Getting fresh pizza onto the stone

[redmike]

Hi,

haven't been here for a long time, too long, and I hope you're all doing OK.

Really got back into cooking in a big way a few months ago and brought some really nifty tools.

Anyway, I bought a pizza stone a month or so ago and really love it, but until today I'd only used it for supermarket pizzas, to which I added a lot of stuff.

After deciding to try it with a homemade base I did have the aforethought to go out and buy one of the big spatulas and in this case it's a wooden one that I pre-oiled.

So today, the oven was hot and the pizza was sitting on the counter top with all its toppings, and the first problem I had was getting it intact onto the spatula and that wasn't too difficult, but getting it onto the pizza stone was really difficult and it took two of us to do it.

So the question is,

"How do you move a fresh pizza from the spatula onto the hot stone without shooting all of the toppings all over the bottom of the oven?

Thanks for any advice,

Michael

 

[salt and pepper]

Frist of all never put oil or season a pizza peel. You want it dry. Wash it off with hot soapy water and always dry anything made of wood at once. To slide your pizza off the peel, sprinkle it with corn meal or semolina.

 

[GLC]

Dust the work surface with corn meal when you place the dough on it before adding ingredients. Enough corn meal should adhere to the dough to allow the peel to slide easily.

Making up the pizza on parchment paper and sending the paper into the oven with it also work fine.

But I use a perforated pizza pan, actually one made for Pizza Hut that I found a bunch of brand new at a metal recycle yard, and I stretch the dough on that pan.

 

[redmike]

Thank you GLC and salt and pepper! ;-)

Seems like corn meal will be on my list.

Jamie Oliver (the world's richest chef - $250,000.00) has a pizza recipe which uses..

• 1kg strong white bread flour or Tipo ‘00’ flour
or 800g strong white bread flour or Tipo ‘00’ flour, plus 200g finely ground semolina flour
• 1 level tablespoon fine sea salt
• 2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
• 1 tablespoon golden caster sugar
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 650ml lukewarm water

Interesting perhaps that he adds the semolina flour.

Lucky you GLX

Michael

 

[redmike]

just saw this gadget for the first time!

http://i47.tinypic.com/300yyzd.jpg

 

[jennyema]

Buy a pizza peel

Ooops sorry didnt get the "big spatula" reference.

Yes wash the oil off and use cornmeal

 

[DaveSoMD]

Build the pizza on the peel, be sure to use cornmeal on the peel before you lay out the crust. As you build, gently shake the peel to be sure the dough remains loose and will slide.

 

[GotGarlic]

I find it easiest to build the pizza on a piece of parchment paper and slide the whole thing onto the stone. I also use the back of a baking sheet instead of a wooden pizza peel. Works fine and I have one less thing to store

 

[redmike]

I find it easiest to build the pizza on a piece of parchment paper and slide the whole thing onto the stone. I also use the back of a baking sheet instead of a wooden pizza peel. Works fine and I have one less thing to store

Thanks, I'll give that a try too.

Do you remove the paper once the pizza is on the stone?

I ask because I wonder if it might not stop the stone sucking up the moisture.

Michael

 

[Kayelle]

I also use a wood pizza peal with cornmeal on it to aid the sliding onto the hot stone, with only limited success. I pile so much stuff onto the crust that often some of the goodies ended up on the bottom of the oven. I discovered if I made a foil collar for the back of the stone before heating the stone, that the problem was solved.

 

[GotGarlic]

Thanks, I'll give that a try too.

Do you remove the paper once the pizza is on the stone?

I ask because I wonder if it might not stop the stone sucking up the moisture.

Michael

No, I left the paper on. The crust came out nice and crispy and the parchment paper was browned and very dry.

 

[Andy M.]

Cornmeal is your friend. To echo what others have said, liberally dust your peel with cornmeal, build the pizza on the peel shaking it periodically to ensure it stays unstuck.

To transfer the pizza to the hot stone, place the leading edge of the peel at the rear of the stone with a downward tilt. Gradually shake the peel to edge the pizza onto the stone pulling the peel backwards as you shake until the pizza is off the peel and on the stone.

Roughly reverse the process to get the pizza off the stone.

Consider going to a pizza place and watching them make a pizza or two.

 

[salt and pepper]

Cornmeal is your friend. To echo what others have said, liberally dust your peel with cornmeal, build the pizza on the peel shaking it periodically to ensure it stays unstuck.

To transfer the pizza to the hot stone, place the leading edge of the peel at the rear of the stone with a downward tilt. Gradually shake the peel to edge the pizza onto the stone pulling the peel backwards as you shake until the pizza is off the peel and on the stone.

Roughly reverse the process to get the pizza off the stone.

Consider going to a pizza place and watching them make a pizza or two.

Hey Andy, I was wondering when you were going to chime in! Well said. I would also like to add, when making your pizza, start small, 10" or so. Till you get the hang of it.

 

[Kylie1969]

Cheers for the recipe Mike

Thank you GLC and salt and pepper! ;-)

Seems like corn meal will be on my list.

Jamie Oliver (the world's richest chef - $250,000.00) has a pizza recipe which uses..

• 1kg strong white bread flour or Tipo ‘00’ flour
or 800g strong white bread flour or Tipo ‘00’ flour, plus 200g finely ground semolina flour
• 1 level tablespoon fine sea salt
• 2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
• 1 tablespoon golden caster sugar
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 650ml lukewarm water

Interesting perhaps that he adds the semolina flour.

Lucky you GLX

Michael

 

[redmike]

I also use a wood pizza peal with cornmeal on it to aid the sliding onto the hot stone, with only limited success. I pile so much stuff onto the crust that often some of the goodies ended up on the bottom of the oven. I discovered if I made a foil collar for the back of the stone before heating the stone, that the problem was solved.

Good idea and I'll try it if the other suggestions don't work.

I'm sure you tried making a ridge around the edge of the pizza.

Michael

 

[RPCookin]

Also make sure that your dough isn't too soft. Pizza dough should be fairly firm, so that a little bit of corn meal on the peel and on the stone makes transferring easy.

 

[Kayelle]

Good idea and I'll try it if the other suggestions don't work.

I'm sure you tried making a ridge around the edge of the pizza.

Michael

Actually that's part of the problem Michael. I hate a thick crust ridge around the edge as it seems nobody eats it and it goes to waste. The method of the foil collar at the back of the stone allows the entire surface to be covered right to the edge of the dough.
My stone sits in a metal cradle with handles that allows me to remove the whole thing to the counter where I use kitchen shears to cut the slices, rather than a knife that could be dulled on the stone, or a "never sharp enough" pizza cutter. Also leaving the pizza on the stone keeps it nice and hot for servings.

 

[bakechef]

Thanks, I'll give that a try too.

Do you remove the paper once the pizza is on the stone?

I ask because I wonder if it might not stop the stone sucking up the moisture.

Michael

I use parchment, but I do remove the paper, I find that in my oven @550 the parchment gets too browned and brittle where it is exposed.

I let the pizza cook for about 1 minute, then use the peel to hold the pizza in place, and pull on the parchment, it slides right out.

 

[Kayelle]

I use parchment, but I do remove the paper, I find that in my oven @550 the parchment gets too browned and brittle where it is exposed.

I let the pizza cook for about 1 minute, then use the peel to hold the pizza in place, and pull on the parchment, it slides right out.

I'll give that a shot BC. It makes perfect sense. Thanks. There's always something new to learn here.

 

[RPCookin]

Actually that's part of the problem Michael. I hate a thick crust ridge around the edge as it seems nobody eats it and it goes to waste. The method of the foil collar at the back of the stone allows the entire surface to be covered right to the edge of the dough.
My stone sits in a metal cradle with handles that allows me to remove the whole thing to the counter where I use kitchen shears to cut the slices, rather than a knife that could be dulled on the stone, or a "never sharp enough" pizza cutter. Also leaving the pizza on the stone keeps it nice and hot for servings.

My pizza cutter is from Pampered Chef, and it came with a plastic sleeve for protection in the utensil drawer (for both the wheel and fingers). It has a 3" wheel and it's been the best one I've ever used. I don't cut on the stone, but then, once the pie is cooked I have no difficulty at all using the peel to transfer it to a cutting board.

These days I do pizza on the grill more than anything else. I don't use a stone for that, so it's not an issue.