What to do when you screw up and your pizza sticks


 
Joe Anshien

Joe Anshien

TVWBB Platinum Member
I made a double batch of pizza dough yesterday and put it in the fridge overnight. I tried to make a 16" mushroom, broccoli, spinach pizza for lunch today. Everything went perfect until time to transfer to the peel and put it on the grill. I usually use parchment paper but didn't this time and it stuck to my mat. That is the little tumor in the first pic. My wife and I decided to roll it up into a Stromboli. It did come out delicous but not what I was going for. Tomorrow I will try again with more flour and transfer to the peel before I add toppings. Any words of wisdom are welcome.
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Joe Anshien said:
I made a double batch of pizza dough yesterday and put it in the fridge overnight. I tried to make a 16" mushroom, broccoli, spinach pizza for lunch today. Everything went perfect until time to transfer to the peel and put it on the grill. I usually use parchment paper but didn't this time and it stuck to my mat. That is the little tumor in the first pic. My wife and I decided to roll it up into a Stromboli. It did come out delicous but not what I was going for. Tomorrow I will try again with more flour and transfer to the peel before I add toppings. Any words of wisdom are welcome.
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Joe, there is a red fox that lives under the shed in my back yard. If he had smelled that Stromboli, I am sure
that he would have moved to your place..... looks amazing!!!
 
As long as you are very careful when orienting your lift, you should be OK, I’d use it for one or two more pies. Just slide it together as well as possible and be careful.
 
Check this video out at the 3:15 location. I will try this next time as I have an 18" round I made from a platter.
 
Joe Anshien said:
Check this video out at the 3:15 location. I will try this next time as I have an 18" round I made from a platter.
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I've never built a pizza on the mat. Usually, she builds them on the wooden peel or a plastic cutting board while I make another crust. This looks like a good technique and I will certainly try it, but it won't work as easily if you continue to build your pie on the mat because you have to flip it over. A couple of things I've learned, though...when you open the dough ball, you want the top to be the bottom of your crust. The top of the dough ball is usually drier and firmer than the bottom. The bottom of the dough ball is usually somewhat soggy and soft, especially with higher hydration recipes, so you want that to be the top. I also spray/brush olive oil on the crust before she sauces it...it tastes good, it helps prevent the "gumline" (the layer of uncooked dough between the crust and the sauce), it adds color to the crust when baked, and it also helps to keep the sauce from penetrating into the dough. Good luck, Joe, and nice recovery on your stromboli!

EDIT: Also, I prefer rice flour over semolina or corn meal on the peel. It just seems to work better for me. Actually, equal parts of dough flour, semolina, and rice flour might cover all your bases. You can do a search on "Dustinator" at pizzamaking.com for the formula that Papa John's uses, too.
 
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@Joe Anshien I broke a leg off of my big green egg platesetter about 8 years ago, and glued it back together with JB weld. I don't remember if was regular or high heat. I read somewhere when I did this there are no off-gassing fumes from it. The warning on JB weld's site:

When fully cured, J-B Weld is non-toxic. Our products are not rated food-safe, and we do not recommend consuming the product or using it on areas that directly touch food or beverage.

My thoughts are you could glue it together on the bottom side of the crack, and then use parchment to cook on it.

I started using a coal grate from a kettle underneath my stone as a layer of support, that might also help in the interim.

Sorry to see your stone cracked, and I'll look forward to your reviews on the steel. @Brett-EDH is a strong advocate of the steel.

source of jb weld excerpt is here:
 
After an initial disaster in my first attempt that ended w no pizza I used semolina flour and kept it moving, it worked perfectly. Thinking of the semolina like little bearings to keep it rolling I had a lot of success.
 
Always test the peel/pie for stickiness before launching. No surprises!

Wooden peel and cornmeal will usually make for a slip n slide pie.

If you get sticking, pick up an edge and blow underneath to free up the crust. And then toss some more cornmeal underneath.

Put the dough on parchment paper. Once the pie has been on the stone for a minute or two, the parchment will slide out easily.
 
Ed P said:
I've never built a pizza on the mat. Usually, she builds them on the wooden peel or a plastic cutting board while I make another crust. This looks like a good technique and I will certainly try it, but it won't work as easily if you continue to build your pie on the mat because you have to flip it over. A couple of things I've learned, though...when you open the dough ball, you want the top to be the bottom of your crust. The top of the dough ball is usually drier and firmer than the bottom. The bottom of the dough ball is usually somewhat soggy and soft, especially with higher hydration recipes, so you want that to be the top. I also spray/brush olive oil on the crust before she sauces it...it tastes good, it helps prevent the "gumline" (the layer of uncooked dough between the crust and the sauce), it adds color to the crust when baked, and it also helps to keep the sauce from penetrating into the dough. Good luck, Joe, and nice recovery on your stromboli!

EDIT: Also, I prefer rice flour over semolina or corn meal on the peel. It just seems to work better for me. Actually, equal parts of dough flour, semolina, and rice flour might cover all your bases. You can do a search on "Dustinator" at pizzamaking.com for the formula that Papa John's uses, too.
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Good idea of reversing the dough. I like stretching the dough on the mat because of the markings but I will take your advice and dust the peel and build the pizza there on the next one. I will also move the crust around as I build to make sure it is not sticking.
 
Joe Anshien said:
Good idea of reversing the dough. I like stretching the dough on the mat because of the markings but I will take your advice and dust the peel and build the pizza there on the next one. I will also move the crust around as I build to make sure it is not sticking.
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I use the mat, too, but I dust it lightly with flour first, rub it in, and then keep the crust moving as I shape it...then, with the left hand on or over the left side of the shaped dough, use the other hand to flip the right half of the crust over the back of your left hand and transfer it to the peel that way.
 
When I'm doing a bunch of pies they all go on parchment. The parchment burns somewhere above 500F so only leave it on for a minute or two, then I pull it and rotate the pizza a quarter turn. I trim the parchment with scissors to a 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the edge, except for a small tab to help pull it out.

Some in my family don't like the cornmeal on the crust so the parchment takes that out of play.

For me, I don't mind cornmeal and if its my pie, it is usually the last pie of the night so while I'm topping the pie the stone is recovering heat and I go without parchment and use cornmeal. I don't know if it makes a difference or not on the crispiness, but I like it this way.

I'd use semolina but that's hard to find right now.
 
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