homemade pizza

[charles_sills]

for all those who want to make great homemade pizza, but dont have a pizza/bread stone; i found a trick.
turn your largest cast iron skillet upside down, put it on the lowest rack, then heat the oven as hot as it will go.

normally when i make homemade pizza, i use store bought dough and i grill it. had no charcoal, and decided to wing a pizza dough recipe. it turned out beautifully.

[Bryan Pepperseed]

Just thought I'd pass on a technique I sometimes use that might be of interest to people that have concerns about how to "transfer" their pies to a skillet that might be on the small side:

The short version is.....
I use a (as pictured) splatter screen from the dollar store.

The boring details for anyone who cares.....
While I'm pretty good at using a peel when making pies for myself, sometimes when I make smaller individual pies for guests, they take too long to decide what toppings they want and that's a real good way (for those that don't have a Super Peel) to end up with a pie stuck to a pizza peel. With the screen I don't have to worry about "the transfer" - I just build the pie on the screen and place the whole thing on my stone or skillet. It's not quite as good as direct contact, but it's close enough when trying to make multiple pies quickly.

EDIT: Picture shows two, but I only use one at a time.

EDIT #2: I think that's the longest run on sentence I've ever written. Sorry.

[amateurcook2]

Which gives better results, a cast iron pan or pizza stone?

[charles_sills]

i have never used a pizza stone, but i feel like the pizza stone would be better, because the way i understand it, the pizza stone is able to absorb some moisture from the crust. but i can tell you for sure, you wont be disappointed with either.

[ipsedixit]

You mean like this? http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/683259

Been there, done that.

[charles_sills]

ahh, i guess so. sorry. although i didnt preheat on the stove top, or use the broiler. but yeah, i suppose it is the same thing. sorry again.

[Antilope]

I didn't see the older message, but I did see the current message. Thanks! Great idea. I have a 14" cast iron skillet that doesn't get used much now with just the two of us at home.

The only thing is, it's going to say "Griswold" backwards on the bottom of my pizzas. ;-)

[c oliver]

I didn't see the other post either and think this is great! I much prefer the idea of baking at super hot rather than broiling where I'd think the top would be ready before the rest. Thanks.