4 Ways To Make Sure Your Pizza Doesn't Stick To The Pan

5 September 2018
 Categories: Food & Cooking, Blog

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Making homemade pizza is a great way to save money, control the ingredients that go into the dish, and get the family together for a fun activity. Yet you don't want to spend all that time tossing dough and topping your pies just to find them stuck hard to the pan at the end of baking. Get your pizza to release cleanly regardless of the type of pizza pans you choose to cook in by choosing one of the following options.

Cornmeal

A thin layer of cornmeal sprinkled over the pan is one of the most traditional ways to keep dough from sticking. This technique works for all kinds of metal pans, peels, and stones, although it is tricky to apply to a perforated pan that increases airflow under the crust. You can also try coarsely ground semolina, which is the wheat flour traditionally used for making pasta, in place of cornmeal for a similar texture with a different flavor.

Oil

Oiling is a popular method for cooking in metal pans of all types and prevents food from sticking in two different ways. First, you can apply a layer of oil right before cooking and get good results. But if you leave the oil residue behind after cooking and keep applying more oil with only minor cleaning to remove food residue, you'll eventually season the pan. The golden to black layer of polymerized oil creates a naturally non-stick surface while adding flavor to the pizzas you cook. This is one of the best kept secrets of commercial pizza kitchens. Avoid oiling pizza stones unless recommended by the manufacturer.

Flour

When you're making a quick pizza for dinner and you find you're out of cornmeal and oil, reach for the same flour you used to make the crust. Any all-purpose or bread flours will work just fine as a non-stick coating if you sprinkle it evenly and finely over the pan or stone. The baking heat will toast the flour so it has a nutty and cooked flavor that doesn't distract from the rest of the pizza.

Parchment Paper

Parchment paper is perhaps one of the easiest ways to keep a pizza from sticking. It also produces a firm and slightly crispy crust on the bottom, even when used on a solid metal pizza pan or stone. This can help if your oven has a lower temperature limit and can't recreate the extremely high heat used in commercial pizza ovens.