Do you have the hydration % - not planning to watch any YT videos but just curious if he works with similar ratios as other NY pizza dough recipes
So does your dough in that procedure comes out very crisp (in the area with the toppings) and how about the cornicione ? As you said, there is no right or wrong but I am always interested to learn how others vary their pizza recipes (we prefer softer cornicione with not too crispy (more towards Neapolitan) dough)
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Hm. Wonder if you preheated your oven and steel as much as it would go (mine is 585°F theoretical, with me playing with the calibration, but according to my old dial-type thermometer about 575 max), the switched to high broil a couple of minutes into the bake, if that would give a better bottom-to-top result?
As for your OP question, I’ve never tried a screen. I just bake `em on a stone as close to 580 as I can get. But I do sometimes flip to broil within just a minute of throwing one in. But I’m never doing just one, so I rotate them every minute or so.
the bottom is crisp - I use a 10" chef’s knife to cut it and it ‘snaps’
it is essential to slide it off the parchment onto a rack to cool - 4-5 minutes
this is a crust shot - the bottom is not doughy or wet
No… I don’t really measure the flour. I add just enough so I can work with the dough so it doesn’t (completely) stick to my hands (while I knead it).
Like most things I do… I’m no expert – more of a hack. Get the job done and move on to the next task.
I think its fair to use the saying “Jack of all trades, master of none”
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The how to pizza article, like his other content, is meticulously researched and distills about 20 years of home pizza research and experimentation.
If one is aiming for great pizza, forget about screens, otoh, it’s an easy shortcut if good enough is acceptable.
Not sure what you mean by spray the screen, the screen should be seasoned before use and doesn’t need to be re-seasoned before use unless you throw it in the dishwasher.
A screen is not a great solution, try baking higher or lower in the oven. Also try the convection setting. Or why not heat your steel to a lower temp?
Kamadi style grills heat from the bottom so its difficult to get even cooking and, as you point out, heat is lost when opening the grill. My experience is that a stone made of fibrament will work best for Kamados.
Yes, after each use I do put my screen in the dishwasher. There is a place for it to balance on the top rack.
I’ve found the pizza releases nicely from the screen if I spray it with a little non-stick spray.
I have no idea if my pizza screen is supposed to go in the dishwasher or not, but I run it through after each use. I haven’t really figured out another way to clean and sanitize it (other than the dishwasher).
That might explain why you have problems to get NY style pizza without a pizza screen as with everything dough related (cooking or baking) without measuring it is hard to get good/consistent results.
I think it was more my oven…
I’ve got it down pat, now. Pre-heat oven to 525(F), spray screen with non-stick PAM, set my oven rack to the second position, bake six minutes, turn pizza, bake another six minutes, turn pizza, bake 3 more minutes and serve.
Following this “schedule”, I’m getting nice results.
I am surprised how inconsistent my oven’s heat pattern actually is… One day, I’ll replace it.
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Yup, “Cooking is an art, baking is a science”.
Take a look at this post from baking institute pizza expert, tom lehmann:
“ You want your pizza screens to look all black and brown in color, thats the seasoning. Without the seasoning, your pizzas will stick like glue to the screens. DO NOT WASH OR SOAK the screens to clean them as this will only lead to the seasoning peeling off like a bad sunburn. So, what to do? Just run them through your oven during the slow times. This will heat the screens sufficiently to carbonize and debris. You can then use a stiff, PLASTIC/NYLON bristle brush to dislodge the offending crud. If you’ve go to completely clean the screens of all seasoning, I’ve used a product called Carbon-Off <www.carbonoff.com> with good success. But remember, after cleaning all the seasoning off of the screens, you will need to reseason the screens all over again. Do this by setting your oven temperature at 425F and the time at 15 minutes. Open the doors and windows, and be prepared t explain why there is so much smoke in your shop. Wipe the screens with salad oil and run through the oven. I like to do this twice, the second time without the addition of more oil. This will give you screens with a slightly golden hue to them. As you continue using the screens they will continue to darken in color.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor”
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I took a peek under the very good NY-style slice at Pizzeria Da Laura in downtown Berkeley yesterday, and they use screens. The crust had a nice char.
Are you sure they aren’t just serving them on screens? You can’t get a good char on the bottom with a screen.
The crosshatch pattern was evident in the crust. I’ll take a closer look at the baking next time.
I had forgot that i had a pizza screen. It came with a grill basket set I received as a gift. I recall, I did use it a couple of times to make pizza on a Weber charcoal grill but results weren’t as good as slapping the dough directly on the grids. Now long gone, never thought to try it in a regular oven.
Cooking is a chore, baking is a passion.
a lot of places start on a screen and once the crust is set, slide it onto the deck. I’m sure the pizza was delicious,
I’m pretty sure it wasn’t great as we’d define it here in NYC. It’s generally believed that the best ny style places in ca are mid-level ny pizza. and that’s not intended as an insult, extremely hard to find mid-level ny style outside of NYC. we lived 20 miles from NYC and pizza was so bad, I spent two years teaching myself how to make nyc pizza.
regrets. . . very likely to not find any oven ‘especially better’
you could add a timer bell at ‘rotate the pizza’ time - even using a well pre-heated stone, the bottom is fine, but I often rotate the ‘pizza on the parchment’ so the the cheese browns ‘more evener’
one trick I’ve used (and it’s a PITA…) is bake on conventional or convection mode, then with exquisite timing . . . hit BROIL-for-browning . . . one has to account for the broiler coil ‘time to red’ and it’s not difficult to over cook/bake the pizza . . .
