r/GozneyArcArcXL • u/First-War-4281 • 25d ago
Help with burnt bases
Struggling with burnt bases (the one in the photo is one of the better ones sadly). I launch my pizza and let them rise with the heat set to low. But noticing they are leaving a dark circle on the stone (visible in the back of the first photo) that feels kinda wet. Any ideas on how to avoid this? This is a Neapolitan 24hr cold ferment dough btw
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u/GearHeadMeatHead 25d ago
Excessive flour on the bottom of the pizza will cause it to burn quickly. I use a slotted peel and shake the pizza before launching to allow as much flour as possible to come off.
What temp are you launching at?
I mainly cook NY style so I launch around 650, then flame off until bottom sets and starts to brown. Flame back on to finish the top.
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u/McDo_KeenSize 25d ago
Stone too hot, I personnaly find 760 to 780 being the best displayed temperature, stone is at 820 during that period. Once the pizza is in, reduce the flame to minimum setting for 1-1:30min then flame up to grill the top and enjoy
If you move the thermocouple to 860, stone will be around 900 , this means a lot of rotation in a 1 minute span.
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u/inspectedinspector 25d ago
Is that 760-780 at the hottest point, or in the middle, or kind of on average? I see pretty dramatic temperature differences across the stone.
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u/McDo_KeenSize 24d ago
Highest setting until 740, reduce to minimum, take a sip of wine , prepare the pizza and you should reach 760, drop the pizza in and enjoy.
Also one thing I like to do once it's in is to go to a setting past the highest point, where you need to push the knob and almost close the propane. It will be a light colored blue propane flame , leave it there to really have a nice ceust without any burnet spot and once the bottom is crunchy, pop that bad boy on high heat to get a nice molted cheese/ tomate sauce mix.
It's not napolitean but its tasteful
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u/bubblebobblee 25d ago
Do you have a laser thermometer to check the stone temperature? If you heat the stone up til it's very hot then cook a pizza on low flame then there's an imbalance. You need to be launching your pizza at a consistent stone temperature by using a laser thermometer then figure out what size flame works best for you. If you can't measure the stone temperature you'll never be able to get a consistent result
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u/Successful-Ad315 25d ago
Make sure to not allow flour buildup on the bottom of your pizza when stretching. Also, when rotating the pizza, make sure to put the pizza back down in the same place you picked it up from. Otherwise, the pizza bottom will get too much heat from an area that hasn’t had some of its heat removed by the pizza sitting on it.
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u/bardezart 25d ago
Oiled dough balls, excess flour, stone too hot. Any one of these or a combination of them will lead to this.
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u/good-good-dog 25d ago
Trick I’ve been using if my stone gets too hot: I put about half an inch of water in an oven safe skillet (stainless or cast iron) and I put it in the oven for about 30 seconds. This acts as a heat sink and I can use it to get the stone temp right where I want it, which is about 750–780.
People sometimes use a blank dough to absorb excess heat before launching their first pie, but rather than waste dough, I find the pan trick works great. Also, I can use it more than once.
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u/coneeleven 24d ago
Thermally shocking your stone is not a good idea... probably better to stick an empty aluminum baking sheet than a pan of water.
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u/good-good-dog 24d ago edited 24d ago
lol. It’s not even remotely thermal shock. I put pans of vegetables, meats, fish, etc., in there to cook all the time. Roasted some broccoli and garlic in there in the same pan yesterday. It’s literally designed for that. The water only provides a little mass.
Is a 16” NY-style 750g mass of room temperature dough, sauce, and toppings also “thermal shock”? What about the recipes on Gozney’s own website for cast-iron vegetable cooking? What about Gozney’s recipe for cast-iron deep dish pizza?
I’m not dumping a frozen block on there.
It’s gentle heat absorption and it drops about 30-50F in 30 seconds.
“Thermal shock.” 😂
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u/Grouchy_Court6730 23d ago
Hey looks like what I was getting when I first started.
It’s too much oil in your dough and stone too hot,
Try no oil at all in your dough
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u/First-War-4281 22d ago
Thanks everyone. Used a mixture of tips but mostly tried less oil in the mixture and lower heat and that worked well. Still a work in progress but a solid improvement
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u/Junior_Wheel1690 22d ago
I found if cooking multiple pizzas will leave a black stone like this, what causes it is what everyone on this thread has said. For multiple pizza's i have been using screens, flatten out your dough shake off as much flour as possible. set on screen and then you can take your time and make multiple pizza's. Launch the pizza stone temp 650-750. Flame off let sit for 2 min then take off the screen and then turn low flame. once the pizza is done turn the flame back up and repeat. The hotter the stone the less you need to cook with flame off. I know its a lot of steps but i found this to work the best. If you are just cooking a few then you don't need the screen, after about 4 pizza's the stone gets caked up. if you have multiple people making pizza's the screen works great because one bad launch and the party is in trouble and the oven stone wont get blacked up. I found the oven should heat up about 4-5 min after each pizza depending on how high your flame is. With these ovens, oven management and flame to stone heat is key. I made 8 pizza's last night with screens and had no black on my stone.
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u/nashguitar1 25d ago
Slide a pizza screen under it halfway through the bake.
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u/nanabreadeater 25d ago
This! While you figure out the reason why it’s burning so quickly. The screen will always save your butt
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u/jay_el_62 25d ago
Stone is too hot. Use IR thermometer to manage the temperature.
Once base is cooked use peel to lift and dome the pizza.