how to cook a pizza with pizza steel

Pizza steel is also known as baking steel. It is used for baking bread and pizzas. The main reason it is used is that it is a very good heat conductor. So, the cooking time with it is reduced to half with the aid of a pizza steel. There are certainly other reasons why using pizza steel is better.

It is mostly a round piece of steel and comes in various sizes to fit your baking oven. It makes pizza baking much easier as the pizza dough is cooked evenly. Due to its good conductivity, pizza steel cooks the pizza better.  Another benefit of using pizza steel is that it retains heat, so that when you turn the oven off, your Pizza would still be heated like an oven-fresh pizza. 

Does pizza steel make a pizza faster?

 Another question that arises is whether the pizza steel makes a pizza faster. The answer is yes. It definitely makes a pizza faster. There is a fault, however, that the pizza steel needs some heating time itself, but once heated, it retains heat which makes its work more efficient.

Pizza steel can also be called the pizza crust expert. It maintains the outer crunchy and inner soft texture of the pizza dough. The reason why it makes a perfect dough is its quick timing. As the dough is allowed to cook for a longer period of time, the water in it evaporates, and it gets hard. 

The pizza steel, however, does not allow the time for it to get hard, so it retains its water component and is soft at the inner side. If you want to make a pizza like a professional, you can try using pizza steel. 

Working of a pizza steel

The next very important question is how pizza steel works to make the best pizza. Consider the working of a fire stove used to bake pizzas. It uses wood to burn fire. The source of heat in the oven in the fire. The fire is kept moving in all directions of the oven to get the pizza heated perfectly from all directions. 

The pizza steel works in the same way. As it is put in the oven, it gets heated and provides heat to the pizza dough from the bottom. As the oven is covered from all sides and no heat is allowed to escape, it supplies heat from the top of the pizza, and a pizza is cooked instantly.

As far as temperature settings of the pizza steel are concerned, it is suggested that you should heat your oven at the maximum temperature range it has. There is no need to preheat the oven. Just turn on your oven and place the pizza steel at the center of the oven to be heated. Once heated, it would be ready to use.

How to cook using pizza steel

• Place the pizza steel in your baking oven and turn it on.

• Make sure that the pizza steel is placed on the central grill of your oven.

• Turn on the flame at the maximum temperature the oven provides. 

• About 10 minutes, adjust the oven's temperature to about 450 degrees Fahrenheit (ca. 232 °C), which is the ideal temperature for baking a pizza.

• Now place the pizza right in the center of the pizza steel and allow it to be baked for 10 to twelve minutes.

• Gently lift the dough to see if it has turned golden. 

• If it has and you feel that the top of your Pizza still needs some cooking, turn on the broiler flame of your oven and allow it to heat your pizza from the top.

• Do not place your pizza on cold pizza steel; otherwise, the pizza crust could get hard. 

• Do not overcook, or your pizza would get burnt.

• If you fear that your pizza might get overcooked or burnt, just lower the oven's flame and allow it to be cooked for a longer time.

• Remember that the less time you used to cook your pizza, the tastier and crispier it would be.

• If you want to make more than one pizza, keep reheating your over before placing a new pizza in.

Sources

• thepizzaheaven

• pizzacraft

• bakingsteel

• thepizzaheaven