Homemade pizza advice needed

[magnanimous_j]

So I've made pizza at home from scratch a handful of times and I keep running into the same problem. I bake it on a bread stone in the oven and I can't figure out how to get the pizza from the counter to the oven without wrecking it.

There are two workarounds. I can either assemble the pizza on the stone and load it into the oven that way, but then the pizza stone isn't as hot as I'd like, or I can half bake the dough before assembling the pizza so the pizza isn't so floppy when I try to put it on the stone, but I think that leads to crust that is too "cracker-y"

Without getting a pizza peel, which I frankly don't have room to store, does anyone have any tricks for this? Because in my mind, the only thing I can't do as well as the premium pizzerias is that chewy, just a hint of scorch, crust.

[jamesfromseattle]

I have given up on the pizza stone.  Can never seem to get it right due to the same problems as you described.

I've started basking them on a big cast iron pan, instead.  It is not traditional, but it is fool proof.  The crust gets crispy but doesn't burn too bad like a thinner pan in a hot oven would.

[robodad]

Add a little corn meal to the flour your using to dust the counter before rolling out your dough then to transport your pizza to the stone slide a thin piece of cardboard under the pizza or assemble your pizza on the cardboard and it should slide easy onto your stone !! and make sure that stone is hot !!

[magnanimous_j]

Add a little corn meal to the flour your using to dust the counter before rolling out your dough then to transport your pizza to the stone slide a thin piece of cardboard under the pizza or assemble your pizza on the cardboard and it should slide easy onto your stone !! and make sure that stone is hot !!

Thanks for the tip. I think I'll try that tonight. My wife orders so much stuff off Amazon that Jeff Bezos sends us a Christmas card, so I have plenty of access to cardboard. 

[wafisherman]

I agree with that approach.  use a generous amount of flour, and create your pizza on top of cardboard or even the back side or totally flat cookie sheet.  Pre-heat oven and pizza stone.  Pull out the stone by removing the entire oven rack it is sitting on if you have to.  Easier and less messy than trying to slide it into the hot oven...  Set that down on the stove and easily slide the pizza onto it.  You can reverse this when pizza is done if needed.

[JLS]

We have a large pizza paddle, but a piece of cardboard would also work.  As suggested above, put a generous amount of corn meal on the paddle/cardboard.  Roll out your dough on the counter, then fold it into quarters and put it on the paddle.  Assemble your pizza, then slide it (quickly) onto the stone.

[Fl0und3rz]

The America's test kitchen Pizza recipe is the easiest to follow and get right.

http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/americas-test-kitchen-thin-crust-pizza-472204

As a replacement for a peel, try a lipless cookie sheet with a layer of the pizza dough flour (above recipe calls for bread flour), or corn meal, on the cookie sheet, and assemble the pizza after you've stretched the dough, on the cookie sheet.  You might still need a spatula to help the pizza onto the stone.

[kselkhunter]

We pretty much have to make our own pizza now, given my wife's celiac diagnosis.  We switched from pizza stone to pizza steel for crispier crusts.  And if making thin crust with few toppings, the corn meal works well on a wooden cutting board and just slide it off. 

But, we switched to parchment paper now and it works outstanding.  Just lift the paper with pizza on it and put the whole thing on the stone/steel.   

[Blacklab]

Being a peel/cast iron guy. You all have great ideas 

[quadrafire]

I was having the same problem. We like thin crust pizza so I went with this type of pan. Roll the dough out  on counter top, lay on the mesh sheet then decorate to your choosing. The mesh allows good airflow for a crisp crust. I suppose you could lay it directly on top of the stone.
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/16-aluminum-pizza-screen/40718716.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping&gclid=CjwKCAjwxo3OBRBpEiwAS7X62ZCnmCUesy5U7kqUA06MAlF2wPleO01kIcFkQ7dPzzR4wDDx3MP18RoCqiUQAvD_BwE

Don't press the dough into this pan as it will get caught in the mesh, otherwise it does not stick at all. I bought mine locally at a kitchen/restaurant  supply store

[longashes]

But, we switched to parchment paper now and it works outstanding.  Just lift the paper with pizza on it and put the whole thing on the stone/steel.

+1 

[Evil_EdwardO]

We pretty much have to make our own pizza now, given my wife's celiac diagnosis.  We switched from pizza stone to pizza steel for crispier crusts.  And if making thin crust with few toppings, the corn meal works well on a wooden cutting board and just slide it off. 

But, we switched to parchment paper now and it works outstanding.  Just lift the paper with pizza on it and put the whole thing on the stone/steel.

I too started using the parchment paper method a couple years ago. Works great.

[jaymark6655]

+1 for cornmeal 
I also add my toppings after cooking the dough just a little after watching a pro do it that way.  Basically each topping gets added at an appropriate time to keep it from getting overcooked.

[magnanimous_j]

We pretty much have to make our own pizza now, given my wife's celiac diagnosis.  We switched from pizza stone to pizza steel for crispier crusts.  And if making thin crust with few toppings, the corn meal works well on a wooden cutting board and just slide it off. 

But, we switched to parchment paper now and it works outstanding.  Just lift the paper with pizza on it and put the whole thing on the stone/steel.

I too started using the parchment paper method a couple years ago. Works great.

That's what I ended up doing. It burned a little bit and set my smoke detector off, but other than that it worked great.

[follow maggie]

Google pizza spatula

https://www.bing.com/search?q=pizza+spatula&form=APIPA1&PC=APPD