I have made a few pizzas since I got my first peel, I had been using the bottom of a sheet tray, and way before that I would stupidly take the stone out of the oven and place the pizza on it then back in the oven (I have bettered my ways -- Promise). But I am still having issues with the bottom of my crust cooking too slowly, the sides of my crust and the top get this golden brown color, but the bottom still stays light brown. It does brown up a good bit, definitely not raw but it just doesn't seem to have that crunch that I want, but any longer and my top will burn. I thought the lack of a proper peel and taking a long time to get the pizza on the stone were why the bottom of my pizza wasn't browning properly, but after tonights pizza was slid in in less than 30 seconds, I'm truly stumped... I preheated the oven to 500 for less time tonight, only about 30 minutes, but usually it is about for an hour or so and I still have the problem regardless. The oven rack was more towards the middle, but I have cooked them on lower racks and still. I know I didn't use too much flour, there was actually hardly any on it at all. I even turned my oven to Broil for about 6 or so minutes, a tip I learned from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Bread Bible, and still my bottom crust didn't get nearly as brown as I would have liked. Could it be that my oven isn't hot enough? I could go up to 550 but it just scared me pushing her to her limit, its just a electric range oven. Or should I put the oven rack on the lowest setting possible? Or even maybe that my stone is just not of good quality like I thought? It is a Hartstone Pottery 15 Inch Round Baking Stone.
