79
votes
Accepted
Why do my mini pizzas have microwave trays?
The piece of cardboard is a microwave browning element.
Ordinarily, most of the heating energy in a microwave is absorbed by water in the food. The result is similar to steaming. The material on the ...
- 26.1k
60
votes
Accepted
Why throw pizza dough besides for show?
A lot of it depends on the type of pizza you make. Where I worked we did thin crust pizza, and these were the reasons we tossed:
Speed. Trying to roll or pat out a 17 inch pizza would be very time ...
- 596
46
votes
Accepted
Why can I have an indoor pizza/wood oven, but not a BBQ or smoker? (or can I...?)
Why pizza/wood ovens, but not BBQ/smoker?
Fire is not fundamentally a problem indoors; there are certainly safe ways to do it, like fireplaces.
The things that make fire dangerous are lack of ...
- 58.1k
39
votes
Accepted
Why did my pizza toppings slide off while baking?
It likely comes down to how you've formed the crust. The "normal" method involves pushing the gas out of the middle of the crust, ideally shifting it to the outer edge. So the middle of the ...
- 26.1k
35
votes
Pre-treatment of wet mozzarella balls to reduce moisture for pizzas - thoughts on method?
I think you are overthinking the problem. The biggest issue with homemade pizza, especially Neapolitan style, is that people generally use way too many toppings. Cut back on your toppings (sauce ...
- 73k
34
votes
Why throw pizza dough besides for show?
Those who favor throwing pizza argue that it is the best way to stretch and shape the dough without risking a puncture or tear. Some claim this extra exposure to the air helps the dough retain ...
- 73k
34
votes
Soggy Italian calzones
Possible causes of soggy calzones and their fixes.
The oven is too hot. It seems counter-intuitive, but this browns the crust to golden perfection before the internal temp of the stuffing reaches an ...
- 609
34
votes
Pizza stone made out of multiple pieces
Do not do this. Marble is, compared with ceramic brick or lava stones, extremely vulnerable to thermal shock. Your "bricks" will almost certainly crack within a few uses, and might even ...
- 58.6k
31
votes
Accepted
When to add fresh basil to homemade pizza
I cast fresh basil leaves immediately after removing the pizza from the oven. I have found that cooking them with the pizza tends to reduce some (a lot) of the basil scent and flavour.
For dried ...
- 4,021
30
votes
Accepted
What causes dough made from coconut flour to not stick together?
Gluten is what makes a dough stick together and have structure. Coconut flour has no gluten, so the resulting dough will be a crumbly mess. Intentionally gluten free recipes usually contain any number ...
- 10.6k
29
votes
Is there aroma transfer in wood fired ovens?
The book is correct, for two reasons:
Wood-fired pizza ovens are not smokey, instead having very good draft in order to allow maximum hot fire burning.
A pizza is in a Neapolitan pizza oven for 60-...
- 58.6k
29
votes
Pre-treatment of wet mozzarella balls to reduce moisture for pizzas - thoughts on method?
I'm going to suggest some corrections and workarounds here. First, if the generic "mozzarella balls" you're buying are so wet you need a whole roll of paper towels, stop buying that brand. ...
- 58.6k
28
votes
Accepted
Pizza stone made out of multiple pieces
America's Test Kitchen did tests of pizza stones, and one was actually a set of bricks. They found no problems from the seams ... which makes sense, considering that brick ovens would've been made ...
- 79.3k
21
votes
Can I make bread/pizza dough with only cricket flour and no wheat flour
I think you will be disappointed.
While a fantastic protein source, cricket flour does not contain the gluten proteins that make bread what it is. Therefore, bread made with cricket flour must get ...
- 47.5k
20
votes
Accepted
Identifying a type of Pizza Topping
I can understand your confusion, but this is assuredly not a dessert pizza. The white circles of sauce, while they look like icing in appearance, are actually Ranch Dressing.
For comparison, here is a ...
- 1,224
20
votes
Is there some "trick" to be able to eat jalapeños without getting an "upset stomach"?
Well... First of all, no. As alluded to in a comment, as one gets older, one's digestive system tends to be less accepting of what one puts in it.
Nevertheless, "the dose makes the poison". ...
- 26.1k
19
votes
Using sugar when making pizza dough
There are plenty of fermentable sugars in the flours commonly used in pizza making. Additional sugar is completely unnecessary.
- 73k
18
votes
After rolling pizza dough, how do I move it to a pan without ruining it?
Either your dough is too wet, or you're trying to roll it all out in one go.
You cannot get enough flour under a ball of dough to survive being rolled out to 12".
Roll it, flip it, turn it; flour ...
- 28.8k
17
votes
Accepted
Why are most circular pizza peels designed with holes in metal
The Chef Pomodoro round peel you picture is described by the manufacturer as a ‘turning peel’.
A turning peel is a must-have to easily rotate the pizza multiple times with precision.
Taking that cue ...
- 3,204
16
votes
Accepted
Any reason to put cornmeal/semolina on hot pizza stone or steel?
I agree with you and don't do it either. Rather, like you, I put some cornmeal or semolina on the peel, upon which I construct my pizza. This, of course, allows the pizza to slid off and onto the ...
- 73k
14
votes
Resolve a "the eggs take longer than the pizza" issue?
Put the eggs in something. Add boiling water (don't boil them on the stove, just pour boiling water over them and wait). Start a timer. Figure out how long you need to to that for before you crack ...
- 15k
12
votes
Accepted
When heating up a pizza, edges burn while middle still liquid
The key here is that you said you’ve thawed the pizza. Frozen pizzas are designed to be baked from frozen. The instructions on the box should reflect this.
- 3,825
11
votes
Accepted
What is the most common mozzarella used in Italian pizza
I'm not sure what you mean by "common mozzarella." If you mean the dried out "low-moisture" stuff you find in the U.S., that's just not common in Italy. If your pizza actually had "mozzarella" on it,...
- 32k
11
votes
Any food safety risk eating cold refrigerated pizza?
Not really. Assuming that the pizza has been cooled down and stored properly (for which see here and here) then it most likely won't have developed a potentially harmful microbial load. Additionally, ...
- 14.9k
11
votes
Why can I have an indoor pizza/wood oven, but not a BBQ or smoker? (or can I...?)
Please, Please, Please do not try to do indoor smoking without equipment made for it. It is Dangerous! DANGEROUS
Devices that use open flame inside your house take advantage of a chimney to let the ...
- 389
10
votes
Can yogurt be used as a substitute for yeast in pizza dough?
No, the bacteria in yogurt will not serve as the primary leavening agent for dough.
- 73k
10
votes
Is a pizza like this unheard of in the USA?
There is a fantastically wide range of pizza styles available in the US. The traditional American "fast food" pizza, such as one would get from Domino's or Pizza Hut, has a fairly thick, ...
- 26.1k
9
votes
Accepted
What are the four cheeses generally used in"four-cheese" pizzas?
They all seem to use different cheeses depending on the brand.
The most consistent cheese is definitely mozzarella, which makes sense as it's the default cheese on most pizzas.
Second to that is ...
- 16.3k
9
votes
Why is the dough in cheap pizza places so bad?
Well, the most obvious difference is that the two "better" restaurants you mention serve brick-oven style pizza, which is probably quite different from the cooking method in a "cheap sub-style pizza ...
- 32k
9
votes
Accepted
Dents in pizza dough
Bread dough experiences "oven spring". That is, the water in the dough turns to steam and gives some fast, extra lift when the dough is first placed in a hot oven.
For most breads oven spring is a ...
- 47.5k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible