Pizza in conventional oven - baking steel?

[jacobwilder5]

Hi KKF fam,

My kid loves pizza and I’m looking for a budget way to make a decent pie in my home oven. Is a baking steel the route to go? If so, any recommendations or tips? Anything else worth checking out?

Thanks!

 

[LeMaw]

Depends on the pizza style your are making. For neapolitan style go for a pizza stone even on a regular oven, anything else go by steel.

Generally for a conventional oven, baking steel is superior (less time to reheat, can reach higher temperatures and generally more consistent temperature). High quality carbon baking steels can be a bit more expensive than cordierite stones (thickness is huge factor and depends on how many pies you want to bake with as less time in between).

I would also recommend a cast iron pan for that sweet pan pizza.

Something I found out after trial and error when I used to bake pies in my electric oven (before getting a gas one) is that it's better to bake each pizza part separately for the best possible result. Neapolitan for example: Dough into Dough with sauce into Cheese/Toppings otherwise the cheese will burn or even if the sauce is too runny it will soak the pizza before it bakes.

 

[MrHiggins]

I'm happy enough with this 16" Lodge griddle. You can get it blazing hot on the stove top, put your pie on it, and stick it in the oven. The handles make it easy to use.

 

[sumis]

i'm a hack and an idiot. but i get better results in my electric convection oven /w baking steel than any of my friends with oonis or designed-for-the-porch/backyard-latest-trend-pizza ovens. my friends are obviously worse hacks than me, but still …

in an electric w/ baking steel (for neapolitan-ish, or at least vaguely similar):

set oven to max heat (regardless of how high it goes)
heat the steel up for at least 30 mins (or do as @MrHiggins )
use convection + grill function
place pizza as high up under the element as possible
consider @LeMaw's two part bake
consider using parchment paper

the rest, and most important part, is about trial and error around dough, fermentation times etc.

just get a baking steel and find out how to use what you have to your advantage. you'll make as good a pizza as anyone (if not exactly the same as everyone).

.

 

[ethompson]

I’ve got a not great electric home oven. I use a baking steel to bake the pizza on and also put firebricks in the oven increase the thermal mass inside the oven. Preheat for an hour or so at 500°F. Doesn’t cook as fast as a classic Neapolitan oven, but this is about 4.5 minutes.

 

[dchang21]

i've never figured out how to make pizza in a normal oven..
i mean i've tried using a steel and the bottom looks paler than ed sheeran on a beach.

even ny style i bake at 325c top, 350c bottom which is beyond what the house oven can do..

 

[aporigine]

i've never figured out how to make pizza in a normal oven..
i mean i've tried using a steel and the bottom looks paler than ed sheeran on a beach.

even ny style i bake at 325c top, 350c bottom which is beyond what the house oven can do..

View attachment 354089
View attachment 354090

top pic looks like Kilauea!

 

[panda]

budget pizza stone = unglazed terra cotta tiles. line bottom rack with them. pre-heat to 450.

 

[nopomo]

i've never figured out how to make pizza in a normal oven..
i mean i've tried using a steel and the bottom looks paler than ed sheeran on a beach.

even ny style i bake at 325c top, 350c bottom which is beyond what the house oven can do..

View attachment 354089
View attachment 354090

Are you using malted flour? Adding ~1-2% barley malt (or maltose syrup or honey) can make a huge difference in browning.

Using bromated flour like All Trumps is the easiest way to achieve a classic NY dough, it's very forgiving and always gives a George Hamilton-quality tan (carcinogenicity be damned).

 

[Moooza]

Check out this guy:


Improved my home oven pizza game so much.

 

[MrHiggins]

After a good bit of trial and error, here's my pizza dough recipe. It's at least an overnight rest, but can do two days in the back of the fridge.

Edit to add: I use either caputo pizza flour or King Arthur bread flour, not AP.

 

[dchang21]

Are you using malted flour? Adding ~1-2% barley malt (or maltose syrup or honey) can make a huge difference in browning.

Using bromated flour like All Trumps is the easiest way to achieve a classic NY dough, it's very forgiving and always gives a George Hamilton-quality tan (carcinogenicity be damned).

i didn't use malt at the time, but i'm not really pursuing home oven baking anymore..

 

[MarcelNL]

After a good bit of trial and error, here's my pizza dough recipe. It's at least an overnight rest, but can do two days in the back of the fridge.

Edit to add: I use either caputo pizza flour or King Arthur bread flour, not AP.

View attachment 354157

why add more yeast after creating a poolish that should be full of it after a few hours?

General remark; Caputo makes several different types of pizza flour, some are better for long fermentation than others.

 

[Just a DK]

I just use our sourdough discard for the dough and just a normal aluminum pan in gas ovan. I won't be competing with Grimaldi's, but kid has fun.

 

[MrHiggins]

why add more yeast after creating a poolish that should be full of it after a few hours?

I'll try not adding new yeast next time. Thanks for the tip!