I’ve been doing this for a while, but it’s a problem I’ve never solved. Dunno if it’s my crust recipe or something I need to do during construction.
The recipe is as follows:
- 1c water, 120°F
- 1 packet dry active yeast (2.25tsp)
- 1Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2Tbsp olive oil
- 3.5C white flour
- 1tsp salt
- Mix the yeast and sugar in the warm water, wait to bloom
- Add everything else and mix into dough.
- Knead, proof
- Roll out, transfer to pan
- Second proof (optional)
- Preheat oven to 425°F
- Construct pizza with favorite toppings
- Bake at 425°F for 15min or until cheese is sufficiently browned
Step 7 usually has jarred marinara, meats (except pepperoni), spices, and cheese, and all the veggies (and pepperoni) go on top.
Still, the very middle part of the pizza ends up a little doughy, just where the sauce meets the crust. The outside of the pizza is just fine, but the only thing I can think is that the sauce is adding too much water. Do I need to add a layer of oil before the sauce, or should I try to reduce the sauce before adding it? Should I reduce the temp and increase the time?
Thanks!
Edit: Everyone has had some great ideas. I’ll have plenty to try!
Everyone is right- you need a stone.
Parchment paper on the stone for the first ~5 minutes gets a crisp crust without spilling corn meal everywhere.
I do love to use parchment paper…
Pizza stone or steel is gonna be your friend here. Let that stone get nice and hot before you put the pizza on it (probably going to want to get a pizza peel too, personally I like a 2 peel system, I build my pizza on a wooden peel, I feel like the raw pizza slides off better, and pull it out with a metal peel which is thinner and easier to slide under the pie)
EDIT: for a little explanation, the idea with pizza stones/steels or brick ovens is that the surface you’re putting the pizza on is ripping hot, and heat is going to transfer from that hot surface to the crust much more efficiently through conduction than it would on a tray in an oven rack where most of the heating is happening though convection of the hot air inside and radiation from the heating elements/burners. The stone/steel/bricks are hefty and have a lot of thermal mass so there’s a lot of heat there that can transfer directly to the pizza dough, cooking it fast and getting it nice and crisp. This is also the same idea as making it in a preheated cast iron pan that someone else mentioned. Depending on the size, if you have a nice heavy griddle that would probably also work well too in place of a steel or stone. You might get some improvement preheating a baking sheet and making your pizza on that, but there’s going to be a lot less mass there so it’s going to lose its heat much faster.
If your stone and oven can do it, also consider cranking up the temperature even higher, pizza ovens cook at pretty high temperatures, 500-700 degrees or even higher aren’t unheard of. A dedicated pizza oven is amazing if you have the space/budget for one. I have a breville pizzaillo (nice oven, probably not worth the price, I got it on a very steep discount) and it can go up to about 700 degrees, I don’t usually go quite that high but I definitely set it way higher than my normal oven goes, and it cranks a pizza out in like 2 minutes.
Before I got that, I also had pretty good luck with a pizza stone on my grill, grills can also reach pretty ludicrous temperatures. I think I’ve also seen some dedicated pizza oven accessories come out in recent years meant to go on a regular grill. I haven’t tried those myself, but they sound like a solid idea in theory.
Most jarred marinara sauce is probably a bit too wet for pizza use, you may want to try a pizza-specific sauce or make your own, or else maybe try cooking your sauce down a bit or maybe straining it depending on how watery/chunky it is.
Also be aware of what toppings you’re adding that might be adding a lot of moisture and think about do what you can to minimize that. Fresh mozzarella should be used sparingly for things like a margarita pizza, for regular pizza use you want to use low moisture mozz (or a blend of other cheeses if that’s your thing.) Mushrooms have a lot of moisture in them and that’s often not immediately obvious to a lot of people. Some ingredients are obviously wet like pineapple (I strongly recommend grilling your pineapple if you use it, drives out some of the moisture and also tastes great) a lot of veggies have a lot of moisture and might benefit from a quick roast or saute first to dry them out a little.
You can also consider doing a red top pizza with the cheese under the sauce to act as sort of a moisture barrier. There’s a couple places around the Philly suburbs I’ve been to that do a spiral of (usually very sweet) sauce over top of the cheese, which looks very cool if nothing else, or perhaps a layer of cheese, then sauce, then more cheese if you don’t like that look
And try to avoid going too heavy on the sauce/cheese/toppings, you can definitely ever load a pizza doing that.
A pizza stone.
A stone or steel and higher temperature+less time will help immensely. Even a preheated cast iron pan would help. (Look at specific cast iron pizza instructions, I haven’t made any)
I tend to do 500f for 6-7 minutes on a baking steel and even heavier toppings are good.
Also: what toppings? Uncooked mushrooms and pineapple are super wet, cooking them beforehand is important.
I always cook the mushrooms first with soy sauce and red pepper flakes. Cook them down and toss them so they’re well coated and the water is all reduced off. Six or seven minutes while we roll out the dough.
Yes, mushrooms are often in the sauce layer. I had no idea they had so much moisture. They don’t seem wet, like a green pepper or fresh tomato, so I just stuck them in there!
This right here, pre-heat the pan/stone and you’ll get a better crust. I’m presuming you’re not making the crust too thick.
This and I went through a couple till I got a decent one and thankfully didn’t cost much. King Arthur flour has a nice one at a decent price.
100%. Get one OP, especially if you’re going through the work of making your own dough
Used to have one, I just never replaced it when it cracked. Times were tighter back then!
You should dry your vegetables and press all the water out of them with a paper towel. And I mean you need to press them pretty hard and get the maximum amount of water out. You could par bake your crust if it’s still soggy even after drying your veggies. Another way is to make a cast iron pizza where you start the pizza for the first two minutes on the stove top while it’s in the cast iron pan and put it in the oven for the remainder of the time (15min at 500)
Hope this helps
It does! I’m getting lots of good ideas to try
“all the veggies” bring all the moisture. Cut back or precook the wet stuff. Go easy on the sauce.
Go easy on the sauce.
Only as a last resort. I’m pretty sure my SO would cook me alive, otherwise!
Cover the crust in cheese, put sauce on top, cover the sauce in a thin layer of cheese, add other toppings on top.
If you can, cook the toppings separately and put them on the pizza a few minutes before it’s done, but the cheese being on the bottom does a good job of keeping the sauce from soaking into the crust.
The simple option is pre-cook it a bit.
But also worth trying pizza sauce, as it usually has less water in it.
Hotter oven. I go with 500F on a steel. 5 minutes on Bake, then Broil until the top looks good.
Less sauce, and more heat. Dont cook it on a metal pan, get a stone or steel. Crank your oven up as high as it can go, and heat for 20-30m before putting the pizza in.
Also, marinara, especially the jarred kind, is not a sub for pizza sauce as there is way too much liquid. Get pizza sauce, or check seriouseats for their sauce recipe as a starter.
Edit: also, 120F is too hot for proofing yeast as it will kill it. 80-100F is more ideal.
Instead of jar sauce, do 1 can tomato paste, 1 can tomato sauce or crushed tomato, 1tbsp Italian seasoning, 1tbsp garlic powder, salt and crushed red pepper to taste. Mix it all together before you make the dough and it should be pretty flavourful by the time you’re ready to cook. It’s easier than reducing the jar, and gives you more personalized flavor.
If that doesn’t reduce the water content enough, try adding just a touch more flour to the dough.
I like that idea. I’m all for personalization, and reducing the amount of heat needed for the whole process would be a blessing for where I live.
I am sure the serious foodies will downvote this comment but I precook the crust to prevent this. Roll out the dough and put it in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 then remove. Then just finish the pizza as you normally would.
I’m something of foodie and I agree with this. Also use less sauce, spread the sauce thinner, or find a sauce that has less water in it. It’s the unevaporated liquid in the sauce that insulates the dough on top and keeps that surface from baking properly, making it mushy. Par-baking the crust starts that baking process before you put the ingredients on and helps to avoid this.
Lots of thickly cut toppings with liquid in them such as tomatoes or improperly dried fresh mozzarella can also prevent the crust from baking properly so par-bake and then add the ingredients before finishing the baking to help with this. Good pizza takes work but you’re on your way to it.
Some people also mentioned mushrooms as a source of moisture, and I put fresh ones in the sauce layer (I forgot that exception). I never really thought of them as particularly “wet.”
But perhaps doing a par-baking step is warranted. You do it for pies, and what is a pizza, if not a pie?
It adds steps and what do foodies love more than a plethora of steps?
My immediate reaction would be to go for a thinner crust and to use a little less sauce. I definitely wouldn’t oil before sauce, but reducing the sauce could help if it’s a pretty thin sauce.
I’m pretty sure my SO would turn me into pizza sauce if I tried to do thinner crust.
I cook mine for 35min at 180°C like a fucking heathen
Heathens welcome at my house!
Light olive oil on the crust before topping with sauce. Corn meal or corn meal/salt mixture under the crust to help absorb moisture trapped underneath. Perforated pans also help. I also cook at a higher temperature. 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure to preheat. A brick oven or pizza stone will help with consistent heating.
You could experiment. First try less sauce. Then maybe try making a different sauce. Lastly try a different dough.