Pizza Screen 2021 

Glad you liked the tip

Thanks to you too

Thanks for the heads up on your screens. Be sure to oil the screen up especially if they are new. The screens work great for the higher hydration dough

Marcus Thanks for the great feedback. Doesn’t take much to have the pizza stick to the peel. A small drip of sauce. Tiny hole in the crust. Leave too long on the peel. All kinds of things. The screen makes it easy. Even for smaller kids if you want them to get in on the fun.

Cheers Gary, I’ve just ordered one. I use the Ooni Karu, this has always been an issue, I hate wasting dough and ingredients, particularly when hungry kids are waiting. All the best, have a lovely Easter break. Regards Marcus

Thanks for the great feedback. The screen works especially good now that I am working with higher hydration dough. Can’t see the pizza with high hydration sliding off a peel without a screen.

@@GaryMahony I have one of those ooni outdoor pizza ovens. For those high temp cooks and Neapolitan pizza experience 70% hydration works great. However, NY style pizzas in general have a hydration range between 58% and 62% on average(and about 2% oil). I like the 60%-65% (2% oil)for my oven. What is your "go to" and how big of a dough ball do you use? I aim for a 14 inch pie with 350 a gram ball.

You are so welcome!

I do stretch the dough on the screen before adding toppings. Find that the screen kinda grabs the dough and helps keep it a perfect round shape. Sometimes you might find with dough that if you stretch it out is shrinks back. The screen helps solve this one. The other thing to try if your dough is shrinking back like that is to be sure to let it rest in a covered bowl for an hour or two on your kitchen counter. I used to try making pizza with dough straight from the fridge. Worked but shrunk back a lot.

Awesome. Thanks

Thanks Blaze. Here to help.

Yes they are!

Thanks JP. Glad to help out.

Thanks for the thumbs up. It is a little different cooking the odd pizza at home compared to the pizza place punching out 100's of pizzas every Friday night. Going to eventually get a sheetmetal peel to try out. It doesn't take much to get a pizza stuck on a wooden peel. Small hole in pizza dough. A splash of sauce. Leave it too long on the peel before attempting put in the oven. Screen solves this problem and works every time. Have a good one!

It is a good trick to use the screen for the first part of the bake. Find I can stretch the dough out a little better on the screen too. The dough can sometimes tend to shrink back to a smaller size without the screen.

Thanks. Your kind words mean a lot to me.

Glad you liked the tip. Enjoy some fine pizza.

Pizza. Gotta love it. Happy to share tactics.

Making a pizza right now as I write this. I think you will be thrilled with the screen tactic. Works every time. You are right the big pizza chains use these screens. Weird that the screens are not usually available at hardware or kitchen places. Got mine at a place that sells to restaurants. Real inexpensive.

@@GaryMahonyWalmart (by me/NYC suburb) sells them. Currently $6 for a 16". I mostly use mine as a cooling rack and to help launch off of like a peel and it helps turn ong a pie to evenly brown it on top without a peel.

@@cjaquilino The screen surely has a place in my kitchen. Solved the problem I had with the occasional pizza sticking to my wooden paddle. You are right it does make a nice cooling rack. One trick I learned was to use a cooling rack of some sort to keep the bottom crispy as it cools down enough to eat.

@@GaryMahony What'd you do to stop the sticking. More checking and shaking and semolina?

@@cjaquilino Google, " Season Pizza Screens" Here is one link. www.etaliafoods.com/pages/cooking-topping-tips#:~:text=Season%20Your%20Pizza%20Screen,two%20more%20times%2C%20if%20needed. Don't wash your screen after it is seasoned. I always put some olive oil on my screen. I show this in the youtube video. What is cool is this extra olive oil gives the bottom of the crust a nice crispy taste and eliminates sticking. If the dough is way to wet or has a small tear in it letting the sauce or cheese out then all bets are off.

Dude you will love the tactic. Another plus is how the screen helps to shape the pizza into a perfect circle.

Thanks dude. Screen is a good idea with the trend to higher hydration levels so common now.

doesn't need that it just separates. i do 60% hydration.

Wow Lot's of Questions. Thanks for your enthusiasm and support. Struggled with making a decent Pizza since I was a kid. Used to make a pizza every week using the Chef Boy Ar Dee kit before every Saturday night hockey game. This was when the first period on TV didn't start until 8:30. Game started at 8 and you had to listen on the radio. Perfect for pizza making. Dating myself. I think pizzas were such a new thing back then that there used to be articles in the newspaper explaining what they were. My pizzas were terrible for years, maybe decades. Way too much effort with kneading the dough and letting it rise and fall. Wasn't until I discovered the no knead method and to leave the dough in the fridge to rise that my pizzas got decent. Turns out the no knead method is dead easy. The method I show with the dough on the screen for the first part of the cook and then to the stone to crisp the bottom works every time. Makes a nice neopolitan style. Made a pizza last night using just the screen and no stone. Took a lot longer to cook and the bottom wasn't as easy to crisp up. I usually Oil the screen with a little olive oil. This also helps with crisping up the bottom and makes a pizza that I think is unique from any pizza. This is my favourite time of year when the Tomatoes from my garden are ripe. Awesome sauce. gary

Thanks Keith The tactic works every time for me. I think this is especially useful for the home cooks who have to bake at lower temps compared to pizzerias. The home cooks should increase the hydration level compared to pizza joints. This makes sliding off the peel that much harder. The screen solves this .

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks for the thumbs up. Gotta love an awesome slice of pizza

Thankyou for the great feedback.

Dude. Making pizza has to be one of my most favourite things to do. Always an adventure. Always trying something new. Glad you enjoyed the video.

@@GaryMahonyI have a 15" stone. Just bought 2 "Lloyd Pans" 16" screens. Yesterday I bought a 16X16X 3/8 raw steel plate. Neither has arrived yet. Can't wait to see the difference, oh I also have a small (12") pizza oven.

Making pizza sure is fun. Hope the screen works for you.

Sounds like I gotta get my hands on a pizza steel. Will give it a try for sure. Thanks for sharing the tip.

"10 times more hotter"? You're delusional. A pizza steel is only 15% better in terms of cooking results. This has already been proven over and over again and by one of YT's most successful pizza gurus, Vito Lacopelli

Thanks for the nice comment. gary

If your dough is very thin, the screen works great. If the dough is slightly on the thick side you can slide it off of a wooden or steel paddle with ease.

Sjhanksaz. The tactic works every time for me. Works great if the dough is a little over hydrated or if you want your younger kids to help out. If you only make a pizza once in a while this method is surely good. If you work in a Pizza place and pound out hundreds of pizzas am sure you would figure out the method without the screen. Apparently a metal peel works better than a wooden one. Got lot's of comments on the metal peel. On the other hand there are plenty of pizza places that use the screen. Have fun.

Awesome. Like you I have tried a lot of different ways to make pizza. Most of the time it worked great. Sometimes not so great. The frypan method worked fantastic just like you say. Had a couple of duds making pan style and my wife gave me heck for not making her favorite crispy thin style using the screen. Made a promise to make 10 great pizzas in a row on the screen before experimenting again.

A lot of people are starting to make their pizza dough at home with a higher Hydration. More wet.. The reasoning is home cooks ovens are not nearly as hot as those at a commercial pizza place. 500 F at home. Much higher in the pizza place. There is a pizza place in my neighborhood that calls themselves Pizza 850 degrees. Guess they cook at 850 degrees. You could try that at home on the oven cleaning cycle but the door seems to lock on me doing that. When you cook at lower temperatures it takes a little more time to cook. Dry dough can dry out this way. If the dough is dryer and thicker you don't need a pizza screen. You can slide the pizza no problem from a wooden peel.. The screen really helps with higher hydration doughs. And super thin doughs too. Experiment a bit and you will be making pizza every bit as good as those from a wood fired oven. Some Olive oil on the screen helps too. After a while your screen gets seasoned and dough never sticks. Cool thing about the Olive oil on the screen is you get a nice tasty crisp crust. Even the big pizza places don't do that.

Glad you enjoyed it

My pleasure.

Thanks. Your kind words mean a lot.

The stone seams to help get a nice crispy bottom for me. I think the pizza places that use these screens use the conveyor belt type of oven. Dominoes might be one. These ovens are special made for pizza and might even have some air blowing up on the bottom as well as the top. Cooking these neopolitan style pizzas on home ovens can be tricky. Have tried what you suggested to use just the screen. Just found the stone helped a lot. The screen idea really started with trying to find a reliable way to slide the pizza off of the peel confidently. These thin style pizzas don't take much to get stuck on the peel for me.

@@GaryMahony Ah, I see! Thank you for testing it out. I am in the process of setting things up for my “pizza kitchen” and I’m looking over things like pizza screens and their effect, and this really influenced my purchasing decisions. Thanks again, Gary!

@@RudeCanine Thanks for the great feedback. There are all kinds of pizza crusts to make. The screen and stone combo works really well for me in my home kitchen setup for the Neopolitan style. This is everyones favourite around here. The Detroit style pizza is also pretty tasty. Different animal all together. I use a 9 x 12 cake pan for that one.

Awesome. You will love it. Rock on

George and all............ Agree the screen helps us home cooks out a lot. Screen is great for getting the younger kids in on the action too. Am using a silicone basting brush now to add some olive oil to the surface of the screen before putting the dough on top. Eventually the screen seasons up after a few uses. Skip the oil and the dough sometimes sticks so you cant't easily remove it to do the direct on stone trick. If that happens just leave it on the screen til it is done. I don't wash the screen. Mines aluminum and won't rust.

@@GaryMahony Great, I love that trick because I like to make NY style pizza which are usually 14 inch and up and didn't want to get a pig pizza peel its hard to store. Your idea is amazing. Tested and Approved. I made some NY dough the other day and cooked one today, your method and I had amazing results. thanks :)

Great tip. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks

Thanks for the feedback. Sure is fun making pizzas. Happy to share tactics

Great tip. Sounds similar to how Indian Roti gets a blast of direct flame. Trick works for tortillas too. Man cooking sure can be fun.

Thanks to you too. Glad you enjoyed it.

Glad you liked the pizza tip. I use a screen the same diameter as my pizza stone. About 14 inches

Happy to help. Works every time. Great if you want to get younger kids involved in pizza making too.

Thanks. Been trying to make a great home pizza since 1960. Still learning. RU-vid has been a super resource.

Stores that sells cooking supplies for restaurants. The big box, department and kitchen stores in outlet malls don’t seem to have them. Probably best to get them on line. These screens are very inexpensive. Not more than a couple of dollars.

Here is the link to tapphong.com/ Just an example of the type of place that would have the screens. gary

I've seen them on ebay too.

Wax paper or parchment? Wax would melt, wouldn't it?

@@Mattspips - Yes sorry, pardon my ignorance, I now know there is a difference :)!

Thanks, A lot of the people viewing the video suggest the metal peel. Gotta get my hands one. Good tip.

Greetings from Canada. Enjoy some fine Italian pizza.

@@GaryMahony thank u sir .... :D

You can wash it in the sink with regular dish soap. Most of the time I just put it back in the oven and let it burn up a bit. Then dust off the screen. Usually don't have to wash em as long as melted cheese doesn't get on it. They are made from expanded aluminum so they won't rust. A little caked on oil turns them black and makes them more like non stick. I don't think the big chains like Dominos washes their screens. Could be wrong but just a guess.

@@GaryMahony Hi Gary. So sorry I never responded with a thank you note. I'm generally very good about responding but clearly I slipped up here. Apologies. Where exactly did you purchase this pizza screen? Mine works fine but I'm open to trying different ones.

@@mattmcguirk9936 Matt got my pizza screen from a restaurant supply store. There are a couple in Toronto. tapphong.com/ is one on Spadina and College. Restaurant supply stores are a lot different from the kitchen stores you see in outlet malls. A pizza screen should be real inexpensive. No more than 3 or 4 dollars. Not sure why the screens are not available at hardware or kitchen stores.

Nope, haven’t tried that one

Thanks Suryaya. Had to google "Chad Video" Turns out there is a guy doing educational videos named Chad. Gotta check em out when I get a chance. Thanks for the tip. www.chadsvideos.com/#:~:text=Enjoy%20Learning%20Science!,understandable%2C%20memorable%2C%20and%20enjoyable.

Thanks, Much appreciated. Pizza Rocks!

Sathya, glad you liked the tip. If you put some olive oil the screen you can get an even crispier and extra special crust . Gary

Any of the pizza places that use a conveyor type of oven either use a screen or a pan for their pizzas. So it works. Here is a link to a Dominos pizza making video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZW_Maj0g8cg.html However I too have had the odd pizza or usually just a small area stick to the screen. A little olive oil on the screen usually does the trick to prevent this. If the screen is brand new and no oil is used that could be an issue. If the dough is too wet that can do it. If the dough is stretched real thin and it tears open letting sauce or cheese hit the screen that is not good either. Leaving the dough on the screen for an extended time before cooking doesn't work. Lot's of things that can go wrong. But for the most part it works perfectly.

Dude, Feel your pain. Most likely cause was your dough was too wet, maybe got a hole in the dough, dough was too thin or some sauce got on the screen. Haven't had the whole pizza stick to the pan for me but have had a few cases where the sauce leaked thru and it stuck in one spot. If that happens I just leave the pizza on the screen til it is done and skip the transfer to the stone part. The trend seems to be to make doughs with a higher water concentration than we used to for home cooks. Home ovens aren't as hot as commercial ovens and the dough needs to be a little wetter so it doesn't dry out in the longer cook time. Down side is wet doughs are hard to handle.. The pizza screen solves this for me, If the dough has a low water concetration it can be tough but will slide of the peel no problem. Pizza screens are used all the time by the big chains that have conveyor type ovens. They don't scrap many pizzas. Keep trying, Am sure you will solve it.

@@GaryMahony I have bucked that screen out and since bought an ooni pizza oven, the wood pellet one. It is good during the summer, and I was going to buy another screen just so I can set a 2nd pizza up to be ready. i'll try but a good one this time.

Wow, a free screen. When I got my first screen I had to hunt out a special store that caters to restaurants. These screens aren't usually available at your neighborhood department or hardware store.

Agree. Going look into getting a metal one.

Think you could be right. Looking for a thin metal one and will give it a go. Thanks for the tip

its not the point of the video, The stone is the main reason of this technique.

@@Rihardololz true.

throw that cheese on during your switch to the stone so it stay unburned

Good tip. Cooking the dough a little before adding topings could be a game changer. Gotta try that.

@@GaryMahony its how you HAVE to do it at home, When your mozz cheese turns golden/brown like that means its burnt... mozz cheese isnt suppose to be burnt like that.

@@GaryMahony but to each there own, some people LIKE burnt cheese lol

You could be right. Will surely give it a try.

Can that work for thin crust pizza too? I'm thinking of just buying a metal peel but im worried the thin dough would break or crumble?

I launch my pies using a wood peel, remove using a metal peel. I just ordered screens, just to shape and launch on, then I will remove to finish baking on the stone.

Unless you use a heap of flour when stretching the dough, there is always the risk of the pizza sticking to the peel. Particularly with high hydration doughs. Cleanup from a failed launch is a nightmare.

My pleasure. Glad you enjoyed it.