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I've been making my own pizzas for ages but they keep being soggy in the middle? Anyone give me some help so i don't get soggy bases!
Thanks guys.
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It might be the dish on which you are cooking the pizza. Have you ever placed a piece of hot toast on a plate? Moisture collects on the plate and toast. So when you place your pizza on a dish I guess the moisture has got no where to go as it can't "escape" so the pizza bread will absorb it. You can buy pizza trays which are circular dishes with holes punctured all over the tray. These holes, presumably, allow moisture to escape from the pizza bread. Now of course you can use a pizza stone and I don't know why that would prevent the bread going soggy. Try just place your pizza directly in the oven without a tray. Please note that I am speculating. ![]()
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Unless you are using part-baked pizza bases I wouldn't place the pizza directly in the oven without a tray. Fresh dough and filling will just drip through the bars.
I haven't tried the pizza trays with holes but that should work. Or heat up a baking tray and slide the pizza onto that. I have a pizza stone but I do pizzas two at a time so one goes on the stone and another on a baking sheet already heating in the oven.
I don't put the cooked pizza onto a plate straight away because of the effect ush describes above with the toast on a plate. Try a wire cooling rack.
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I agree with the technique of putting the pizza onto a hot tray (if not using a pizza stone). Heat oven & tray until hot, and then slide pizza onto tray to cook. ![]()
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Could you be adding too much topping like the tomato sauce? Try adding less ingredients on top of the pizza especially moist toppings. ![]()
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Pizza trays with holes in the bottom work great.
Also, drizzle a little oil and spread tomato puree on top of your pizza, but not too much! Wait until your pizza is almost cooked then add a little extra ready-made puree - if needed - and the rest of your topping.
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Pizzas need a really hot oven, so I put mine on max and wait till it gets there. I have to replace my oven elements at least once a year, but it's worth it
(Had a blow out on Christmas day once, so I always keep a spare now)
Look at any proper pizza you get at a restaurant and you'll see that they don't pile on the toppings. Give the base space on the surface to breathe.
A real pizza oven will be belting 650 degrees into the thing and it takes 90 seconds to cook. Mine take 12 minutes when it's bouncing off 250. You want to get your pizza dough right too, so it doesn't cling to the board when you work it. I use a drop of olive oil too to help it get really silky.
Last edited by rasher (Mon 03 Nov 08 12:41pm)
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Welcome to the forum jesswareing1 and domesticdeity
jesswareing1 , it could be one of a few things...
as rasher says, pizzas need a realy hot oven , maybe you have not waited for the oven to heat enough before you start to cook the pizza.
With topping Pizza... definatly a case here for ...' Less is More ' , again as rasher says..
"Look at any proper pizza you get at a restaurant and you'll see that they don't pile on the toppings."
The sauce of the pizza in an Italian restaurant is spread quite thinly towards the edge of the pizza , but not up to the edge.
A scatter of cheese is what goes on next as this will melt onto the sauce and help any topping adhere to the pizza.
Next a few bits of topping... not much is realy needed , but if you are putting something like mushroom on the pizza I find that it is often best to quickly cook them a little first( as mushrooms hold a lot of water).
Into a very hot oven and
In the past I have cooked Pizza strait on the oven shelf , but they do go a bit wonky ! I never forund that to sucessfull and so I would place a large length of non-stick kitchen parchment (baking ) paper strait onto the oven shelf and cook the pizza direcley on that.
I am sold on my Pizza stone, this once heated will reduce the cooking time of the pizza by quite a lot and also get the base crisp
I had a friend that for years had a stack of thick quarry tiles that he would place on a metal tray and use instead of a pizza stone , he found that this worked mush the same.
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In Italy people say that to have a successfull Pizza the topping ingredients shouldn't be more than four. The more they are the more they prevent the base to cook properly except if you have a proper forno a legna (oven with burning woods).Then the ingredients should be quite dry with no moistness to prevent the base to get soggy. ![]()
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I cured the over-moist tomato base like this;
http://www.jamieoliver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=36151
I guess you could do it without a pressure cooker, perhaps in a low oven. I used to suffer from a soggy bottom particularly in Calzone until I used this.
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