Granite countertop is making my pizza cold

[ThermoJax]

When my pizza comes out of the oven, we bring it inside to our kitchen, where we have real nice black granite contertops and that serves as a nice surface to cut the pizza on, but it sure seems to me that when going back for seconds that the pizza is then cold, due to the mass of the countertop being cold.

I would put the pizza on wood, but our pizzas are mostly bigger than any of our wood cutting boards and even then, any of our cutting boards are not quite as good a cutting surface for cutting the pizza into slices as the granite counter top. Anyone else having a problem like this?

[hodgey1]

Re: Granite countertop is making my pizza cold

I would recomend that you first take your pie out of the oven and put it right on a cooling rack to preserve the beautiful bottom crust you just created. Once cooled for a couple of minutes, slide onto a pizza pan and cut on it and serve.

[Les]

Re: Granite countertop is making my pizza cold

We always cut ours on a board - then onto the individuals plate. We are only cooking 8-10 inch pies though. Everybody makes their own...

[Tscarborough]

Re: Granite countertop is making my pizza cold

You probably do not want to cut it on the granite, the steel is probably harder. I put them on a rack for a few, then cut them on a cutting board, and serve them on pizza pans.

[Greenman]

Re: Granite countertop is making my pizza cold

Hey Thermo - The easiest solution is to get a bigger timber cutting board. That would take your granite benchtops out of danger. A lot cheaper to get a new cutting board than replace stone benchtops.

[ThermoJax]

Re: Granite countertop is making my pizza cold

Just a point of clarification or two:

Firstly...I can't imagine letting a pizza rest before cutting. The crust having just come off the oven floor is pretty crisp. I have never waited to cut. Perhaps it is the friends and family standing around like ravenous wolves. I mean..these aren't steaks where we are waiting on the juice from the center of the steak to spread back thru the meat. Why wait? (serious question)

Secondly...Yes getting a bigger cutting board, or maybe even a big piece of plywood might do the job, but, I guess I never thought that a granite counter top would chip or break. I certainly don't chop onions on the countertop, but that is mostly out of concern for the knife, not the countertop.

[hodgey1]

Re: Granite countertop is making my pizza cold

Just a point of clarification or two:

Firstly...I can't imagine letting a pizza rest before cutting. The crust having just come off the oven floor is pretty crisp. I have never waited to cut. Perhaps it is the friends and family standing around like ravenous wolves. I mean..these aren't steaks where we are waiting on the juice from the center of the steak to spread back thru the meat. Why wait? (serious question)

If you keep a freshly baked pie on a hard surface weather its granite, steel or for that matter ia a cardboard box, you are trapping moisture being released from your "steaming hot dough" between that surface and your pizza crust. The result is your steaming the crust and loosing some of the precious crispness that was purposely created in your ultimate crispy crust creator, the brick oven. Just let it sit for a minute or two on a cooling rack as it will still be burn the roof of your mouth hot after that.

I'm no granite expert but, I would cut on a pizza pan or a cutting board, why risk the possible damage to a very expensive, beautiful product?

[ThermoJax]

Re: Granite countertop is making my pizza cold

We went to a restaurant supply place and got a round wire mesh pizza thing that we often start a pizza on in the wood oven and then as it forms up, we will slide the pizza off the wire mesh round thing onto the oven floor.

I am pretty sure that one could not easily cut the pizza on that thing. Is the round wire mesh thing what should be used to cool the pizza on? Or is there another device? Also, how long do you guys cool before slicing? This is something like my 3rd year since I built the oven (not sure anymore) and apparently there is still lots to learn.

[hodgey1]

Re: Granite countertop is making my pizza cold

I am pretty sure that one could not easily cut the pizza on that thing. Is the round wire mesh thing what should be used to cool the pizza on? Or is there another device? Also, how long do you guys cool before slicing?

I would not cut your pizza on a mesh screen. I let my pies cool on a cooling rack for just a couple minutes.

[ThermoJax]

Re: Granite countertop is making my pizza cold

Yes...Ok...cool on cooling rack...Is the round wire mesh thing we start the pizza on in the oven what you call a cooling rack? Or is it another device I should go out and purchase? Also, how long do you guys cool for before slicing. Thanks

[hodgey1]

Re: Granite countertop is making my pizza cold

Seperate item, it doesn't have to be round either, most are square.

[deejayoh]

Re: Granite countertop is making my pizza cold

Just get some aluminum pizza pans. Slide the pizza on there when it comes out of the oven and cut & serve. They cost maybe, $3 a piece? I bought 5 of them last year. They're great. Cheap, relatively indestructible, and you can just cycle them back to the oven for the next pie once the last one has been devoured. They're also great for warming things up in the oven. Like leftover slices. Or nachos.

Personally I can't imagine using a cooling rack for pizza.

[Paul_H]

Re: Granite countertop is making my pizza cold

I haven't looked for one, but the commercial pizza shops use these dimpled trays to serve their pies, and they cut them right on the tray.



The dimpled base allows the steam from the bottom of the crust to escape.