pizza dough question

[readytocook]

I made pizza on a brand new pizza stone. The dough was "doughy/chewy" kind of like still raw in the center once cooked. It was not that thick. Why did it not bake right? What can I do next time? I did have the dough in the freezer, but defrosted in refrigerator first, and let sit room temp a bit.

[escondido123]

Was it a pound of dough? Did you give it a chance to rise? And like cheesymama said, the stone has to be smoking hot.

[readytocook]

that's what I thought but the tips that came with it stated "do not preheat stone." It's a pampered chef one http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_produ...

should I preheat it anyway?

[iluvcookies]

You absolutely need to preheat a pizza stone.
Go to Home Depot and get yourself some unglazed quarry tiles, wash and dry them well, and put them in the oven. Leave them there all the time and forget about the fancy pamered chef stuff.

[morwen]

I preheat my pampered chef stone. Got it so long ago the directions have disappeared and I forgot about that. Maybe that's why mine has never cracked! Cold stone hitting hot oven temps is a good way to stress it.

I can't deal with raw dough, gives me a tummy ache. I bake the dough for 5-7 minutes before topping it. Pull it out, let it cool a little, slide it back in and finish it off. Also, if your stove is electric (or even if it's not), put the stone into the cold oven and preheat both to 500F-550F, however high your oven will go for 30-40 minutes before baking the crust.

[cheesymama]

Was the pizza stone preheated? It should be as hot as your oven when you slide your pizza onto it.