Pizza dough too crusty

[zorobabel]

Now that the affair thread has been removed, we're not left with much entertainment, so I figured I'd give you guys something to think about for the rest of the day

I've made this pizza yesterday evening, but the dough baked too crusty for my taste.
I've preheated the oven to an unknown temperature, but not yet the 500F the oven was set to. The 12" skillet that hosted the pizza was warmed up before laying the dough.
I baked the thing for 20 minutes, enough to get the topings baked; this also was a bit too long for the dough.
How do I adjust to get the dough less crisp? I haven't had this problem in a regular thin walled baking pan.

 

[SirTanon]

Not sure what to say.. I love a pizza with a good 'crust'.

..and dang, the affair thread got removed? I was actually genuinely interested in what people had to say.

 

[StevieC]

You can add some olive oil or melted butter to the dough and baste the crust before you bake it. My aunt (Italian) makes home made pizza all the time and taught me how to do it well.

Also as a side note I have made Pizza on a Pizza Stone on the BBQ before. Preheating the BBQ to the hottest temperature possible with the stone in there and then placing the ready to be cooked pizza on the stone using a Pizza-Peel. It comes out just like wood oven.

 

[BJD78]

It can be difficult to achieve with standard ovens that only go to 500. I worked at a pizza place way back in HS and the brick ovens were at 700 to 750 and a crisp crust was never an issue. Harder to do with home ovens but using reflective foil and a pizza stone helps considerably, IMO.

 

[camryrolla]

Where is the beef?

 

[Dyusik]

Separate the butter in a double boiler, and use the settled creamy part mixed with garlic. Can't beat that with a pizza peel.

 

[csandste]

Looks good. You can send it to me.

 

[dogememe]

Originally Posted by camryrolla
Where is the beef?

I read that as beer a few times and got confused. Then again beer and pizza is a good combo!

 

[Variant_S]

That pizza looks darn good to me. I, too, like a crisp crust.

I warm the oven and skillet to 475F. I roll the crust out thin and place it on parchment paper, build the pizza, then place the parchment paper and all in the skillet. I bake at 425F for about 15 minutes.

 

[CT8]

The Pizza look really good !

 

[Rolla07]

Drop the heat lower and the dough will stay softer. Once almost ready you can broil the top a bit. Another option: saute the toppings a bit prior. Like onions and peppers to soften them up, reduces the cooking time.

 

[zorobabel]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions!

 

[BHopkins]

Could it be because you were baking it in the steel skillet? It seems that a preheated skillet is going to conduct a lot of heat to the crust - and real fast.

Do you have a pizza stone? That's what I prefer. Also, put generous amount of corn meal and/or semolina on the pizza stone before putting the crust down. That creates a layer of air between the crust and the cooking surface.

BTW, nothing wrong with the temperature. When it comes to pizza, hotter is always better. A high temperature will produce a pizza much closer to a pizzaria pizza. My pizza oven that I use on my grill gets up to over °800, and the crust is never too crusty.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by csandste
Looks good. You can send it to me.

Yes, I agree. Before we get worried about the crust, send it over here just to make sure it's a problem.