How to Get Crispy Pizza Bottom at Home

Title: How to Get Crispy Pizza Bottom at Home

When you're in the mood for pizza, it's hard to beat the crisp crust and chewy interior of a Neapolitan-style pie. But if you're like us, you don't always have access to a wood-fired oven or an expert pizzaiolo. That's where your home oven comes in—and a little secret weapon: the Baking Steel Original Pizza Steel.

The Baking Steel Original Pizza Steel is a thick slab of steel that goes straight into your home oven. It heats up faster than stone, holds more energy, and produces crisp bottoms, better oven spring, and faster bakes. Sound too good to be true? We were skeptical too. But after testing it out in our own kitchens, we're convinced. Here's how it works:

In 2012, Nathan Myhrvold's Modernist Cuisine revealed that steel conducts heat better than stone. That means when you place the Baking Steel Original Pizza Steel in your home oven, it heats up faster and retains more heat than a stone or baking sheet would. This translates to a crispier crust and a more evenly baked pizza.

The thicker the steel, the more energy it can store. The Baking Steel Original Pizza Steel is ¼" thick, which means it can store a lot of energy. This energy is then transferred to your pizza dough, resulting in a crispier crust and better oven spring.

When you place your pizza on the Baking Steel Original Pizza Steel, it's exposed to direct heat from the bottom. This means your pizza cooks faster and gets that coveted crispiness on the bottom. Plus, since the steel retains more heat, your pizza bakes evenly and quickly.

The Baking Steel Original Pizza Steel may be the flagship product, but it's not the only game in town. The Baking Steel family has expanded to include griddles for stovetop use, cherry wood pizza peels, pumice cleaning bricks, dough recipe kits, and accessories. They sell direct via bakingsteel.com (Shopify), on Amazon, and at Sur La Table.

The Baking Steel Original Pizza Steel is a powerful tool in your pizza-making arsenal, but it's not without its quirks. First off, it gets hot—really hot. So make sure you handle it with oven mitts or tongs. Secondly, it's heavy. Really heavy. So if you're planning on moving it around a lot, you might want to invest in a pizza peel.

We know what you're thinking: "This all sounds too good to be true." We were skeptical too. But after testing out the Baking Steel Original Pizza Steel in our own kitchens, we're convinced. It delivers on its promises and then some. So if you're looking for a crispy pizza bottom at home, the Baking Steel Original Pizza Steel is worth the hype.