Hey Jan,
There's nothing more frustrating than pulling a pizza out of the oven, only to find that the crust is soft and floppy instead of crispy and golden.
You did everything right - followed the recipe, nailed the fermentation, perfected the launch. But somehow, it's just not crispy.
Well, most likely, you're making one of these 3 super common mistakes that prevent your crust from crisping up.
Mistake #1: You're baking on the wrong surface
If you're using a standard baking sheet or pizza stone, you're not getting enough heat transfer to crisp that bottom crust.
The fix? Get yourself a baking steel. The higher thermal conductivity of steel allows it to transfer heat to the bottom of the pizza more quickly, even at lower oven temperatures. Or alternatively, simply make a pan pizza using cast iron, carbon steel, or aluminum. These materials conduct heat much more efficiently than ceramic stones, giving you that crispy bottom you're after.
Mistake #2: Your hydration doesn't match your oven
Here's the thing most people miss: hydration and baking time work together. And your baking time is determined by your oven temperature.
If you're baking in a home oven at 500-550°F, your pizza will be in there longer, which means more time for moisture to evaporate. So you can handle a higher hydration dough (around 65-75%) and still get crispy results.
But if you're using an outdoor pizza oven at 700°F+, your bake time could be anywhere from just 90 seconds to 3 minutes. That doesn't leave a lot of time for moisture to escape, so a high-hydration dough will stay soft. In that case, you need to drop your hydration to around 57-65% to get the crispness you're looking for.
The key? Match your dough hydration to your oven's temperature and the resulting bake time.
Mistake #3: You're stretching too thin or overloading with sauce
Even with everything else dialed in, if you stretch your dough paper-thin or drown it in sauce, you're fighting a losing battle. You might be able to crisp up your pizza if you bake it long enough, but by that time, the sauce and cheese will become overcooked, leading to a sad, dry pizza.
So, keep your dough at a reasonable thickness, and go easy on the sauce - less is more when it comes to getting that crispy crust (you may also need to reduce the cheese to achieve the right balance of flavors). My general rule of thumb is that you shouldn't be able to see any light passing through the dough when you lift it up to stretch it. If you can, you've gone too thin.
Try adjusting just one of these variables next time you make pizza and see what happens. I'm betting you'll notice a huge difference.
Let me know how it goes!
- Charlie
P.S. I've been working on something BIG over the past few months to help you make world-class pizza at home. Click here to join the waitlist and be the first to find out about it!
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