I'm new to cooking and was looking to try either the NY style pizza recipe or Foolproof pan pizza recipe at home this weekend. I had some questions.
Pan pizza:
I currently don't have access to my cast iron skillet (moving). I do however have my disposable aluminum pans. Will they work or should I hold off?
NY style pizza:
Feasible because I have a working oven and a food processor, so I think it's more probable I'll cook this.
But I don't have either a pizza stone or a pizza peel. I'm reading online that the pizza peel is a base for the pizza stone. Do I need to buy both of them? If not, can I buy only one, and if so, which one do I buy?
Alternatively, can I simply bake on a parchment sheet on an oven rack? I'm not really looking to invest much into cooking equipment before I start regularly cooking, and I don't have much pantry/kitchen space.
The more interesting question I had, however, is: how do I scale down this recipe? Since it's my first attempt, I don't want to gamble 600g+ of flour on it and have to chuck it all in the bin. I want to halve the flour. Do all the other ingredients in the recipe — water, sugar, salt, yeast and olive oil — also get halved?
by mehshagger
5 Comments
The peel is just a flat tool on which you can assemble your uncooked pizza, then easily transfer it to the oven and slide it off. The peel isn’t in the oven during baking.
A pizza stone or steel does affect the baking process a lot, contributing to getting a well-cooked crust. That said you certainly can bake a pizza without; the crust won’t be as good though.
Yes, you can scale everything down proportionally, shouldn’t be a problem.
Do you have a sheet pan? My favorite is the Sicilian style pizza. It can be made with a food processor and it’s quite delicious. I like to use provolone, but I just like it better than mozzarella. You do you.
[www.seriouseats.com/spicy-spring-sicilian-pizza-recipe](http://www.seriouseats.com/spicy-spring-sicilian-pizza-recipe)
I’ll help a Gooner 🤮 out.
1) You can try with the disposable aluminum pan but it may not radiate/retain heat well enough to get the desired outcome.
2) Does your oven get hot enough for the NY style? A peel helps you get the pizza in the oven, move it around the oven and remove it from the oven. You can try and move that dough on to your stone without one but it’s not going to be easy.
3) Scaling works by halving. But do remember if you’re scaling by half to calculate your diameter.
My suggestions would be to get one of these [cast iron pizza pan](https://www.lodgecastiron.com/product/seasoned-cast-iron-pizza-pan), it can get really hot which is what you need to cook a satisfying crust. And then to first give [this recipe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mIbyUgNOlo)
a try. The dough is really forgiving and very easy to work with. You can get away with not using a peel.
Honestly my advice is that pizza is still pizza and you won’t have to chuck it in the bin. Pizza is good even when it’s not great and the foolproof pan pizza works well and is unfussy. A disposable pan, a pie pan, an ovenproof skillet of some kind… it will work fine. A thin aluminum pan would heat up faster anyways because there’s less pan to heat up. My main advice is be prepared to cover the top of your pizza with foil if needed to prevent the cheese from burning, and/or have a solid way to heat from below (will your oven do heat from just below and you can move the pan to the bottom… can you use the stovetop to finish cooking the bottom of the crust… etc).
I’ve made the NY style pizza multiple times, including in hotels and while on vacation. If you follow the recipe and use a standard round baking sheet, it’ll come out delicious.
Having better equipment will make for a better result, but you’ll absolutely be able to make an amazing pie without.