I’m going to start testing Stuffed pizzas and was looking at the 2" pans… they have Regular and Black Anodized. Is there a big diffrence in how the pie cooks with the diffrent pans? The Black anodize are a $5 more ea. so thats a kick in the pants!
Somewhere I heard the Black causes the crust to “puff up” more so it’s looks even thicker… but I dont understand why that would happen.
Thanks all!
Black will “absorb” heat while silver will reflect heat. My suggestion would be to call AM and ask for a sample of each and try them out.
I haven’t experienced the “puffing up” but the heat distribution would explain that. The black would cook more from the bottom up whereas the silver would cause a more even heat causing the top of the crust to solidify earlier.
The biggest issue with stuffed pizza is the amount of time you have to cook the blasted things. Assuming you’re using a deck oven, I honestly don’t see how there’d be much difference since the bottom of the pan is going to heat whether black or silver. You can’t reflect DIRECT heat.
One other thing I’d suggest… the nesting type pans. They aren’t good for pan pizzas unless you have the flat “lids” to go between the pizzas, but stuffed pizzas are made and cooked right then, so the storage space saved could be helpful. I doubt they’ll be a huge seller, but you still need enough pans to handle the 20-40 minute cook time.
Anyone try a cast iron skillet? They turn out fabulous.
I’ve found that when baking the stuffed pizzas in a deck oven I’ve got to put a screen under the pan(s) to keep the bottom from burning. I typically bake these puppies at 425 to not more than 450F. If you opt to use the spun aluminum pans (silver colored) be sure to season the pans before using them or you’ll never get the pizza out of the pan. My preference is to use the dark colored, anodized pans because thet bake more uniformly. If you use shortening or margarine in the pans rather than oil the assembly of the stuffed pizza will be a lot easier. Remove the baked pizza from the pan as soon as you remove it from the oven (a long, thin blade spatula helps in getting the pizza out of the pan, as do the correct pan grippers), then allow the pizza to set-up for a couple minutes before cutting it with a rocker knife and serving it with knife and fork. This is actually my own personal favorite when it comes to pizza. I used to do a lot of work with Ed Jacobson (Edwardo’s) up in Chicago, Illinois many years ago and I really took a liking to his pizzas.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
I use 1" Silver pans for my “pan” pizza, i use Spray butter on the pan then place the dough skin on it. On the bottom rack of my Deck oven it cooks perfectly. On the top rack the cheese (cheese being on top) cooks long before the crust… so after the top is finished I have to put the pan on the very bottom of the oven to hurry up and cook before the cheese burns.
Seeing as though the “stuffed” will go: Crust-toppings-cheese-crust-sauce… should I get a Lid for it so the sauce dosent burn on top? or will the lid cause some other type of problems?
Thanks again!
One of the secrets to speeding up stuffed pizza is to put it in without sauce on top. Tear a few holes in the top of the crust to let the steam out. About half way through the baking process, pull the pizza out, put the sauce on, and put it back in.
A 1-inch deep pan is pretty shallow for a stuffed pizza, at least the type that I’m used to. I’ve seen some operators cover the pizzas with a piece of foil to protect the sauce or cheese from scorching/burning. You don’t need to crimp it on or even have it tight fitting, just tenting it over the pan seems to work pretty well.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
sorry, let me rephrase… i currently use 1" silver pans for my “pan” pizzas… i’m looking into getting the 2" pans for the stuffed.
That makes sense.
Tom Lehmann/TDD