HELP FOR PIZZA PROBLEM !!!!!

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goliath

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Oct 8, 2013
574
75
Terrace BC Canada
i see many posts about pizza this and pizza that. there is nothing like a perfectly cooked pizza especially done on a super preheated stone. I HAVE A PROBLEM THOUGH.... sometimes (most times) my pizza is hard to get on or off the pizza peel when it is fresh made. transferring it to the stone can be a messy crappy job. i have tried all the different cornmeal, different flours but it is hit and miss.

now i see many people use just an aluminum pan for doing pizza on the grill... SO i was thinking making the pizza on some aluminum foil and sliding the peel under the foil, thus cooking the pizza on the foil on the stone should work !!

ANY SUGGESTIONS AND OPINIONS WILL BE APPRECIATED

THANKS

Goliath
 
The dough must come in contact with the stone to dry it to crispy goodness. You can start on foil or a round metal pan cook it half way then slide it on the stone to finish and crisp up the base of the pizza. Do you have some oil in the dough? Between the cornmeal, letting it brown well and dry out, it should release. I have never seen this issue at 600 to 900°F...JJ
 
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we make the pizza on a big pizza pan and carry it out to the grill or even just when making it in the house. even with cornmeal on the pan when we make the pizza it can be a real bugger to slide the peel under it to transfer it to the stone, sticky is sticky, and its a thin crust. so if it is hard to slide the peel under it sucks to slide it off also

was thinking that the foil would accept the heat of the cast iron stone i use.

thanks
 
Most pizza guys build on a cornmeal or semolina covered wooden peel. Blow a bit of air under the dough and stick the peel over the furthest edge and slide the pizza off with a couple of jerks backward.  Sticky is not Sticky, its a bad recipe. Your dough should not be wet or sticky. If it is, it needs more flour and more kneading by hand or mixing with a dough hook. My standard ratio is 2 Cups Water to 5 Cups Bread Flour. I add 1 pack Quick Rise Yeast directly to the flour, no need to bloom. I also add 2Tbs EVOO, 2 Tbs Sugar and 1 Tbs Kosher Salt. I use a mixer with hook and run a total of10 minutes. I set on 1 (lowest) for 5 min and 2 (Next Click up) for 5 minutes. If the dough is still sticking to the Bowl after the first 5 minutes, add a Tbs or two of flour and continue. If the dough is quickly climbing out of the bowl, it's too dry. Take the dough off the hook and add 1 Tbs water to the center of the dough and enclose it. The Dough comes out only barely tacky, smooth and elastic. Oil the dough with 1 Tbs EVOO, turn it over a few time to grease the bowl. Proof 1 hour and have at it. Flour both sides of the dough disk well and roll out on the counter or peel, dusted well with flour and corn meal, or use whatever technique you are used too. Never had a sticking problem to the Peel, an Aluminum Sheet pan, a Steel Deck or a Pizza Stone...JJ
 
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First off, what recipe and method are you using for the dough?

Like many things, making pizza is largely a "feel" thing. It takes some time and practice to get everything in sync. Before you start trying all manner of things to make your method work, try figuring out why it isn't working in the first place.

Start with your dough. Is it elastic? Does it have a satiny look and feel to it? If it appears wet on the surface, it's just too wet and will stick no matter what. You don't want it so dry it gets tough, but you also want it workable. Again, it's a "feel" thing. You might try going to a pizza place or grocery store and buying pre-made dough. Not Pillsbury, but actual yeast dough. Most grocery stores around here carry it. It comes in a bag and is usually somewhere in the refrigerated section. Pizza places will usually sell you a pound or two if you ask them nicely. Once you have the pre-made dough, compare it to yours. See what's different about it.

Once you have your dough figured out, the process comes into play.

What works for me, is to form the dough into a pizza either in my hands or on another surface besides the pizza peel. Then, flour the peel (or use corn meal) and gently lay the dough on it. Give it a shake at this point to see if it's loose. If it's not, add more flour or corn meal to the area that's sticking. Once you have your dough easily moving on the peel, THEN make your pizza. Again, be gentle. Don't press down on the dough or it'll stick. Also, give it a shake every now and then to assure it's still loose. Once the pizza's made, the transfer to the stone is pretty simple. Just line up the back edge of the pie with the back edge of the stone and with short, firm shakes, inch the edge of the pizza on to the stone. Continue this process until the pizza's about halfway onto the stone, then just pull the peel all the way out. Again, it's a feel thing, it's really simple.

Only other thing I can think of is don't overload your pizza with tons of toppings. A little goes a long way, and too much makes a heavy pizza that'll not only be tricky to move off the peel, but won't cook evenly. 

Keep at it and you'll get there!!
 
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we usually do 2 pizzas, maybe i should get another peel as they are cheap enough and the transfer from pan to peel to stone is easier cause we can cut out the pan part !!!

have had some successes and FAILURES... just looking for some advice and how i can get consistent

THANKS FOR THE INPUT

Goliath
 
Goliath, Success must be repeatable. Start weighing your ingredients each time you make your dough and document the weights. Write everything down including Weather, temp, humidity, day and month of the year. The day you NAIL the recipe hard...Throw all other notes away and just use the ingredient weights from that ONE day and recipe. From this point on the result will be repeatable and very near perfect everytime you make Pizza. The only thing left is to learn the slight changes you will have to make when the weather is opposite or drastically different from that magic day. This is the difference between a Cook that follows recipes and a Chef that writes recipes...JJ
 
the BRIDE is in charge of the making and building, im just the guy that schleps them around. this is all great advice and you can be sure it will be passed on in a tender and gingerly fashion ...  lol

Goliath
 
My past included owning a couple pizza shops back in the 80's, Chef JJ is spot on.  The right dough, a little cornmeal, a pizza peel and a hot stone oven, you're in.  Problem I had was all the people I hired made for inconsistency, that's what happens when you sell a lot of product.  So, we needed to come up with a solution to make an acceptable pizza consistently, even if it wasn't the best pizza I was  capable of.  The answer was pizza screens and I still use them today when I want the convenience of quick and easy.  Spray the screen with a little oil (no need for this after they are seasoned) and lay the dough on top.  Build your pizza, place it on the stone for a few minutes, then slide it right off to finish cooking on the stone. 
 
As others have said, you really do have to start on the peel. Use the corn meal, it is like little ball bearings. While you are building the pizza, give it a good shake on the peel every few minutes to keep it loose. Also, don't let it sit on the peel very long. When I first got my pizza oven I cheated until I got it down, I cut a piece of parchment paper and put that on the peel, built my pizza, it slides right off the parchment paper into the over.
 
SO MANY OPTIONS !!!!!
the best thing is all of these options wont break the bank, i like the "built it on the peel" idea. but then i gotta drag it outside to my pellet grill. i like the screen method, i like the parchment method. LET THE GAMES BEGIN.....
we have never had a bad pizza since using the cast iron "stone" .. just some ugly ones from trying to get the pizza transferred. there is a learning curve with everything. Thursday night is pizza night so i will update again after that.
THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP

Goliath
 
I am not a pizza guru-those other guys are--that being said, I had the exact problems you did with the sticking to the peel.
I found the best/easiest solution was using parchment paper. I use a kamado joe with a pizza stone. Pizza slides right off the peel onto the pizza stone.



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I will add one more thing. If you have not already, don't make Pizza's that fill the stone, make them so there is 2-4" all the way around the Pie. This leaves room for you to be off by a bit in any direction getting the Pizza on the stone. Wiggle room, so to speak...JJ

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I agree with what the chef said: you must weight your ingredients! You can't get a consistent product measuring by cups.

I would also add to make sure your yeast isn't out of date. There's nothing worse than doing all that work to not have the dough rise...
 
well it was pizza night...
started of real crappy..... was going to do them in my pellet grill. a few weeks old, worked fine 2 days ago but the ignitor wouldnt get hot ..AHHHHHHHH
so in a panic used the oven in the house. i realize now i could have fired up with a torch ... BUT we did it in the oven. took the easy cheat from all the advice here in the last days and went with the parchment paper. it did really work well. slid off the peel onto the stone, 2 minutes later took the paper away. will try the other methods next week as we do pizza every wek. we will then decide what magic will work best for us.

as for the dough, ingredients are weighed each and every time.

THANKS AGAIN ... FOR ALL THE INPUT

Goliath
 
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