Cooking the Perfect Pizza

Milly33

Hello, just looking for a few tips..I recently picked up some pizza dough in the local shop and while the first try wasn't bad it wasn't great either.

I have the basic recipes which I think are fine I have used them lotsa times on wraps and that but it was the base I was having trouble with.

I got ones of those pans from Dunnes a pizza tin, and it seems ok but the base wasn't as toastie as id like it. I rolled out the dough and pricked it with a fork and baked it for a few mins before adding the topping.. But it just didn't have the base I was looking for.

Am I missing some trick? any advice is welcome..And also are these pizza stones much better than a tin

the beer revolu

If you search, there are lots of threads on pizza making.

Most basic tip - turn your oven up as high as it will go and wait for it to get scorching hot.
Also overloading the pizza will make it less crispy. Less is more when it comes to toppings.
Pizza stones are good but it can be infuriating to get the prepared pizza onto a scorching hot stone with out making sh1t of it.

Milly33

Hi thanks for replying. Yeah I was searching but it all seems to be about making the dough rather than tips on cooking it..

Thanks for the oven tip I defo did not do that, I turned it up no more than I would when cooking anything else. Mmm I could see it being a little messy with the stone alrite pizza sliding off straight into the gas fire hahah im sure that would be fun to clean..

round two maybe tonight, easy on the toppings.

BailMeOut

for me the best and most important tip is using a good sprinkling of semolina on the pizza paddle (peel) as a dough lubricant so the pizza very easily slides off the wooden peel and onto the stone in your oven.

My other favourite tip is slicing fresh buffalo mozzarella about an hour in advance and putting into a sieve over a bowl to try get as much water from it as possible. While fresh mozzarella is really tasty on your pizza you need to be careful as it can add too much unwanted moisture and sogginess.

Lastly when your pizza comes out of the oven immediately scatter a with sliced (chiffonade) fresh basil. The smell of fresh basil hitting a very hot pizza is unbelievable.

LizCo

If you can find a coated fiberglass non-stick oven mesh sheet (Woodies have something similar for baking), you can achieve perfect results. Get a baking stone, put it in the oven, pre-heat at 250° for 1 hour. Put your dough on the mesh sheet, add the toppings and use a peel or similar to slide the whole lot, pizza and mesh onto the stone. It takes 6-7 minutes depending on your oven.

The mesh is great for oven chips, too.

Good luck.

Milly33

man i am hungry now after reading back thro these. Thanks very much everyone .. AH i had one of those mesh trays in all but it got burnt on the bbq..So shopping i shall try and find another mesh and hopfully a small stone i like the idea of that but how to get it out of the oven would be the problem haha without brunning a lot of things..

Perhaps pizza tonight yummiee ill put the mozz and the semolina on the shopping list too

LizCo

My stone stays in the oven all the time, at the very bottom.

Hootanany

Im looking for a pizza peel anyone know ehere i could get one in Ireland.

LizCo

http://www.easyequipment.ie/Pizza-Utensils-s/356.htm

Here you are.

Milly33

Does it ever burn the shelf or the base of the oven or anything the stone that is.. Man why did you put that site up I could buy all of it, if only I had mula and a house haha

nicol

I always use the pizza stone, don't overload ingredients and put semolina on the base to help it slide onto the stone. I don't have a pizza peel so I use a baking sheet instead. Something like this (http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0001IX3L4/?tag=hydra0b-21&hvadid=9556646949&ref=asc_df_B0001IX3L4) is very handy, probably easier to store than a pizza peel too!

LizCo

Never had a problem. It solves the storage problem and saves lifting. Mind you, mine weighs a ton.

That's a great site, isn't it? I want it all....

Hootanany

LizCo wrote: »

http://www.easyequipment.ie/Pizza-Utensils-s/356.htm

Here you are.

Thanks:D

LizCo

Try to restrain yourself.....

breen_og

Too cook the pizza with similar intensity to a pizza oven. I get the grill nice and hot, also get a pan nice and hot not quite smoking though. Put the pizza on the pan until the base has nice colour and is cooked, then place under the grill for a further 3-5 minutes. It might take a few attempts to get it perfect but works a treat and much quicker than the oven.

Johnny_Fontane

I dont use a pizza stone, I use a round pizza crisper thing and a square kind of mesh rack. I have a gas oven that gets up well over 500 degrees farenheit. All the big heat is at the very top of the oven (someone mentioned stone at the bottom).

A couple of tips:
1. cheat by buying your pizza sauce. Little Italy in D7 do cans of authentic pizza sauce for €1.30. Its delicious and you just pour it out of the can. Makes your day much easier.
2. someone mentioned it earlier, but I buy the 59c mozzarella, slice it thinly and dry it out on paper towels. Have used buffalo mozz but its probably 5 times more expensive and not five times better.
3. source some decent pepperoni. Little italy dont sell it (it's not an italian product i was told!), Fallon & Byrne have a gubbeen sausage which is excellent.
4. Keep the door of the oven shut!!! Either clean the glass on your oven properly (I know) or trust your judgment.

Milly33

Jes ill have to best pizza's after this. Thanks for the shopping tips im afraid I am in Cork but I know a loverly Italian place im sure would have sauce if not I can make my own. And the mozz I normally world get it in Aldis so I think that stuff is nice. Mind you we have a buffalo farm in Cork im dying to call to and they do their own cheese Id say twud be yummie...

Happy Bank holiday to ye all.. I shall be searching for pizza stone, defo the mesh I know where I can get these and hopefully will get to try all tips at the weekend..

Gloomtastic!

Found an excellent topping last week, makes a fantastic pizza - sliced Frikadellen Meatballs from Aldi or Lidl.

We're having it again tonight, can't wait!

sachieauckland

I love to make pizza especially when it comes to prepare its toppings.

Milly33

Made them at the weekend for my parents and they weren't too shody at all. I took it easy on the toppings, and well I didn't manage to get a stone or semolina but me thinks for round two I shall defo have them