone bake better? Probably, but on a budget you can still crank out a good pizza.

I leave my stone in the oven constantly since it helps regulate the temperature whenever I bake something that requires me opening the door. Helps the stop the heat from dropping suddenly from the stored heat.

[dokpm0]

I don't have a pizza stone and my oven is electric with the highest temp of 550C.

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang, that's an impressive electric oven.  Or, did you mean 550° F?  550° C is around 1,022° F.     I which I had an oven that could come close to that temp.