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#1 Mon 03 Nov 08 9:16am

jesswareing1

Member
Member since Mon 03 Nov 08
No of posts 2

Soggy pizza bases that should be crispy!

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. smile  question

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#2 Mon 03 Nov 08 9:34am

ush

Member
From A place very unlike home
Member since Wed 15 Oct 08
No of posts 183

Re: Soggy pizza bases that should be crispy!

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.  smile

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#3 Mon 03 Nov 08 9:51am

Ger

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From Ireland
Member since Wed 28 Dec 05
No of posts 63

Re: Soggy pizza bases that should be crispy!

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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#4 Mon 03 Nov 08 9:59am

domesticdeity

Member
Occupation Secondary School Teacher(*on Maternity leave) /Domestic Goddess-Stay at home Mum
From Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.
Member since Sun 19 Oct 08
No of posts 3

Re: Soggy pizza bases that should be crispy!

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.  smile

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#5 Mon 03 Nov 08 11:10am

Jeenas Recipes

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From Maine USA
Member since Sun 20 Apr 08
No of posts 285

Re: Soggy pizza bases that should be crispy!

Could you be adding too much topping like the tomato sauce?  Try adding less ingredients on top of the pizza especially moist toppings.  smile

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#6 Mon 03 Nov 08 11:40am

Rome

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Member since Tue 20 Feb 07
No of posts 38

Re: Soggy pizza bases that should be crispy!

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.
big_smile

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#7 Mon 03 Nov 08 12:37pm

rasher

Member
Occupation Structural Engineer & father of 3
From Brighton
Member since Mon 07 Mar 05
No of posts 204

Re: Soggy pizza bases that should be crispy!

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   smile  (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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#8 Mon 03 Nov 08 4:37pm

mummza

Occupation avoiding housework
From The land of song.
Member since Tue 04 Oct 05
No of posts 9700

Re: Soggy pizza bases that should be crispy!

Welcome to the forum jesswareing1  and domesticdeity   big_smile

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  yummy

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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#9 Mon 03 Nov 08 4:51pm

Mamma Carla

Occupation Many !
From from Florence living in Crete
Member since Thu 03 Jan 08
No of posts 1029

Re: Soggy pizza bases that should be crispy!

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. big_smile

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#10 Mon 03 Nov 08 8:39pm

Mr Grumpy

Occupation Sh*t Finder
From Coventry
Member since Sat 22 Dec 07
No of posts 1834

Re: Soggy pizza bases that should be crispy!

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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