Burnt crusts

[ThermoJax]

The wife says that most of my crusts are burnt tasting. We are using bread flour currently, or purchased doughs from whole foods. My guess is that perhaps only Italian 00 flour can be cooked at 725, but that is a guess, as I have never used that flour. I have been cooking at 725, roughly. The top looks done, and peeking at the bottom looks somewhat like a spotted leopard.

The wife wants to boycott the pizza till I promise not to burn any more crusts. I tried to get away with ""But honey, I'm still learning to use the oven", but she won't hear of it. I think she wants me to cook at a wimpy 625.

Any advice?

[roobqn]

It is my understanding that the "spotted leopard" look is a much prized attribute to the wfo cooked pizza. It is certainly something I strive to achieve. I even try to get a bit burnt on the toppigs as well, but that is just my taste.

I use 00 flour and it burns as well. Maybe try moving your pizza around more often. Once the steam stops, move it to a cooler area of your oven. OR using your peel lift the pie off the floor altogether.

[dmun]

The easy fix for people who don't like a bit of charring is to cook their pizza right up front, by the door. Nothing you ever do will make it taste like something from a deck oven, but you can keep the leopard spot charring to a minimum.

If it's not just the look, but the taste, it may be another issue, like burning cornmeal or bench flour.

[Tscarborough]

Nah, you are just burning them. I use bread flour in the oven at 700+, and no burning. This was the first done at well over 800 on the floor.

[Grimaldi]

Since doing pizzas at our Market Days at a rate of several hundred in a weekend, I think the optimum temp in my oven using AP sourdough is around 650F. Much hotter and it will get out of control real quick...partial burnt crust on top, on the side facing the fire. My take is most people don't like the burnt part...they like it brown and crispy on the outside and chewy bread like on the inside.

[david s]

You may also have too many coals in your oven and the pizzas are burning on the edges because they're too close to the coals, try removing some. The greedy ones get our first pizza and it is usually a dud, like the first pancake, seems like fair justice to me.

[texassourdough]

Hi TS!

Your pie shows clear sign your fire was too low! If your hearth was 800 your dome should have been well over 1000 and the surface of your pie is WAY undercooked relative to the base. Something is wrong in that combo! I don't question your hearth was warm - the browning coming up the sides shows that, but the top needs more heat IMO. And active fire is the key IMO. Its all about balance!
Jay

[Tscarborough]

The dome was well over 850, the problem was a huge ember-log off to the side. That pie spent the entire 45-60 seconds being turned (And it is a bit charred at the top)and used very fresh fresh mozz. I couldn't get it to brown all night. I don't like charred, FYI. Here is number 3, after I took out the big chunk of ember, it cooked for 90 seconds. The second picture is what happens when friends let friends drive WFO's, even for less than 2 minutes.

Note also that I remove the ashes and spread embers on the floor, then move them to one side and door it off for at least as long as it takes me to press out and prepare the first dough.

[Grimaldi]

Originally Posted by david s

You may also have too many coals in your oven and the pizzas are burning on the edges because they're too close to the coals, try removing some. The greedy ones get our first pizza and it is usually a dud, like the first pancake, seems like fair justice to me.

Here is a pic of the inside of the oven after having it fired to pizza temps for over 10 hours. The pizza in the pic was after we were done and one of the kids wanted to make and cook a pizza.

[lwood]

Ts,
The top looks under done, while the bottom is almost charred. 45-60 sec is not very long to cook a pizza. I brag on mine with 3 min pizzas. Might try cooking at a lower temp and try to get the cooking time closer to 3 min. 650 to 750F is where I like the hearth. Hotter than that is too fast for me. You can always lift the pie close to the dome for final browning..