What Noisy Cats Are We

I am slowly getting my pizzas to the way I want them.  I have read a BILLION articles on how home ovens cannot reproduce the heat provided by brick ovens to the the authentic Neapolitan pizza the way that it should be.  I have read how people modify their ovens, break the thermostats, and go through all sorts of machinations trying to find the right way to get to 800 degrees Fahrenheit.  There have been times that I have wanted to do the same.  One day, when I own my own home, I full intend to make a back yard pizza oven much in the way described here, and here, and here.  I’m looking forward to it.

So other than the temperature, I have had issues with getting pizzas off the peel and onto the pizza stone properly.  I have tried flour, corn meal, using different kinds of wooden peels, and using the back of a cookie sheet.  All work okay, but none of them guarantee that the pizza won’t stick to the peel and that you will not be left with a globby mess of burning cheese, sauce, and toppings all over the inside of your oven.  This is partially due to the height of the oven compared to most commercial pizza ovens, as well as many other factors.  I have considered the SuperPeel, and still may purchase one for some of my other baking needs.

One thing I had never thought would stand up to the oven at top temperature on a pizza stone was parchment paper.  Boy, was I wrong!  This stuff is awesome!  I make my pizza, not worrying about the mess (a little sauce on the side of the dough on a peel would guarantee it to not slide properly!) on an almost fitted piece of parchment, and just lift it onto the stone when it’s ready to bake.  Yes, the sides of the parchment that are larger than the area of the pizza do get burnt, but not smoky / flame-y burnt.  They are just brittle and break apart if you attempt to remove the pizza via those parts of the paper.

I found some other paper online that comes in 9 inch circles.  This might help get rid of the burned edges on the smaller pizzas.

That said, keeping the oven at top temperature (~525 degrees), using a pizza stone, placing the stone in the bottom rack position, and cooking the pizza for 8-9 minutes seems to be the trick.  Also, too much olive oil added to the pizza will make the dough on the bottom not crisp up properly.  These are the little details that I have been working on fixing and right now I seem to be getting closer to AWESOME.

The crust crisped up perfectly, and cooked all the way through.