Lloyd Pans - Bottom Burning

[dasabonis]

Hi Everyone,
I have been making Detroit style Pizzas in my Lloyd Pan for about 6 months now, but I am having an issue with the bottom of my pizza getting overcooked before the top. I have been following similar dough recipes to those found in the 2 Bills thread, and using Crisco to grease the pan. Most of the recipes on that thread say to heat your oven to 500 or 550. At those temperatures, I always burn the bottom.

I am placing the Pan directly on the top rack. Does the 'metal oven rack' have a higher conductivity than a pizza stone? From your experience, would placing the Lloyd Pan on a stone soaked for an hour reduce the heat going to the bottom of the pizza?

I believe Detroit Style Pizzerias use deck ovens, which means they place the pan on stone. I am thinking this is what i need to start doing.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[jf7fsu]

I usually cook mine on the bottom rack position at 475 for 15 to 18 minutes. I set mine on top of a baking steel and I’ve had no issues with burning whatsoever.

[scott r]

I have both the Lloyd pans version and standard steel uncoated pans that I had to season myself.   I have noticed that if I bake side by side with the two types of pans that the uncoated standard issue steel pans do not brown the bottoms of the pizza as much as the Lloyds.   Now I drop the temp in the oven by 30 degrees if I am using the Lloyds. 

The other thing you might want to try is letting your dough ferment longer before you use it (this may necessitate a bulk ferment if you aren't already doing it).   Also, if you are using a recipe with malt powder I would get rid of that. 

Good luck!

[dasabonis]

Thanks to both of you for your advice. Does anyone have experience with cooking on a stone VS directly on the rack? I am curious to know which one would produce more (or in my case less) browning. Sounds like I need to do an experiment next time.

[scott r]

I haven't noticed a big difference there, but if your stone isn't FULLY preheated you would probably get less browning

[megan45]

Most of the recipes on that thread say to heat your oven to 500 or 550. At those temperatures, I always burn the bottom.

You realize that °F, not °C?  (I lived in Canuk-istan—Scarberia and Brampton, to be precise—from 1990-2001, and became a Landed Immigrant in 1993, so I get to make those kind of jokes.)

Anyhoo ... I do Sicilian in black, coated steel pans on the bottom rack (no stone or steel), 12-15 min at 475-500° F. (I preheat to 475, then bump the temp to 500 once the pizza is in the oven.) Only time I've burned one is when I get distracted and forget to set the timer then lose track of the time. 

When was the last time you checked your oven's thermostat against a standalone oven thermometer? I've seen ovens that were off by as much as 50°. When it's off that much, you might as well throw the baking time estimate out the window and pull a number out of thin air.

[HansB]

Is there sugar in your formula? I use this formula, bake on the middle rack at 525°F without burning the bottom.

100% KABF     
  70% HYD       
   1% IDY         
   2% Salt         
   2% LDMP     

[dasabonis]

Is there sugar in your formula? I use this formula, bake on the middle rack at 525°F without burning the bottom.

100% KABF     
  70% HYD       
   1% IDY         
   2% Salt         
   2% LDMP     

Hi Hans. I do not use sugar. I just made a batch of dough last night with your exact percentages except I left out the LDMP. I usually use 65% water, so hopefully the increase in hydration helps. Just to confirm, you use Lloyd Detroit Style pans? Also, what do you use to grease the pan? I am planning on approx 48hr bulk CF, then spreading the dough in the pan and letting it rise at room temp for 4 hrs. Thanks for the help!

[HansB]

I use both the steel pan and the PSTK pans. I use a light coating of Crisco. Most places that I know of here go straight into the pans after mixing.

[AnotherOneBitesTheCrust]

I usually bake them at 475°F

I have both Lloyd's coated pans, and welded steel pans and have only had burning issues a couple of times when I used to bake too hot.

I find I get way better bottom crusts with a baking steel vs stone or direct on racks.

[dkipta]

Hi everyone.  I bake mine at 500 with a well oiled Loyds pan on the bottom rack on a stone. 13 to 15 minutes with sugar in the dough and no burning.  I also run my oven on convection to cook the top. 

[nickyr]

When do you put your sauce on? That really affects how fast the top bakes. I put my sauce on post-bake, so my top cooks pretty fast

[HansB]

FYI, I bake on the center rack, no stone at 525° for about 13 minutes. I sauce before bake, bottom is crisp, top is done at the same time.

[Dangerous Salumi]

See my thread on "Baking Plates" and "Detroits"

If you want to make good pizza at home imho you should have 3 plates in an oven that will go to 550.

[HansB]

 

[Dangerous Salumi]

If you say so....

[Old Red]

I bake my sicilian on the middle rack for about 18-19 minutes at 460°. No stone and just a thin film of canola oil spread thinly on a PSTK pan.

[quietdesperation]

See my thread on "Baking Plates" and "Detroits"

If you want to make good pizza at home imho you should have 3 plates in an oven that will go to 550.

not to pile on but 

[Dangerous Salumi]

not to pile on but 

Geez I wonder why Bakers Pride and other pizza oven manufacturers went through all of that trouble designing, manufacturing and packaging for shipment deck ovens with heavy ceramic plates in them when they could have just stuck a bunch of cheap racks in ? Boy are they dumb. (sarcasm)

[Dangerous Salumi]

OP, I had a discussion with the Loyds Engineer at a show. He tried to convince me that their (expensive) aluminum pans were as good as steel. He didn't do a good job.