07-18-2014, 10:52 AM
Been iterating on the no knead pan pizza discussed earlier because I LOVE pan pizza, so I thought I'd share my experience.
First go at it was pretty closely following the recipe with a iron pan
![[Image: myvejapa.jpg]](http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/18/myvejapa.jpg)
Tasted good, but the bottom was not done when the top was, since that huge iron heat sink had to be heated up while the top toasted away. I finished it on the burner, but even with the iron it was hard to get it perfect.
next i tried pre-heating a iron skillet and spreading the dough on that. no pictures. not surprisingly, didnt work out so well.
3rd try was the other half of that no knead dough, that I left in the refrigerator (which supposedly adds flavor to the no knead)
I also used an aluminum cake pan instead of cast iron which helped a lot with the underside, BUT the top was still browning too fast. Granted I like my cheese toasted and crispy, but even if I pull the pizza out right before the cheese starts to burn, the underside still isnt golden and crispy.
![[Image: utequpan.jpg]](http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/18/utequpan.jpg)
also, at this point I decided to not do the no knead anymore. Its pretty awesome if you dont want to knead fresh dough, but its also gummy so its hard to work with. The taste isnt any better, and I havent noticed any better results.
Since I have a bread machine, I set it on the dough cycle and let it rip.
so clearly I need more heat energy on the bottom of the pizza. So next try is to put the pizza pan right ontop of a an iron skillet preheated to 550, along with a pizza stone above, and a pizza stone below. The rationale for the pizza stones is that at 550 degrees, I bet the heating elements are cycling pretty frequently, so hopefully the stone is buffering that some and will prevent the cheese from browning as fast.
![[Image: bygy9yzu.jpg]](http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/18/bygy9yzu.jpg)
first off, the bread machine dough rises a LOT more than the no knead!
results were definitely the best so far. I could take this one to the bank BUT Im not quite done yet.
![[Image: y9avy4us.jpg]](http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/18/y9avy4us.jpg)
Ive ordered a proper deep dish pizza pan, and Im going to try 2 things next.
First im going to try putting a cold pizza stone directly on top of the pizza pan. This should slow the browning on top, and since in a brick pizza oven, the floor of the oven is around 1000, and the top is lower, around 700, that should help emulate that.
Next Im going to try cooking one on the grill (maybe even my wood fired grill) on top of a pizza stone to see how that turns out. Maybe put a welding blanket over the grill to keep the heat in.
also, my wife prefers NY style pizza. Personally i think its a waste of cheese and flour, but whatever, if Im going to do it, Ill do it better than those yankees.
![[Image: u8unuqeb.jpg]](http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/18/u8unuqeb.jpg)
no floppy underdone pizza that has to be folded here. :bootyshake:
First go at it was pretty closely following the recipe with a iron pan
Tasted good, but the bottom was not done when the top was, since that huge iron heat sink had to be heated up while the top toasted away. I finished it on the burner, but even with the iron it was hard to get it perfect.
next i tried pre-heating a iron skillet and spreading the dough on that. no pictures. not surprisingly, didnt work out so well.
3rd try was the other half of that no knead dough, that I left in the refrigerator (which supposedly adds flavor to the no knead)
I also used an aluminum cake pan instead of cast iron which helped a lot with the underside, BUT the top was still browning too fast. Granted I like my cheese toasted and crispy, but even if I pull the pizza out right before the cheese starts to burn, the underside still isnt golden and crispy.
also, at this point I decided to not do the no knead anymore. Its pretty awesome if you dont want to knead fresh dough, but its also gummy so its hard to work with. The taste isnt any better, and I havent noticed any better results.
Since I have a bread machine, I set it on the dough cycle and let it rip.
so clearly I need more heat energy on the bottom of the pizza. So next try is to put the pizza pan right ontop of a an iron skillet preheated to 550, along with a pizza stone above, and a pizza stone below. The rationale for the pizza stones is that at 550 degrees, I bet the heating elements are cycling pretty frequently, so hopefully the stone is buffering that some and will prevent the cheese from browning as fast.
first off, the bread machine dough rises a LOT more than the no knead!
results were definitely the best so far. I could take this one to the bank BUT Im not quite done yet.
Ive ordered a proper deep dish pizza pan, and Im going to try 2 things next.
First im going to try putting a cold pizza stone directly on top of the pizza pan. This should slow the browning on top, and since in a brick pizza oven, the floor of the oven is around 1000, and the top is lower, around 700, that should help emulate that.
Next Im going to try cooking one on the grill (maybe even my wood fired grill) on top of a pizza stone to see how that turns out. Maybe put a welding blanket over the grill to keep the heat in.
also, my wife prefers NY style pizza. Personally i think its a waste of cheese and flour, but whatever, if Im going to do it, Ill do it better than those yankees.
no floppy underdone pizza that has to be folded here. :bootyshake: