amount of toppings

[Essen1]

Pete,

You'll probably laugh, but before I heard and read about LBEs, WFOs, the Hearth Kit and tricks to use the oven's cleaning cycle or thermostat modifications, I used a small blow torch to give the stones some extra boost!

It didn't work too well, however.

Mike

[November]

Perhaps I misphrased it. My bad.

I'm sure it does draw out a certain amount of moisture out of the dough, otherwise the bottom wouldn't crisp up, right? What I meant was that the stones, especially the thin ones don't get rid of excessive moisture from the toppings. I could imagine that the stone's thickness is a major factor since they provide a more mass, which in turn generates or radiates more heat? You're the science buff, so help me out here.  

Yes, the dough and the toppings would be two entirely different things.  The toppings on the pizza are not in contact with the stone.  The thick stones won't get rid of excess moisture from toppings either for two reasons.  The first is the surface area difference would be negligible.  The second is that a stone is only going to absorb as much moisture as permitted by the temperature of the stone and the air surrounding it.  Hot air has a high saturation point, so it can store a lot of moisture, more moisture on average than the stone can, so the water quickly evaporates into the oven's airspace and stays there.

The effects of more stone mass have been discussed extensively on this site.  It basically means the stone can hold more thermal energy for longer baking or less time to recover between pizzas.  It doesn't mean it can radiate or conduct it any faster.  Stones certainly can't generate heat either.  That's what the elements or flames are for.

[Essen1]

Stones certainly can't generate heat either.  That's what the elements or flames are for.

Well, I know that much.

What's the proper term to describe the stone's temp/heat output?

Mike

[November]

What's the proper term to describe the stone's temp/heat output?

radiate or conduct

[Essen1]

Thank you. 

Even after 15 years of living in the US, I still have some holes to plug in my vocabulary as you have certainly noticed.

Thanks again for the clarification.

Mike

[Pete-zza]

November,

One of our members, Jackitup (Jon), routinely bakes his cracker-style pizzas on a sheet of aluminum foil on top of a stone (for example, see Reply 66 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5762.msg49746.html#msg49746). I believe he uses that method to keep his stone in pristine condition. I would think that moisture or steam would develop between the foil and the bottom crust during baking and result in a less crispy crust. Does that make sense? Jon has a convection oven and he oils (the bottom) and pre-bakes his crusts, so maybe his crusts dry out enough to retain their crispy character. He has also been able to load up his pizzas with lots of different toppings without any apparent problem.

Peter  

[November]

Peter,

I would think that moisture or steam would develop between the foil and the bottom crust during baking and result in a less crispy crust. Does that make sense?

Yes.  I think pre- or par-baking is definitely the key to a crispy crust, hence my use of par-baking when I make thin and crispy pizza.  Oil will certainly fry the crust to crispiness too.

- red.november

[DKM]

Peter,

Yes.  I think pre- or par-baking is definitely the key to a crispy crust, hence my use of par-baking when I make thin and crispy pizza.  Oil will certainly fry the crust to crispiness too.

- red.november

Par-baking certainly helps, though I have managed to make some very crispy crusts with out it.

DKM