pizza oven transfer

[mamaspizza]

We fired up our oven for the 2nd pizza time. What I learned from my first experience is that the low hydration dough I used in the convection oven puffs up like a pizza pie in the wfo, it came out soggy and not quite done and the crust was flat. I was very disappointed. Yesterday, after reading some sites about pizza crust ideas and how to get some chew, I tried a higher hydration, more salt and added for the first time a little semolina flour to my crust. It was perfect! Sort of. Being that the dough was stickier, I had excess flour that built up on the crust and it was undesirable to get a mouth full. bleh! I tried to make up all of my pizzas before cooking the first pizzas so that we could eat together. I had a time getting the pizzas transferred to the floured peel. Any suggestions? And will the higher hydration dough still have the chew without the semolina flour? Aside from the excess flour the pizzas were perfect!

[hodgey1]

Re: pizza oven transfer

I tried to make up all of my pizzas before cooking the first pizzas so that we could eat together. I had a time getting the pizzas transferred to the floured peel. Any suggestions?

Transferring from the counter to a peel is very difficult with a high moisture dough. My method is to build the pie on the peel and own more than one peel so you can pre-build a few. It's not the only method, just my method.

[mamaspizza]

Re: pizza oven transfer

Thank you for your response and I agree! Imagine I'd placed the pizzas on an industrial size cookie sheet w/floured parchment paper...it was a disaster in the making.

[cobblerdave]

Re: pizza oven transfer

G'day
Anything over 10 ins pizza base has the potential to be a disaster . So the 12 in plus get delivered to the hearth on a pizza tray. Especially the sons super specials overloaded heavy weights !
You then have to get them from the tray to the hearth. Easy used a turning peal but then you have to retrieve the tray. Balance on a turning peal
A looong pr of tongs comes in handy, your going to lose a few arm hairs at times so "so what tha ..."
Those pizza screens sound a great idea though I haven't found one to try to date
Regards dave

[Greenman]

Re: pizza oven transfer

You can use the baking paper as long as you acknowledge that you can only leave it in the oven until the base firms, know that the bits of paper hanging outside the base will burn and you have no time to do anything other than slide a metal peel between the baking paper and the pizza and separate the two and finish the cooking on the bricks.

It works quite well if you combine tongs and the small peel. Not particularly traditional but I use it. Works for me.

If you are not gifted then paper and trays are a viable option.

[mamaspizza]

Re: pizza oven transfer

I've had a couple more tries since I posted the original op. I used parchment paper and slid the pizzas from the wood peel to the paper on a tray...obviously, it was a bit of a disaster because the dough stuck to the paper and they were too wet to transfer back to the peel. That same night I struggled transferring the pizzas into the oven without knocking off toppings or other casualties but they still tasted great!

Last night I made the pizzas up one at a time, floured the peel with a semolina/pizza flour mixture pretty good but not too much flour on the dough itself. When I got close to the oven, in preparation to "launch" it, hehe, I gave it a bit of a shake to see if it would slide around on the peel. If it stuck, I lifted the pizza and added more flour. If it slide around, I quickly slide it into the oven and whah la!

[Greenman]

Re: pizza oven transfer

I have tried to assemble the pizza on the baking paper and put that on the hearth. The outside bits of the paper char quickly but it doesn't take long for the base to firm enough to slip a metal peel under the pizza and whip out the remaining baking paper with tongs.

Works fine but is harder to execute when the hearth is very hot.

[windage]

Re: pizza oven transfer

powder a regular commercial pan (American Metal...made in India) with coarse corn meal, build pizza, place in oven (with homebuilt BBQ fork placed in end of broom handle...shake pan, when pizza moves, yank out pan, finish pizza on rock, spin and pullout with peel the regular way...many thousands of happy customers can't be wrong..

[Greenman]

Re: pizza oven transfer

They all work. Different strokes for different folks.