Cooking temp's

[RockyMarciano]

I was making pizza with one of my buddy's at my house and I just know how to cook them on a oven like the deck oven's at work not a house oven.  At work the oven is around 500, and my home gas oven goes up to 550 before broil, I suggested cooking it at 500, and my buddy said that it would burn it and I should cook it at 350 because the home oven is different than the one at work.  So I compromised and cooked it at 450 for about 12 minutes and then I broiled for 2 minutes,  I must say the broiling was a mistake because it just browned the cheese faster and the bottom didn't char like I wanted it to, though it turned out great it could of been better.  What tempatures and times should I be using?  Comments and opinions ?

[chiguy]

 Hey Rocky Mar,
 You're friend is correct, the home oven is different than a pizzaria oven. I always felt heat challenged with my home oven. I heat my oven to 550F for at least 45 min, the stone is well heated by then. I slide it on the stone at bake it for 6-7 minutes. I would never try and cook a pizza at 350F in any oven, that is not hot enough. A 350F temp is for baking cakes not pizza. A pizza dough with balanced ingrediant's will not burn even well above 550F. With all this being said, every oven may bake a bit differently. Here is a pic of a crust bottom at 550F.  Goodluck Chiguy   

[RockyMarciano]

I don't use a stone, I use a pan.  Also my oven is gas and doesn't really need to preheat that long.  So what would be a good tempature for me?  I don't plan on going past 500, even though I could, at work we cook them at 500, and at my old work they cooked them at 450.

[Hi Gluten]

Hi RockyMarciano,

When I make pan pizzas, the oven temp is usually between 425-500F. It's variable depending on the recipe used as well on the oven used. I use heavy duty dark commercial pizza pans. The trick is to go high enough to get the bottom where you want it without getting the top done too quickly.

If you find the top browns before the bottom gets a chance to color, then simply turn down the temp. Usually after one or two tries, you'll have it down. You can also put it on a preheated stone. That's another option.

Happy Baking! 

[gottabedapan]

I don't use a stone, I use a pan.  Also my oven is gas and doesn't really need to preheat that long.  So what would be a good tempature for me?  I don't plan on going past 500, even though I could, at work we cook them at 500, and at my old work they cooked them at 450.

Doesn't matter whether or not you're using a stone: go as high as possible. Just don't expect to get the same oven spring or texture from a pan that you would get using a stone or a ommercial pizza oven.

[freshflour]

I use a stone, and have been cooking at 550F in my gas oven.  The last few times I cooked on broil with good success.

[RockyMarciano]

 Hi RockyMarciano,

When I make pan pizzas, the oven temp is usually between 425-500F. It's variable depending on the recipe used as well on the oven used. I use heavy duty dark commercial pizza pans. The trick is to go high enough to get the bottom where you want it without getting the top done too quickly.

If you find the top browns before the bottom gets a chance to color, then simply turn down the temp. Usually after one or two tries, you'll have it down. You can also put it on a preheated stone. That's another option.

Happy Baking!  Pizza!

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I wasnt referring to "pan pizza's" im just talking about the standard aluminum pizza pans found in most pizzeria's, they are pretty light weight

[gottabedapan]

Rocky,

Those lightweight tray pans are for cutting and/or serving. You can use them for cooking, but you'll end up something that's closer to an American-style crust than NY-style, i.e.,[/] thicker, denser, and chewy rather than light, crisp, and airy. Cook at as high a temp as your oven can manage: you'll get better oven spring. Melting the pan's not an issue because the melting pt. of alum is 660.32 °C (1220.58 °F).

[Hi Gluten]

If you are using the pan as described by gottabedapan, it won't work as well as a dark pan. It will have a tendency to reflect some heat. A darker colored pan will absorb more heat and help brown the bottom of the crust. Not to mention a heavier pan's mass will absorb and retain heat better than a light weight pan.

Their function is for cutting/serving, not baking. I personally have a few and wouldn't use them for baking. You may want to consider an anodized aluminum pan. The darker color will help with getting a darker bottom. 

Another option previously mentioned would be getting a stone or unglazed quarry tiles (very inexpensive option). Preheat it for an hour and set your pie directly on it. As you already know, this is standard operating procedure for a NY Style Pizza.

Best wishes!

[fridaypizzaguy]

Hey Rocky,

I've been through pans and screens finally winding up with unglazed quarry tiles.  A stone will also work.   I heat the tiles/stone at 550 for 1 hour, then move the pie to the tiles and bake for 5-6 minutes.  Check out the top, If it needs to be a little darker, move the pie to the top rack (highest position in the stove), and set oven to broil.  Stay with the pie and watch it closely, rotate it once (all for about 45 sec's), and get it out of there.

Good Luck,
Fridaypizzaguy

[AKSteve]

Could anyone tell me the ideal temperature for the cooking surface (ie. pizza stone)? Using a borrowed infrared thermometer, I saw my pizza stone was a little over 500 degrees when I cooked my last pizza in my oven. The pizza turned out OK, but could definitely be better.

Now that the outside temperature is starting to warm up,  I'm hoping to do some experimenting with my Kamado ceremic domed charcoal grill to see if I can get the ideal cooking set-up. I've had a few problems in the past with the bottom of my crust scorching before the pizza is done. I'm just wondering what temp would be the ideal temp for the pizza stone before I put my pizza in to cook.

Steve