oven only goes to 500, bake time?

[Mathugh]

My conventional oven only goes to 500 degrees F so how long should I bake my pizza on the pizza stone for?

The ebook from this site says to bake it for 5 minutes on a pizza stone in a 550 degrees F conventional oven, but if my oven only gets to 500 degrees F how long should I bake my pizza for?

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: oven only goes to 500, bake time?

Till it's done.

Seriously.

It is personal preference how done your pizza is...I like mine a little crispy, just watch the toppings and take it out when it looks good to you.

[BrianShaw]

Re: oven only goes to 500, bake time?

Although that seems like a bit of a smart-alek response, I agree withit because it is also the truth. There are a number of variables that will make a difference, including how long the stone was pre-heated, how fast the recovery of the stone is (coming back to temp after a pie is baked), dough and topping thickess, etc. It also matters how often one opens the oven door to peek!

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: oven only goes to 500, bake time?

Hee Hee...Brian called me Smart!

[lwood]

Re: oven only goes to 500, bake time?

Correction Drake, he called you smart-alek he he, but your correct. Till it's done. Also check the bottom for done-ness. Is done-ness a word?

[Mathugh]

Re: oven only goes to 500, bake time?

Thanks for the responses. I've found it tends to take 7 or 8 minutes to cook on my oven that only goes to 500 degrees.

[JoeyVelderrain]

Re: oven only goes to 500, bake time?

I've heard that there is a way to set it on automatic cleaning and the temperature will go as high as 650?

[lwood]

Re: oven only goes to 500, bake time?

If you have a self-cleaning oven. Not all ovens are self-cleaning.

[brokencookie]

Re: oven only goes to 500, bake time?

I've heard that there is a way to set it on automatic cleaning and the temperature will go as high as 650?

It is possible to disable the safety features that keep you from cooking with the cleaning cycle. However, I would not recommend that you do that. For starters, if you intentionally disable a safety feature and have an accident or fire, your insurance will not be null and void.

You can make excellent pizzas with temperatures as low as 400 degrees by adjusting the recipe. I could recommend this approach until you can build an oven. If you need quick results and are determined to use higher temperatures, use a barbeque. Search the forum and you will find excellent pizzas made with both modified and un-modified Weber kettles.

Bruce

[JoeyVelderrain]

Re: oven only goes to 500, bake time?

Bruce,
I agree with you about the insurance company bailing out if there is a fire and they find out the safety features in the oven have been bypassed. I also have a WFO that I love to use but on occasions when the weather is bad or I am out of firewood this could be an option.

That being said I remembered where I had read about how to do this. here is the website
Jeff Varasano's NY Pizza Recipe

and here is what he wrote.

The Oven: I've got my oven cranked up to over 800 F. Use this section with caution: i.e. no lawyers please. I'm just telling you here what I did. I'm not telling you what you should do. You are responsible for whatever you choose to do. In Naples, Italy they have been cooking pizza at very high temperatures for a long time. There are some real physics going on here. The tradition is to cook with a brick oven. I don't have a brick oven. So this is what I do:

On most ovens the electronics won't let you go above 500F, about 300 degrees short of what is needed. (Try baking cookies at 75 instead of 375 and see how it goes). The heat is needed to quickly char the crust before it has a chance to dry out and turn into a biscuit. At this temp the pizza takes 2 - 3 min to cook (a diff of only 25F can change the cook time by 50%). It is charred, yet soft. At 500F it takes 20 minutes to get only blond in color and any more time in the oven and it will dry out. I've cook good pizzas at temps under 725F, but never a great one. The cabinet of most ovens is obviously designed for serious heat because the cleaning cycle will top out at over 975 which is the max reading on my Raytec digital infrared thermometer. The outside of the cabinet doesn't even get up to 85F when the oven is at 800 inside. So I clipped off the lock using garden shears so I could run it on the cleaning cycle. I pushed a piece of aluminum foil into the door latch (the door light switch) so that electronics don't think I've broken some rule by opening the door when it thinks it's locked. Brick ovens are domed shaped. Heat rises. There is more heat on top than on the bottom. A brick oven with a floor of 800F might have a ceiling of 1200F or more, just a foot above. This is essential. The top of the pizza is wet and not in direct contact with the stone, so it will cook slower. Therefore, to cook evenly, the top of the oven should be hotter than the stone. To achieve this, I cover the pizza stone top and bottom with loose fitting foil. This keeps it cool as the rest of the oven heats up. When I take a digital read of the stone, I point it at the foil and it actually reads the heat reflected from the top of the oven. When it hits 850, I take the foil off the top with tongs and then read the stone. It's about 700-725. Now I make my pizza. As I prep, the oven will get up to 800Floor, 900+ Top. Perfect for pizza. Different ovens have different heat distributions. I experimented extensively with foil to redistribute the heat. I tried using one layer, multiple layers and I adjusted the amount I used on the top and the bottom. I also played with using the shiny side up or down, etc. Eventually, I worked out a simple system for myself. Some have tried to get high heat using a grill. This can produce high heat, but all from the bottom. One could adjust the differential, by playing games with foil. But an oven with heat from above is better.

[JoeyVelderrain]

Re: oven only goes to 500, bake time?

here is another link to other folk using the same self cleaning oven hack to make amazing pies!
My Pie Monday: Climbhighak's Self-Clean-Cycle Pizzas | Slice Pizza Blog