How to Use Your Oven to Bake Your Pizza Properly

How to Use Your Oven to Bake Your Pizza Properly

Baking your thin-crust pie properly will make all of the difference in the world.

I’m not saying this is the only way to cook pizza or even the best, but I do have to say until we build our wood-fired pizza oven in the back, this is my go-to method. The results are incredibly impressive, and the pizza-eating monster in the house says it is the best pizza he has ever tasted.

---

Instructions

Step 1

Put your pizza stone or steel into the oven no more than 6 inches below the boiler. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Let the stone superheat for at least for 45 minutes.

Step 2

Without opening the oven, switch the oven settings to broil for 10 minutes. As you stretch your dough and place on your pizza peel. TIP: Don’t forget to add cornmeal to the peel to prevent sticking.

Step 3

After 10 minutes on broil, switch the oven settings back to bake at 500 degrees.

Step 4

Quickly open the oven. In as little time as possible, slide your pizza off the peel onto your superheated pizza stone. Bake for 3-4 minutes.  

Step 5

If you have any last-minute ingredients you would like to add, like cheeses or herbs, go ahead, pull the pizza out of the oven, quickly top, and put it back into the oven. If not, just move straight on to step 6.

Step 6

Switch your oven settings back to broil and cook for 1-2 minutes or until desired doneness.

Step 7

Remove from oven, slice, serve, and enjoy.