The Pizza Therapy Forum and Pasta Therapy Forum

[pizza]

Dear Sir,
Please explain to me what should I do when baking pizza. Generally the dough, even if in a thin layer, is slower to bake than the combination of whatever is put on top. The result looks nice, it looks OK, I take it out of the oven ... but the dough is undone.

I would like it to be crispy, not to get soggy because of the sauce etc. etc. Probably I do something wrong, I am not a specialist, but everything gets OK except the dough, which, if baked separately, is OK. Should I start by putting the dough first for a few minutes in the oven, and add the rest afterwards?


Could you please give me your advice?
Thank you in advance.
Yours sincerely,
Dana Taralunga
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"Pizza on Earth...Good Will to All!"
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[Bean]

I would suggest pre-baking for 3 to 5 minutes at 400º. It all depends on what dough I'm making at the time, but often pre-bake. When I use a dough and my stone I don't have a problem with soggy middles, baked at 500º.

[dfandreatta]

At what temperature do you bake? And, when you prepare the dough, is it sticky at all?

And, finally, how about the oven? Are you sure the oven is operating properly? This would be the number one suspect for me. An oven should operate at +/- 10% of the temperature at which it is set.

A little explanation of how an oven works. Whether electric or gas, when the burner is "on" - it's all the way on. So, you have a thermostat. The thermostat senses the temperature, and turns the burner off when it gets so high, so things don't get too hot. When things cool off, it turns the burner back on. An oven does not maintain an EVEN temperature - it maintains an AVERAGE temperature. The average should be about 10% of the set point, so, if you set the thermostat at 400 degrees, and monitor it with a sensitive electronic probe, you will find it should rise to about 440 before cutting out, and drop to about 360 before cutting back in. An oven should be preheated, at least 30 minutes - more is better - before using it.

Those cheap dial thermometers you can get at the grocery store are very slow to respond and will just show the AVERAGE temperature - but they are not always very accurate. Check your oven to make sure it is operating correctly, is my opinion.

Hopes this helps.
_________________
"Papa Don"
Apollo Beach, Florida

[Moo]

Also the placement in the oven makes a difference. If I remember correctly, the toppings cook faster higher up in the oven. And spreading a thin layer of olive oil on top of the crust should help.