Help on modifying the level of browning on a Neapolitan pizza bottom

[jpizzabitch]

Hello forum,

Truthfully, I've never made a single Neapolitan pizza, but I sure find them goddamn delish. Usually the bottom has charring, but from what I've seen and tasted, it isn't crispy to the same degree as a New York style pizza for instance. Forgive me for being an uneducated pizza noob, but is it possible to have a Neapolitan pizza cornicione, pale with good leoparding, with a dark brown bottom similar to a new york style, possibly by raising the floor temp or even parbaking the bottom on a lower floor temp similar to a new york style pizza, then raising the temp to finish the cornicione? I know this is a very open-ended question with most likely a lot of answers, but maybe at the least someone can point me in the right direction?

I wouldn't even know where to begin, but one day when I do get into the process of learning Neapolitan pizza, I'd like to see if I can make it. Below I have created an exquisite rendering of my thought process, created in the world-renowned Microsoft Paint.

Thank you for reading,
Jacob 

[The Dough Doctor]

Maybe a New Haven style pizza? Think of it ad a crispy New York style pizza.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[jpizzabitch]

Maybe a New Haven style pizza? Think of it ad a crispy New York style pizza.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yeah, a new Haven style crispiness on the bottom would be preferred, but with a crust/cornicione similar to a Neapolitan in puffiness, leaoparding, and browning which is very light in comparison to the bottom. Im not sure if I'm explaining it very well

[The Dough Doctor]

The characteristics you're looking for are achieved at very different baking temperatures. You might try baking at 900F+/- to achieve the leaoparding and Neapolitan characteristics, then remove the pizza from the oven to cool for a few minutes, place it back into the oven for a second bake (directly on the deck) and hope this will brown the bottom and provide additional crisp without significant adverse impact upon the top of the pizza. This is similar to the way a store bought frozen pizza is made and handled, have you ever baked one that wasn't crispy?
Another approach might be to experiment using a par-baked crust. For this you will want to bake the crust at not more than 450F, cool it, then dress it and give it a final bake at about 650F. Some experimenting will be needed but either method holds some promise.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[jpizzabitch]

The characteristics you're looking for are achieved at very different baking temperatures. You might try baking at 900F+/- to achieve the leaoparding and Neapolitan characteristics, then remove the pizza from the oven to cool for a few minutes, place it back into the oven for a second bake (directly on the deck) and hope this will brown the bottom and provide additional crisp without significant adverse impact upon the top of the pizza. This is similar to the way a store bought frozen pizza is made and handled, have you ever baked one that wasn't crispy?
Another approach might be to experiment using a par-baked crust. For this you will want to bake the crust at not more than 450F, cool it, then dress it and give it a final bake at about 650F. Some experimenting will be needed but either method holds some promise.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yes this all sounds good! So it seems to be somewhat uncharted waters, whenever I can get access to an oven, I'll have to experiment with this, so excited! What would you think about throwing a rested/cooled Neapolitan pizza from a 900 degree oven on a flat top to crisp the bottom? would it affect the rest of the pizza? Similar to how a place in Berkeley, CA called The Cheese Board does their thin crust pizzas

[The Dough Doctor]

What we're talking about here is one way slice operators recon their slices for sale. Heated/humidity controlled box straight to a deck oven for about 1-minute then handed off to the customer. It'll be crispy and have the visuals but it will not have the overall flavor since so many of those flavors are highly volatile and are lost soon after baking, much less cooling.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor