About a decade ago, when I first read online about trying to make Neapolitan-style pizza at home, the consensus seemed to be that it took about 7 minutes to bake a pizza at 550°F. Obviously, that's a lot longer than the 90 seconds typical for true Neapolitan pizza, so you compensate as much as possible with dough hydration to keep it from getting too crispy.
Until recently, my baking steel setup was giving me pizza in the 5-6 minute range. I was even turning down the temperature because the heat conduction from the steel was so fast that the bottom crust was almost burning before I could get the top to cook properly. Then we went to Naples last October, and what stood out to me most about the pizza there was how soft and fluffy the crust was. My pizzas had plenty of flavor, but the crust was not where it needed to be.
I started turning the heat up and trying to bake for less time, but the real turning point was when I ordered two ceramic baking stones to use instead of my old baking steel. I preheat them to 550°F for an hour, then turn on the broiler while I put the pizza together and leave it on for the whole bake. Now it only takes me two minutes to get good browsing on the top and bottom, and the crust stays nice and soft. The gas oven makes things complicated for baking with steam, but for making pizza it seems to do pretty well.
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The toppings (aside from the olives, which are just for me) were inspired by a pizza that we had in Bergamo three years ago, and they've been my wife's favorite pizza toppings ever since.
I don’t know about a soft crust. I’m in the thick crisp focaccia style school. But you got my attention with this excellent pizza. Great toppings too , with making your own cured meat. 👍
That’s a perfect looking pie.
Great job.👏
Thank you for the kind words!
Lovely pizza, and from a home oven!
I agree. I think with pizza the baking is more top down than bottom up.
The only good pizza I have made was with the broiler and some strongly heated ceramic tiles on the top rack of my oven.
Using all other settings, including the baking one with heat from the bottom element and the fan on, the dough ends up being biscuity-like.
I read somewhere that in professional pizza ovens the heat is 70% from the roof of the oven and 30% from the floor.
Heat from the bottom is definitely important. It's possible to not heat the stones enough and get the bottom under-cooked by the time the top is browned. But it's a balance between top and bottom, and - like you said - hot ceramic stones just a few inches from the broiler seems to strike that balance really well.
I par bake all my crusts for 10-12 minutes at 450 topped with just a good brushing of EVOO. They are on a buttered sheet pan. I then freeze in bulk for future pizzas. When they are sauced and topped with cheese they are baked without a pan directly on the rack in the oven at 375 till bubbly. My crusts are very crisp and extremely light and not thin. They support large amounts of toppings easily . No biscuit or soft texture.
That’s the amazing thing about pizzas! There’s a huge diversity of tastes. We see everything here on TFL. They all sound yummy and they are all completely different. 🙏
That approach also sounds delicious! I don't think my wife would appreciate cutting into her freezer storage for ice cream and the cookies I make in bulk, so I'll just stick with what works for me for now haha.
Haha I hear ya! My husband is the cookie baker . Bob the biscotti boy! There is an old fashioned fridge in our basement that the previous owner left. I store all my grains and dried fruits in it. The freezer is perfect for the huge pizza crusts and extra sweet breads that I love.
Gotta keep everyone happy. 🙏