JamieOliver.com

Squidgy · Fri 03 Jul 09 6:56pm

Hi folks

First time visitor to the site. Have to say after reading only one thread it seems like a great site!

I'm sure like many on here I have increasingly become a "foodie" over recent years but crave advice to make things better!! help

I'm looking at starting to make home made pizza and understand that a pizza stone is definitely the way forward (and versatile for other uses too).

I found the forum via google and found a great thread, but for some reason I can find it to post on with the search facility (and I can't appear to post the link on accounts of being a 'newbie')

Being a tight northerner, I'm looking at going to my local B&Q or somewhere to get a lump of granite. Any thoughts or experiences?

I've only ever bothered to make bread once so I am also inexperienced on the dough frond too. Any advice on not making it stick would also be appreciated.

Cheers and keep on cooking clap

Lee

Mr Grumpy · Fri 03 Jul 09 8:41pm

Not granite, Lee, just get a regular terracotta patio tile from B&Q, soak it in cold water and use that. For the dough use 500g plain flour, 2 tsp dried yeast dissolved in 100ml water, 1-2 tsp salt, as much more water as you need and about 15ml/1 tbsp olive oil; the last should give a lighter crust and help to prevent sticking. A double rise is good for the dough; allow about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, knock back and give it another 30 min.

Squidgy · Fri 03 Jul 09 10:14pm

Mr Grumpy wrote:
Not granite, Lee, just get a regular terracotta patio tile from B&Q, soak it in cold water and use that. For the dough use 500g plain flour, 2 tsp dried yeast dissolved in 100ml water, 1-2 tsp salt, as much more water as you need and about 15ml/1 tbsp olive oil; the last should give a lighter crust and help to prevent sticking. A double rise is good for the dough; allow about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, knock back and give it another 30 min.

Top man

At the risk of sounding thick - do I have to soak it each time?

Luvmegrub · Fri 03 Jul 09 10:25pm

Hi Squidgy and welcome :wave

I'm a fellow tight northerner (ex-Middlesbrough). I bought a pizza stone recently, only cost me the equivalent of a fiver. I hoped that it would be a new "gadget" for hubby and he would take on the pizza making. Well, it took a while but we made our first batch of dough last weekend, recipe from Jamie. For me the dough was a little bit too doughy but I suppose we need more practise with it. Next time I'll try Mr Grump's recipe as I like it thinner and crispier than what we ended up with.

I ran into problems getting the base onto the pre-heated stone, we kept it in the oven and just pulled the rack out to slap the base on then dropped a fair bit of cheese etc around the oven yikes Anyway, end result was tasty and it all got eaten. Good luck, let us know how you get on. thumbsup

I can't find that other pizza stone thread either when I use "search" but I've seen it before and it's got some good tips. Remember not to wash your stone or tile in detergent, just scrape off any bits and wipe with a damp cloth, even if it has loads of stains remaining. Apparently this is what you do.

Luvmegrub · Fri 03 Jul 09 10:26pm

p.s. not sure about the soaking every time, you'll have to wait for somebody else to advise on that one.

The White Rabbit · Sat 04 Jul 09 2:30am

On the granite front, something to remember is that it's natural stone and sometimes there will be parts of it that will change size when heated at a different rate than other parts. It can cause rather dramatic and loud cracks.

mummza · Sat 04 Jul 09 9:09am

Welcome to the forum Squidgy smile

I have to say that I have never heard of soaking a regular terracotta patio tile in water before it is used.
I have no idea why this would be.

I did have a friend in America who had several thick terracotta flooring tiles that he had placed together on a metal baking sheet to create the same effect as a 'pizza stone' . This worked well , but he defiantly did not soak them before he used them.

I have bought Pizza stones quite cheaply in stores like TK Max or at sale times in other stores.

Luvmegrub , I keep my pizza stone in the oven like you do. When I make the pizza , I roll the dough on fine cornmeal on my wooden board , then I quickly fold it into 4 and unfold it onto a wooden pizza paddle that I have ( that I have scattered with cornmeal) . I then top the pizza quickly as I can and then slide it off the paddle strait onto the hot stone in the oven.
Before I had the pizza paddle I would use the underside of a baking sheet to do the same thing.
The key is to top the pizza as quickly as you can and then slide it onto the pre-heated hot stone.
I use the cornmeal on the board as I find that it is better and allows the pizza to slide easily.

Mr Grumpy · Sat 04 Jul 09 11:28am

Squidgy wrote:
At the risk of sounding thick - do I have to soak it each time?

Yes.

Squidgy · Sat 04 Jul 09 2:00pm

Cheers for all your help and advice folks. clap

As they are fairly inexpensiveI may even get a granite and a terracotta slab and report back with the results. Also handy if I need to make more than one!!

dmaley · Sun 19 Jul 09 2:18pm

Hi everyone, this is my first post on the site!

I have made Jamie's Pizza base a few times from his JAMIE AT HOME TV Show & Book. Everytime I make it the base doesn't quite cook or crisp up in the middle.

I have bought a Pizza Stone (from John Lewis) and I have a circular pizza baking tray with air holes in it and I still get the same result.

The edges are lovely and crispy but I can't get the middle to cook through.

Any ideas?!

Thanks,
Daniel

JamieOliver.com

Blogs and forums

forum: Food advice

#1 Fri 03 Jul 09 6:56pm

Squidgy

Pizza Stones

#2 Fri 03 Jul 09 8:41pm

Mr Grumpy

Re: Pizza Stones

#3 Fri 03 Jul 09 10:14pm

Squidgy

Re: Pizza Stones

Mr Grumpy wrote:

#4 Fri 03 Jul 09 10:25pm

Luvmegrub

Re: Pizza Stones

#5 Fri 03 Jul 09 10:26pm

Luvmegrub

Re: Pizza Stones

#6 Sat 04 Jul 09 2:30am

The White Rabbit

Re: Pizza Stones

#7 Sat 04 Jul 09 9:09am

mummza

Re: Pizza Stones

#8 Sat 04 Jul 09 11:28am

Mr Grumpy

Re: Pizza Stones

Squidgy wrote:

#9 Sat 04 Jul 09 2:00pm

Squidgy

Re: Pizza Stones

#10 Sun 19 Jul 09 2:18pm

dmaley

Re: Pizza Stones

shortcuts