Help - Pizza Screens

[mrpbjnance]

I am looking for some advice. I have been cooking with our brick oven for some time.. But the problem has always been when people make there pizza they never use enough flower and when I try to transfer thier pizza to my peel it sticks.. So I thought Pizza Screens might heelp and make the crust a little crisper...
Well I tried last night.. I am not sure if it was that I did not heat the oven enough or if it was the screens but the crust was not crisp like we like it...

Has anyone used pizza screens with success... is my thinking the screens would make the crust better way off?

Thanks

[dmun]

Re: Help - Pizza Screens

Screens? Maybe for the pizzas kids do themselves, and eat themselves, but you're right, they just won't crisp up if they aren't on the brick floor.

[Modthyrth]

Re: Help - Pizza Screens

Have you tried using rice flour to dust your peel? We've found that tremendously successful--so much so that we only have to add a very light dusting of the flour every four or five pizzas. Rice flour is slippery stuff. When, on occasion, a pizza does stick a bit, the puff of air trick works brilliantly, and we know it's time to dust the peel again.

[BrianShaw]

Re: Help - Pizza Screens

If using screens, start the pizza in the oven on the screen but take the pizza off of the screen as soon as the botton has sufficiently set. Cooking directly on the stone for half the time will crisp the crust but not as good as cooking on the stone the whole time.

[mrpbjnance]

Re: Help - Pizza Screens

I did try that but the dough seemed to stick a bit to the scrrens.

I am wondering if the screens are off the floor a little.. ie if I add little feet to lift them up and the heat can get under if that would help at all.

One thing I noticed is we do a "dessert pizza" I stick just the dough in and cook it and the top get nice and crisp.. So I am wondering if raising it would help.

[BrianShaw]

Re: Help - Pizza Screens

I don't know about raising the screen up. Never heard of that technique... but I haven't heard of everything so don;t know if it will work or not. The only time I've had sticking problems is if the dough is too wet (sorry, can't offer a hydration percentage) or if the dough sat on the screen too long before going into the oven.

[christo]

Re: Help - Pizza Screens

I had the same issue with screens but we still use them sometimes - mostly for kids - most of them don't like a dark or black spots on the crust anyway.

The drinking straw trick and blowing under the dough is still the best solution for us. I try to do it inconspicously or let the pizza maker blow under their dough. It's usually enough to get it loose and into the oven.

Christo.