My Verdict about Pizza Cooking Temps

[John Setzler]

I have cooked a LOT of pizzas over the last few months.  For those who have been following, you know I have spent a lot of time developing my own dough recipe that can stand up to high temps.  I even bought the blackstone pizza oven to make this learning process easier.  I have tinkered with a lot of different recipe combinations and hydration percentages.  There are two definite conclusions so far:

1. I can make a dough that will stand up to high temps with no problem.

2. My favorite results have come at lower temperatures.

I am not entirely sure why this is, but cooking extremely fast at higher temps makes a great pizza BUT I don't get the browning on the crust that I like so much.  The pizza in the photo above is my high temp dough recipe but it was cooked at around 500 degrees for 10 minutes instead of 800-900 degrees for two minutes or less.  (This one was also cooked on the Kamado Joe instead of the Blackstone oven, but that shoudln't play a part in this conversation really.)  I got EXACTLY the kind of browning I am looking for.  This dough started with 400g of flour and 65% hydration with an addition of 2% salt and 2% sugar.  I have used the same percentages on pizzas at higher temps and not gotten browning like this before... 

 

[ckreef]

I think there is a happy medium (for me anyway). Somewhere around 650*. You get nice browning, a little char and they finish in the 3 minute range. 

Just not willing to go 10 minutes on a pizza especially when you are cooking multiple pies and actually want to eat together as a family. 

Deep dish and pan pizza is a completely different time discussion. 

[Beermachine]

48 minutes ago, John Setzler said:

I have cooked a LOT of pizzas over the last few months.  For those who have been following, you know I have spent a lot of time developing my own dough recipe that can stand up to high temps.  I even bought the blackstone pizza oven to make this learning process easier.  I have tinkered with a lot of different recipe combinations and hydration percentages.  There are two definite conclusions so far:

1. I can make a dough that will stand up to high temps with no problem.

2. My favorite results have come at lower temperatures.

I am not entirely sure why this is, but cooking extremely fast at higher temps makes a great pizza BUT I don't get the browning on the crust that I like so much.  The pizza in the photo above is my high temp dough recipe but it was cooked at around 500 degrees for 10 minutes instead of 800-900 degrees for two minutes or less.  (This one was also cooked on the Kamado Joe instead of the Blackstone oven, but that shoudln't play a part in this conversation really.)  I got EXACTLY the kind of browning I am looking for.  This dough started with 400g of flour and 65% hydration with an addition of 2% salt and 2% sugar.  I have used the same percentages on pizzas at higher temps and not gotten browning like this before... 

 

What is the oil percentage of your hydration component included in the pic above. It looks great.

[John Setzler]

@Beermachine

There is no oil in the recipe.

[bcrgrill]

Thanks for all the experimental research on the recipe(s) & the cooking thereof:

 

[ske1eter]

Like you I've had my best success around 500* give or take.
 

Have you posted your updated dough recipe? If so, I need to look for it.

 

[John Setzler]

30 minutes ago, ske1eter said:

Like you I've had my best success around 500* give or take.
 

Have you posted your updated dough recipe? If so, I need to look for it.

 

I havent really updated the recipe.  I have been experimenting with the same basic recipe at different hydration levels as well as adding some onion and garlic powder to the dough.

[ske1eter]

Ok, gotcha'. I add garlic powder, onion powder and dried oregano to mine. No measured quantities though, just eyeballed it. ;D

The picture of your crust looks stellar! There was a pizza place when I went to college that made the rim of the crust "big" and provided honey on the table for you to finish off the crust.

[John Setzler]

@ske1eter

i cant subscribe to the eyeballing method even though it can work.  I am not food enough at it to reproduce results consistently without carefully measuring what i oit in it.  I cant feel the difference between 70 and 75% hydration but i can see it in the cook.

[rchang72]

Thanks for your leg work John.

I would like to know why so many people are trying to get that super high temp pizza? Just curious what changes in taste or texture for that.

[ckreef]

18 hours ago, rchang72 said:

Thanks for your leg work John.

I would like to know why so many people are trying to get that super high temp pizza? Just curious what changes in taste or texture for that.

For me the biggest benefit is the quick cook time. If you cook 3 pizzas and they only take 3 minutes each you can basically sit down as a family to eat. If they take 8 minutes to cook my son will be done with his pizza before the second one finishes. Either that or he's eating cold pizza. 

[Beermachine]

On 9/22/2016 at 7:33 PM, John Setzler said:

@Beermachine

There is no oil in the recipe.

Looks like a pesto pizza? That would explain the brown crust since there is no oil in the dough.

[John Setzler]

1 minute ago, Beermachine said:

Looks like a pesto pizza? That would explain the brown crust since there is no oil in the dough.

There is pesto under the cheese but not out on the edges.

[Beermachine]

Just now, John Setzler said:

There is pesto under the cheese but not out on the edges.

When I have done pesto pies the oil in the pesto tends to spit and covers the edges of the pie and I get the same results. On tomato base pies I now put a thin layer of olive oil around the edges of the crust to get the same result.

[Aussie Joe]

I have tried a high heat dough but prefer my 500 to 550 dough 6 to 8 minutes is good for me if I use wet ingredients I will par bake so the crust is not soggy either way if it takes 3 minutes or 8 it's still going to be better than a delivered store pizza. And I love my komodo pizzas definitely don't need a dedicated pizza cooker




Outback Kamado Bar and Grill[emoji621]