The Fresh Loaf

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Baking steel pizza

the_partisan's picture
the_partisan

Baking steel pizza

I've gotten a baking steel (not the original, but similar), and I am wondering what's the best way to cook pizza in it? I have an electric oven, and so far I've been heating up to max (275C) with the steel in the middle and then putting it on the steel with parchment paper under, and this has given me decent results. Takes about 6 minutes to cook. The oven also has a fan/convection mode but I think the top will burn quickly when using the fan? 

Is there any way to get quicker bake times?

bikeprof's picture
bikeprof

I use mine quite a bit, and I put it on a rack not quite at the top, but a couple notches down from the top of the oven (higher than the middle).  I then heat oven as high as it will go for about an hour, then switch to the broiler on high...THAT really cranks up the temp.

When I load my pizza, I often have to crack the door slightly with a wooden spoon, or else the broiler shuts off because the oven temp is so high...this lets the coils stay glowing hot, and pizza is well charred in about 3 min. for me.

The main variables I am ironing out is just which rack to put it on (I'm doing it 3rd from the top now, and it is a bit more managable), freezing my mozz ahead of time, since I am shooting for slightly charred crust and well melted but now super brown cheese, and just when to prop the door open to cycle on the broiler. I am also using a pizza stone right under the steel (on the same rack), for some added thermal mass, which seems to help with recovery time.

Google "baking steel pizza" will get you more help... Serious Eats has some good info., as does pizzamaking.com forums...

Have fun!

BobBoule's picture
BobBoule

I preheat mine for an hour while I'm prepping. It seems to give me faster bake times. I also experimented with filling the lowest rack with as much cast iron cookware as I could fit in there before I started the peseta (in an attempt to increase its thermal mass) and it seems to me to really help the pizza bake faster.