How to Make Brick Oven-Style Pizza At Home
A Recipe and Technique for Restaurant Quality Pizza In A Home Oven
Oct 17, 2009
Pizza is a huge market in the United States, earning a total of $34 billion per year for restaurants and pizzerias, writes Emily Brandler in an article in the Journal of Business ("Pizza market cooks, but on low heat", October 12, 2006). Americans clearly love pizza and enjoy buying it in restaurants.
However, according to a survey conducted by Booz and Company of 1,000 American consumers, the current economic downturn is causing more Americans to forgo eating out, opting to cook at home instead. In fact, fully 43% of people surveyed claimed that they go to restaurants much less often due to economic concerns ("Consumer Spending in an Economic Downturn", www.booz.com, October 16, 2008). This suggests that pizzerias, like other restaurants, are losing customers who prefer to make their pizza at home.
Making crispy, crunchy pizza crust -- one of the chief pleasures of a restaurant pizza -- can be a significant challenge for a home baker. The best way to achieve restaurant-style, brick oven type pizza is to prepare a yeast-based pizza dough and bake the pizza on a hearth (or pizza) stone.
The Advantage of Using a Pizza Stone
A pizza stone, or baking stone, is an unglazed pottery slab that is used as a baking surface for pizza (or other yeast breads). A baking stone helps the home baker prepare brick oven style pizza for two reasons. First, the porous surface of a baking stone absorbs moisture from the pizza crust during baking, making the crust crunchy and crisp. Second, the contact between the crust and the hot baking stone helps the crust heat evenly and achieve "oven spring" (the final, quick rise yeast breads undergo during baking).
A good pizza stone can be purchased for $20-$50 at a variety of stores and online retailers, including Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Amazon.com, and many others. However, consumers should "select a baking stone that's at least 1/2 an inch thick; thinner stones may crack", warns the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion (The King Arthur Flour Company, Countryman Press, 2003).
A Recipe for Making Brick Oven Style Pizza At Home Using a Baking Stone
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of bread flour
- 2 teaspoons of instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- cornmeal (for dusting)
- 3/4 cup warm water (add more water as necessary)
- pizza sauce
- 3/4 cup mozarella cheese
- 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
- additional pizza toppings (e.g. mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, etc.)
You will need a baking (pizza) stone and oil for greasing the pizza stone.
Instructions:
- Mix the bread flour, instant yeast, and salt in a bowl.
- Add the 3/4 cup warm water to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Add additional water by the tablespoon, if necessary, and stir until a "dough ball" forms. This dough ball should be cohesive and slightly dry, so take care not to add too much water. If the dough does not form a ball and clings to the sides of the bowl instead, too much water has been added. This dough can be rescued by gradually adding flour (by the tablespoon) and mixing.
- Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set aside for 45-60 minutes. The dough should appear slightly puffy, but will probably not have doubled in size.
- When the dough has risen sufficiently, prepare the pizza stone by lightly oiling it and placing it in a cold oven. (Never place a cold baking stone in a hot oven because the rapid temperature change may cause the baking stone to crack.) The oven temperature should be set to 450 degrees (Fahrenheit). Allow the oven to heat, with the pizza stone inside, for 20-25 minutes.
- While the pizza stone is heating, remove the dough from the bowl and roll it out on a board dusted with cornmeal. (Cornmeal is used instead of flour because excess flour on the surface of the dough would burn during baking.) Allow the dough to rest until the pizza stone is ready.
- While the dough is resting and the pizza stone is preheating, place a cooling rack on the counter and bring the pizza toppings, cheese, and sauce within easy reach.
- When the pizza stone is completely preheated, remove it from the oven and place it on the cooling rack (to protect the countertop). Rapidly lay the rolled-out pizza crust on the pizza stone (a pizza peel or giant spatula may be useful here). Quickly spread the pizza sauce, cheeses, and toppings on the pizza crust and return the baking stone to the oven. This must be completed as quickly as possible so that the baking stone will stay very hot. (Alternatively, the entire pizza can be assembled on the counter and transferred to the pizza stone while the stone is still in the oven, but a pizza peel is essential for that method.)
- Bake the pizza for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the crust is golden brown. Baking times will vary depending on the oven used, so adjust as necessary.
- Enjoy!
- When cleaning the pizza stone, do not use detergents or soaps as they can soak into the stone, lending an unpleasant taste to food baked on the stone in the future. Instead, scrub the stone with hot water and a stiff brush.
 |
