I made Pizza on Saturday evening for my 4-year old and myself. My 4-year old is allergic to cheese (all cow's milk products actually) so he has it without.
-Because of having to make TWO pizzas at once (and not much surface area on the stone) I tried something new this time, and it was VERY interesting...
Since it was a very late decision to make the pizzas, there was no time to 'pre-rise' the dough, so I used a little more sugar in the yeast, causing it to rise VERY quickly... (It was Rapid-Rise anyhow, so it was VERY active!!!) and I made the two pizza bases at the same time.
Each base had to be rolled out rather than 'pulled' -presumably because the gluten chains didn't have much time to activate and untangle I'm guessing- but two 14-inch bases were rolled and dusted lightly with flour to help prevent sticking.
The first dough base was then very quickly 'flashed' on the pre-heated stone (bottom shelf of the oven, at 500°F) just to dry off the base a little (a minute or so) and then the base was removed for topping.
The Tomato sauce was just 50% Passata di pomodoro and 50% blender-liquefied whole canned tomatoes (without the juice... they're plenty wet enough without it!) reduced by simmmering for about 15 minutes (while making the dough and pre-heating the oven).
My son had just tomato and Pepperoni on his, and he spread his own sauce and placed the slices on top (he enjoys that bit!). While he was topping his, I 'flashed' my second pizza base on the hot stone... again, about 1 minute.
Then my son's pizza went onto the hot stone for about 4 minutes. -Meanwhile I topped the second pizza (Tomato sauce, shredded Mozzarella and Pepperoni) while the first one was cooking.
About halfway through the first Pizza was moved FROM the stone onto a second (higher) wire rack directly (i.e. no pan, tray or whatever)... then the second Pizza was put onto the stone to cook.
After 4 or 5 minutes, the first Pizza was done. Moving it from the stone to the wire rack allowed hot air to get to the entire underside of the pizza base, which made it crackly and crispy... very nice! The second Pizza was then moved to the top wire rack, where it too turned nice and crispy.
The two big differences were the 'flashing' of the pizza base, which dried the outside crust of the pizza, which helped to 'seal' it slightly. This significantly slowed the penetration of the 'wet' toppings, and made for a pleasant, wafer-y, flakey, crispy result. The two-stage (stone and rack) approach meant that you get the nice dry base (steam from the bottom of the base is allowed to vent and dry, rather than being trapped against the stone and 'steaming' the underside of the base), but without having to start with a 'stodgy' or 'thick' base. (thin dough bases can't usually be cooked directly on wire racks, because they 'sag' and 'droop' between the bars.)
Me likey.
Me play some more!
Keith
