Hello

[tjlite]

Hi to one and all,

I have a pizza problem, whenever I cook in my home oven either the crusts are very crispy and the toppings aren't pipin hot or the pizza is charred looking and crusts are still hard.

What is the correct way to cook the pizza, is it, high over on top shelf for a little time or low oven temp on the middle shelf for a long time or have I just got it all wrong??

PLEASE HELP

[Mezzaluna]

Hello Tjlite and welcome to Chef Talk.

I'm moving your question to a cooking forum where it'll get answers more readily that it would in the Welcome Forum. We hope you'll return to the Welcome Forum to introduce yourself so we can give you a proper welcome.

Regards,
Mezzaluna

[LPool]

Hello Tjlite, I make Pizza all the time with very good results and here's what I do. This is homemade Pizza, I make the dough, and the sauce so if this is something other than that, I'm not sure this will help but here goes. First, a pizza stone I think is an absolute must. Then preheat the oven for an hour at 500 degrees. I roll out the dough and put it on parchment paper and then it's easier to slide off of the peel. Cook for 10 minutes at 500 then lower oven to 400 for about 10 more minutes...but watch it carefully after about 5 minutes. Every oven is different. I happen to have a commercial restaurant oven and it's very accurate and very evenly heated. I also have my oven rack on the lowest level. See if that works for you.

[Jock]

It sounds to me like there is something fundamentally wrong here.

LPool is right about the oven temp being as high as you can get it (A real wood fired pizza oven will get to the 800 degree range) and using a pizza stone. If your crust is cooking to a crisp while the toppings are barely hot I have to wonder at the recipe for the dough and possibly the accuracy of the oven temperature. Also, are you doing a thin, Neapolitan type crust (in which case it will be crispy like a wafer) or a typical American style thick crust?

Jock