Soggy bottom pizza! Help required please

kbarty

I always let mine rest on a cooling rack for a few mins before serving. I find this crisps them up really nicely. HTH

dorsetmiss_2

How do these pizza stone thingies work please? Just looked at the Pampered Chef classic round stone as mentioned by 1012donna (*ahem* £19.25:eek: ). Do you have to heat them up to some sort of thermo nuclear temperature first before whacking the pizza on it........?

Anne_Marie_2

If using a shop bought base and soggy in the middle, I would think that too much topping is the problem.

Home made base, either by hand or in the BM, I roll base about a bit with rolling pin, then when its nearly the right size, sort of stretch it using back of hands, well more knuckles really underneath, sort of turning it in a circular motion and then flip it on to a pizza tin with holes.
I leave the base for about 20 mins, then put on topping.........home made tomato sauce which I reduce a bit so not watery, don't spread too thickly, then add whatever other bits and pieces, followed by cheese.
If you are using any toppings out of a jar, such as olives, make sure you drain them, so the liquid isn't going onto the pizza. Also similar with mozzarella in liquid - I pour off liquid, then get rid of any extra by placing cheese in kitchen roll, dry it off a bit.
The pizza is then cooked straight away.
If you aren't cooking it straight away, have all the toppings chopped up in containers in fridge, doesn't take much time to bung it all together - otherwise it will get soggy if left for any length of time - I speak from experience here:rolleyes: !

I cook 3 at a time generally, as the gluttons in this house like individual pizza - full 12" each!:eek: (Mine is smaller...maybe about 8") So Gas mark 5 put two 12" top and middle of oven, swap them over after 8-10 mins, and keep a check on them - sometimes they take 15 mins, sometimes a bit longer. (Suppose it depends on how thick the base is really). I bung mine in last while making up a wee salad, as they don't eat salad with pizza, usually takes about 10-12 mins on top shelf of oven.

I did use to have a pizza stone, but it disappeared off the face of the earth. Have found that the trays with holes (I got mine in Asda, can't remember price now) are pretty good - would advise to go for the silver ones rather than the black ones - much better quality, and have mine for a few years now, clean up well too.

mto

I'm in the throes of bread making at the moment and have had a couple of attempts at pizza. However it keeps coming out very wet. I've been using a combination of passata and tomato puree for the sauce and mozzarella (which i've drained) but when i take it out of the oven the middle is all soggy.

What am I doing wrong? Do I need to reduce the sauce or drain the mozarella for longer All suggestions welcome.

Thanks

studentphil

If it is dough that is making a wet then roll it thinner and make sure it is well floured.

Your best bet is to cut down the the amount of tomato stuff you put on it. No more than 2/3 table spoons per small pizza and make sure the sauce is spread very thin, just enough to cover.

studentphil

A very well drained tin of toms in a drainer over a jug ( leave to drain at least 20 mins in advance of use should do it)

whatatwit

Those pizza baking trays, with little holes in, are good for getting a crispy base.

Pink.

Hi mto,

You need to make sure that you aren't overloading the pizza with toppings as this can make the base 'wet'.

I find it helps to part cook the pizza bases before adding the sauce and topping so that you don't end up with a soggy bottom! :eek: Just put them in the oven for about five minutes then quickly add the sauce and all the bits and pieces and return to the oven until they're done.

For the sauce I fry some onion and crushed garlic in a little olive oil, then add a tin of tomatoes and some dried mixed herbs and/or basil and black pepper. Whizz with a hand blender then leave it to simmer over a low heat (stirring occasionally) until it reduces to a paste. This is enough for two family sized pizza's. If you only want to make one you can freeze the remaining sauce for next time.

These older threads may help:

'Soggy-bottom' pizza! Help required please

Pizza question?

It may also be worth having a look in The Complete Pizza Collection for more ideas.

Pink

mto

Hmmmm, maybe I'm using too much tomato sauce. The base doesn't really go soggy, it's just there's a pool of wet on top IYSWIM. I don't think I want to precook the base as it's only in for about 8 mins which cooks the base and toppings fine. More experimentation required I think.

studentphil

mto wrote: »

Hmmmm, maybe I'm using too much tomato sauce. The base doesn't really go soggy, it's just there's a pool of wet on top IYSWIM. I don't think I want to precook the base as it's only in for about 8 mins which cooks the base and toppings fine. More experimentation required I think.

Trying a cut down in sauce and using grated block cheese rather than that wet fresh cheese. Turning the oven up a bit or cooking them a bit long should help too.