Will a cast iron pan work for NY style pizza?

[michaelturtle]

Hello
I am new to making pizza, and before I go all in and spend $100+ on a pizza steel, I would like to make pizza with equipment I already have. I was wondering if an upside-down cast iron pan (smooth and 12 in. diameter) could do the job.
That's it. I'll probably try it anyway but I wanted some professional opinions before I do.
 

[Pizza_Not_War]

Probably do a decent job of it. I have as pizza steel and also tried a steel from the same company that was more like a cast iron pan, it worked but slightly less efficient.

[Timpanogos Slim]

No reason to spend $100 either.

Most people don't live particularly far from an operation that sells metal. I was gonna say urban, and then i recalled that your more agrarian regions fabricate things out of metal too.

So I'm gonna say, if you don't have to drive 50 miles to buy groceries, you probably have somewhere nearby that sells all manner of steel.

And they may have a scrap that they can trim down to fit your oven. 1/4" thick is ok, 5/16 or 3/8 is better, 1/2 is not necessary.

I bought a 14x14x1/2" slab for $40 including tax and cleaned it up a bit. I'd have rather bought a couple 15x10x3/8 slabs but they didn't have any.

[michaelturtle]

Turned out pretty well. The pan certainly did the job.

[Davydd]

Get the book, Mastering Pizza by Marc Vetri. He likes cast-iron and tells you how to use it vs. stones and steels. He also has a recipe for cast-iron Neapolitan pizza. He endorses the use of it and thinks it has an upside.

I have made pizza in a cast-iron Dutch oven with charcoal under the oven and on the lid while camping. I've never used a skillet.

[jkb]

No.

[Timpanogos Slim]

Get the book, Mastering Pizza by Marc Vetri. He likes cast-iron and tells you how to use it vs. stones and steels. He also has a recipe for cast-iron Neapolitan pizza. He endorses the use of it and thinks it has an upside.

I have made pizza in a cast-iron Dutch oven with charcoal under the oven and on the lid while camping. I've never used a skillet.

Come to think of it, the overturned lid of my very large dutch oven is probably a pretty good surface to bake a pizza on. Though it's a bit dished.

[stamina888]

It could be a great pizza, but it probably won't be faithful to NY style.

[Davydd]

Come to think of it, the overturned lid of my very large dutch oven is probably a pretty good surface to bake a pizza on. Though it's a bit dished.

I didn't bake on an overturned lid. The lid holds charcoals with a built up lip. A  disposable aluminum pan is just to hold the charcoals for dumping later.  So you bake with charcoals over and under the pizza. If I did it again, I would get a Dutch oven that is shallower in depth (3-3/4") and wider in diameter (16") for delivering and removing about a 10-11" pizza and hopefully brown the crust a bit better. The Dutch oven I used was a 12" diameter, 7" high.

Mark Vetri is talking about a skillet which has a flat bottom and I assume an oven wherever you put steels and stones.

[skye1263]

@michaelturtle, I just saw your post. I forgot I had bought a 4 piece Ozark trail cast iron cookware ( cheap from Walmart) about 2 years ago. It has a flat griddle (2 sided, 1 side rubbed the other flat). I was wondering if I could try it instead of a steel and I saw your post. I think your picture of the bottom crust looks great so I am going to try it today. I have dough ready so I will test it. Thanks for posting about this!

[cmullin]

Get the book, Mastering Pizza by Marc Vetri. He likes cast-iron and tells you how to use it vs. stones and steels. He also has a recipe for cast-iron Neapolitan pizza. He endorses the use of it and thinks it has an upside.

I have made pizza in a cast-iron Dutch oven with charcoal under the oven and on the lid while camping. I've never used a skillet.

I second Vetri's book, I liked  it so much I bought it

From a thermal perspective cast iron works well, but its much harder to get in the pan vs baking steel.(the pan needs to be hot, before adding the pizza) Also the baking steel is fine if the diameter is a little large, not so much for the cast iron pan.

[Davydd]

If I continue to make pizza on the road camping I may invest in this 14" cast iron Dutch oven low one like this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000H84OXY/?tag=pmak-20