Why did my Pizza burn?

[garyd]

I've been  making neo pizza in my clean cycle of my oven for 2 years now. I usually let it heat up for an hour and they average about a 2 to 3 minute cooking range. Every once in a while the pizza bottom starts burning the minute I slide it on the stone like last night. I slid the pizza on the stone and it immediatly started smoking and burning. I checked it at 30 seconds and it was already burned on the bottom. How to I prevent this? I don't know if I catching the clean up cycle when it is heating the bottom more at these times or what. I really don't know what the heat distribution is during clean cycle. This seems to happen on about every 5th pizza I make.

[briterian]

i heard someone say to put a cookie sheet (a cold one) on your stones about 5 minutes before and it'll drop the temp to the point that it won't burn...

lemme know. I gave up using oven clean just for this reason...too unpredictable.    i wonder if varasano's new restaurant is lined with a bunch of old school ovens all on clean cycle?   

[scpizza]

That would be a such a marketing coup, I think it could be worth it.  Name the place Really Clean Pizza.

The top element cycles on and off so the temp of the stone will vary noticeably depending on when you catch it.  Depending on the oven, and on the distance of the stone from the element, and on the material of the stone, the final temp of the stone can easily be too high when the air temp reaches the clean cycle setpoint.

Some people shield the stone with a cookie sheet or aluminum foil and then remove before baking.  Others start baking earlier into the cycle and don't stop baking as the continuous stream of pizzas will keep the stone temp down where it should be.

Mandatory is an IR thermometer so you can tell what the temp of the stone is and alter your timings and technique as necessary to manage it.

[tdeane]

What kind of flour are you using? How wet is your dough?

[briterian]

good one...really clean pizza!  

so what would you say is the very hottest that stone can be to not burn it?  like high 600's?

[scpizza]

All depends on how long the pizza is left on the stone.

Any immediate smoking is just residual bench flour scorching.  A very short time on a very hot stone will cook the bottom fine.  The problem encountered then would be an undercooked top.

The intensity from the top coil will primarily determine how long the pizza needs to be in the oven.  The baker needs to manage the stone temperature so that same amount of time on the stone cooks the bottom evenly with the top.

[garyd]

What kind of flour are you using? How wet is your dough?

The pizza that burned was made with King Arthur All Purpose at about 65% hydration.

[garyd]

All depends on how long the pizza is left on the stone.

Any immediate smoking is just residual bench flour scorching.  A very short time on a very hot stone will cook the bottom fine.  The problem encountered then would be an undercooked top.

The intensity from the top coil will primarily determine how long the pizza needs to be in the oven.  The baker needs to manage the stone temperature so that same amount of time on the stone cooks the bottom evenly with the top.

I know the minute I put it on the stone whether it is going to be a burner. If it smokes and smells really burned the minute it hits the stone, then it's going to be burned. Like I said, the one that burned the other night started burning right off the bat and when I checked the bottom at 30 seconds, it was almost completely black on the bottom. BTW, I use semolina flour on my peel.