"Old and standing in the way of progress"
I've been making potato pizzas for several years, (thanks to the Velvet Elvis in Patagonia, AZ for the idea.)
I toss some thinly sliced potatoes into the oven while I'm pre-heating my steel.
(I've been using a baking steel instead of a stone, preheated in a 500 degree oven for 30 minutes.)
I top the pizza with a layer of carmelized onions, then the potatoes and a crumble of gorgonzola over it all. (Okay if I have some prosciutto I might add that, too.)
Lately, I've been experimenting with my baking method. Preheat the steel, then turn the oven to broil. The top and bottom cook simultaneously, 7-8 minutes and we're eating.
Josh Simonds
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Vsalon Fromage De Tête
You are looking for something like this. It's a steel version of the venerable pizza stone. The heavier the better.
Ok, my wife says "Let's have pizza" about an hour before eating time. So I turn on the oven, go get the dough and make these. The first is a sweet onion pizza with Parmesan, ricotta, red pepper and black pepper. The second is a smoked scamorza pizza with arrabiata sauce (Batali but arrabiata is easy to make from scratch.) Dough is cracker thin. Onion pizza is sweet and spicy, and the scamorza pizza taste like spicy ham - truly! I think that's why sometimes scamorza comes shaped like a piggy (last photo.) Took about an hour and a half, but that's because I had to go get the dough.
Forgot my phone had some Instawhacky setting going on when I shot the piggy. He was grated and cooked before I checked the image. Scamorza is a weird cheese. Flattens more than melts, and a little goes a long way. A lot of the pizza by the slice guys use scamorza (or so I am told) because it is durable, for a lack of a better term. Helps hold stuff together, so as a topping, it makes it easier to eat and walk.
Both were pretty yummy. And there is pie leftover for breakfast!
Had a chance to inhale an odd one the other night. Crust was two tubes of cresent roll dough laid out to resemble a crust, olive oil rubbed over the crust, few shakes of black pepper, few paintings of basil pesto, few shakes of italian seasonings, one can of rotel diced tomatoes and green chilis, and a nice helping of sliced mozzarella cheese. 10 minutes later, utter perfection. No stomach left wanting.
The Pizza Lab: Baking Steel vs. Lodge Cast Iron Pizza | Slice Pizza Blog
After reading this it would seem that a steel really is the way to go. Any preferences out there? I don't think I could do the 30lb one.
Just replaced my stone with 1/4" steel. Very happy with it. There was nothing wrong with the stone, but the steel is faster and less fragile. Last night's result:
image.jpg
Interesting article, but the author doesn't take any time to make the Lodge work with retaining elevated temp due to less thermal mass. A forty five minute heat is just a huge energy suck at 550 on a regular basis. I'm sure super heating the pan on the stove top, adding the pie and keeping it there for a couple of minutes before broil would do the trick. Pan roasting by any other name. Doubt I'd want to scrape burned cheese off that slab.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: a huge DeBuyer steel pan will do it with the ability to roast or sear on stove top.
"Old and standing in the way of progress"
I'll have to look into this pizza steel thing, I've been pretty happy using parchment paper (10 minutes or so at 500 on pp, then 8 or so straight on the oven rack).
Does anyone know were to get good quality, spicy pepperoni? When I was kid in NY (Upstate) my favorite pizza had very flavorful, spicy (a little hot) pepperoni. Sometimes it would cup and get browned on the edges which was ideal. Most of the stuff available in the store just tastes greasy.. no spice, no heat, and as a result I buy spicy soressata or prosciutto. I would love to get some good pepperoni though..
p.s. I will not buy a Hormel product after reading a recent Mother Jones expose.
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