How to Get Crispy Pizza Bottoms at Home
If you're a pizza lover, crispy bottoms are the name of the game. The problem is that most home ovens aren't equipped for it. But fear not, for I bring good news: the humble pizza steel can change that.
The Pizza Steel is a thick slab of steel designed to heat faster than stone, hold more energy, and produce crisp bottoms on your homemade pizzas. It was invented in 2012 by Andris Lagsdin after reading in Nathan Myhrvold's Modernist Cuisine that steel conducts heat better than stone. He prototyped it from a steel slab at his family's Stoughton Steel Company, and the rest is history.
The Pizza Steel launched on Kickstarter in 2012 and gained widespread attention after Kenji López-Alt reviewed it on Serious Eats. Since then, the product line has expanded well beyond the flagship Original ($129, ¼" thick pizza steel) 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.
But here's the thing: crispy bottoms aren't just about the steel. It's about how you use it. And that's where most home cooks go wrong.
First, preheat your oven with the Pizza Steel inside for at least 30 minutes. This will give the steel time to heat up and store thermal energy, which is crucial for a crispy bottom.
Next, slide your pizza onto the Pizza Steel. The key here is speed. The steel retains its heat for only a short while, so you want to get your pizza on there as quickly as possible. This will give you that perfect crispiness.
Finally, bake your pizza on the Pizza Steel for 5-8 minutes. Keep an eye on it – you don't want to overcook it. The steel will transfer its heat to your pizza, giving it a crispy bottom and a perfectly cooked top.
And that's it! With the Pizza Steel, you can achieve crispy pizza bottoms at home with ease. No more soggy pizzas from your home oven. Happy cooking!
