How long do you cook the average Pie?

[LeeB]

I use to have my pizza stone on the second from the bottom and cook at 475 for around 10 -12 minutes and a lot of the time the cheese would be burned.  So I moved the stone down one level to the bottom and left  the heat the same and the cheese went to the other extreme, real white.  So how long are you guys cooking on the bottom rack with a temp of 475 to 500?   Our oven is a standard GE variety that comes in a standard home.

[Arthur]

550+ with stone on bottom.  Preheat for 1+ hours.  For me 7-8 minutes.

[canadave]

Yep, that's about what I'm doing as well.  550, 7-8 minutes, cheese comes out perfectly with stone on bottom rack preheated for about 45 minutes to an hour.

[Randy]

Lee you might want to try a pizza screen.  No lenghty preheating if you take the stone from your oven.

Randy

[LeeB]

Lee you might want to try a pizza screen.  No lenghty preheating if you take the stone from your oven.

Randy

Randy,
So are you saying to ditch the stone and try a pizza screen instead?  My crust has always been fine, no complaints there.  I was just curious about the cooking times.  Too me 500 seems awful hot but I guess it's all relative to time, being how long you leave it in.

Also, when using a screen, would it go on the bottom rack as well?

Thanks

[Pizzaholic]

I changed to screens and there is no chance of turning back to a stone. I do use the stone to reheat "leftover" pizza HaHa this really does happen.
I use an electric oven at 485 degrees and it usually takes about 9-14 minutes to do a 16" pie.
I put the pie on the bottom rack and the stone is on the middle rack to radiate heat down to the pie.
Pizzaholic

[Randy]

Lee I agree with Pizzaholic.  My stone stays in the closet but many on this forum use the stone.  In my case the kitchen just gets to hot with an hour long preheat especially when it was 74 outside yesterday (Ah! living in the South) when I cooked an American style pizza.
Try a screen but hold on to your stone.

Randy

[LeeB]

Man you guys are great with the quick feedback.....

[LeeB]

I have some old 16" aluminum pizza pans with 1/8" holes all through them. Would this have the same effect as a pizza screen?   We use to use those years ago but then I heard that the stone was the way to go.  However when  I used the aluminum pans they were in the middle of the oven and I believe the temp was maybe 450. 

Also when using a screen do you roll the dough out on the counter first and then transfer to the screen and then to the oven?  Or do you actually form the dough on the screen?

[Steve]

No, a perforated pizza pan is not the same as a pizza screen. The two are not interchangable.

[Gils]

No you don't want to form the dough "on" the screen. Toss the dough out or roll out and then place on the screen. If you try to do it on the screen you will end up with the screen full of the dough and when it cooks, it will actually fuse to the screen, by cooking around the wires of the screen. Makes for a big stuck to the screen mess.
One it is to size then you can place the dough on the screen and build. You could use a paddle to drop the pie onto the screen in the oven, but this is kind of a double up. As long as you don't leave the pie laying on the counter for a long time, you can build it right on the dough, which is sitting on the screen. Then just pick it all up and slide in the oven.

Hope this helps.

[Randy]

Go to Papa Johns, they use pizza screens.  They are also the only pizza company that lets their dough rise in a cooler overnight.  Great pizza.  Almost as good as mine.
 
Randy

[LeeB]

Go to Papa Johns, they use pizza screens.  They are also the only pizza company that lets their dough rise in a coller overnight.  Great pizza.  Almost as good as mine.
 
Randy

 

[DKM]

Go to Papa Johns, they use pizza screens.  They are also the only pizza company that lets their dough rise in a cooler overnight.  Great pizza.  Almost as good as mine.
 

Their's isn't eve close Randy. 

DKM