Sucess, sort of

[stryped]

Tried my first real pizza last night using the pizza inn receipe on the homepage as well as a coycat papa johns reciep on this site. It was awsome!! The only problem I had though was the bottom of the crust was not crispy enough.

Also, it is kind of a pain to make the dough 24 hours before you make the pizza. Can you "freeze the dough and keep it so when ever you want  apizza you can unthaw it and use it?

[Pete-zza]

stryped,

Did your daughter like the pizzas you made? And which did you and she prefer?

One way to get more crispiness is to use a lower oven temperature and a longer bake time. It will also help if you let the stretched out dough rest for about a half hour or so before putting the sauce, cheeses and toppings on it. That will create a slightly thicker and more airy dough that should help provide a crispier crust when baked at the lower oven temperature. Whether you used the stone or the pan could also have affected the texture of the finished crust. Which did you actually use?

I personally am not an advocate of freezing dough simply because home freezer compartments do not do an especially good job of freezing dough. Also, if you freeze the dough after it is made, the ultimate crust will lack flavor because freezing suspends the chemical activity in the dough that is responsible for providing flavors in the crust. Also, freezing kills some of the yeast and can release substances that can make the dough soft and slack. Some members leave their dough at room temperature for a few hours before freezing and say they have had success with this approach, so that is something you might experiment with. You might find that even then you won’t save a lot of time because it can take a fair amount of time to defrost a frozen dough ball. Most operators let their dough balls defrost in the cooler (refrigerator) for a day before using.

If you can’t wait a day or so before actually making your pizzas, I would rather that you consider making a short-term dough (often called an “emergency” dough by pizza operators). Some good examples of such doughs are given at these threads/posts: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,3146.msg26686.html#msg26686, http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,2790.msg24104.html#msg24104, and http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,576.msg27251.html#msg27251. If you are using all-purpose flour and hand kneading, you will have to make some adjustments to the recipes given in the above links, mainly in the amount of water (you would use less with the all-purpose flour). You might want to step up to bread flour for these recipes. Bread flour is sold in just about all supermarkets. I would look for the King Arthur brand if it is available.

Peter

[stryped]

My daughter and all family loved it.  Unfortunatly, I used the pizza pan. I put the stone in to pre heat with the oven. I looked in and the stone was turning black, wife was very unhappy and I pulled it out. I made the pizza on the pan and put it in which I know is a cardinal sin but had no other choice.

I did change the recipe a little as compared to the home page. I used bread flour instead of all purpose

[Pete-zza]

stryped,

Unless there was a lot of grease or spilled food on the stone I can't say that I have ever heard of a stone turning black in front of my eyes. You might want to heat the stone for about an hour at moderately high temperature (not enough to set off the smoke alarm system) to see if it gets rid of whatever was on the stone. Over time, most pizza stones are prone to some spillage (cheeses, oils, sauce, etc.) and they will turn dark in places but that shouldn't materially affect the baking process in most cases.

If you use a pan, you might consider using a fair amount of oil on the pan before you put the pizza on the pan. If the pan is perforated, rub the oil on with your fingers so that it doesn't drip through the holes. The oil should help give you a crispier crust because of the "frying" effect that oil produces at high oven temperatures. It's not a cardinal sin to use a pan. I use them all the time for certain style pizzas. You just have to learn when and how to use them properly.

Peter

[stryped]

I sprayed the pan with non stick cooking spray. Is this the same thing?

I had the stone on the lowest rack next to the burner for awhile and it started to turn black. It was a pampered chef stone.

[Pete-zza]

stryped,

I sometimes use a spray when I don't want something to stick but I prefer using a good oil when I want a dough to crisp up in the pan. The oil I select (usually a high quality olive oil) will be better and fresher than what I am likely to get in a spray can, whether it is olive oil, canola oil, or a blend. Some spray can oils also include water, which may dilute the spray.

I still don't understand how your stone turned black. In my oven (electric), a pizza stone on the lowest oven rack position will be about 3" above the bottom heating coil. I have read instances of where someone tried putting the pizza stone directly on top of the heating coil (a big no-no) but I assume you did not do that. The Pampered Chef is a well known brand name for a pizza stone so I don't think it is the brand that is at fault. If you can provide a photo of your blackened stone, that might offer some clues as to what is happening.

Peter

[Randy]

Peter, my stone has very black spots on it from topping that have slide off onto the hot stone.  Pam will turn anything black if you used it on the stone.

[Pete-zza]

Hi, Randy,

Good to see you back.

As I noted in an earlier post, my stone has dark spots on it too. However, I read stryped's comments to mean that the entire stone was turning black. That is what puzzled me.

Peter

[Randy]

Been real busy then my wife required surgery that was a bit scary, but she is fine now.
I was wondering if he sprayed his stone with pam.