The Best Pizza Pan. It’s a funny little tale.
Hello, fellow pizza lovers! I invite you to join me on a journey filled with cooking challenges and funny mishaps. The search for the perfect pizza pan!
One sunny summer day, my pizza stone was calling for me. It was given to me by my mother-in-law, who frequents Goodwill in search of that fourth bread maker she will never use. However, she found a pizza stone and gifted it to me. I never really used it as I was in the mindset that pizza places made all great pizza. But was I delusional? That magnificent sunny summer day would change my adoration for pizza forever. I made a lot of bread, three to five loaves a week. Besides the smell of freshly baked chocolate cookies, fresh-out-of-the-oven bread is a smell that comforts me more than I can explain. Plus, with loaves of bread being six dollars a loaf, I learned to make them out of necessity. However, that day in August, I thought,” If I can make bread, I certainly can make good pizza dough.” So, I used the same ingredients and recipe for white bread. However, instead of creating a loaf, I flattened it. I dusted off, washed that Goodwill pizza stone, and put it on the grill. Why not? What could go wrong?
I read that wood-fired pizza needs a scorching hot temperature; I turned my grill as high as possible and placed the stone on the grill grates. I walked away to prepare the dough! I knew it took a bit of time to heat the stone. My bread dough recipe calls for bread flour and highly active yeast. So, I rolled the dough into a perfectish circle on a cutting board. I was not savvy at creating a good pizza at that stage. So, I put the sauce, toppings, and cheese on the flattened dough. Fully satisfied with my creation, I got it from cutting board to pizza stone.
My very young girls, maybe 6 and 3 at the time, were singing my praises with their “Ooohhss and Ahhhhs,” saying, “Dad, that’s amazing. It looks like a real pizza.” I felt so proud. The grill had reached about 550 degrees and was blazing hot. I took my monstrously thick pizza (it had begun to rise) to the grill. I opened the grill, ready for the transfer, and to my surprise, the pizza stone was shattered. It was shattered into eight different pieces. Unfortunately, I had no other pizza stone but did have a pizza pan. I would prevail. Long story short, after scraping with a spatula, I put the pizza on a pan and baked it at 350 degrees. Don’t do that! LOL. After about 45 minutes, I had the world’s thickest pizza. It looked like a blob of cheese and sauce. I was determined to get it right! It only took about ten years and many failures later, but I realized one major mistake I made when making pizza was choosing the wrong pan. I would buy the El Cheapos. Again, I was wrong. Again, my perseverance won out until I got it right. Throughout my pizza-making adventure, my family had a piece of my pizza and was thankful we had cereal as a backup.
Fast forward to 2024, when I wanted to buy a new pizza pan. My first click was Amazon, where I was met with various pizza pans/stones/steels in multiple shapes and sizes. Among them were round, square, and even heart-shaped pans (because who can resist a heart-shaped pizza?). I opted for a round 14” cast iron pan, believing it would be ideal for showcasing my culinary pizza-making skills. Honestly, the reviews had me. They were glowing. I eagerly awaited my cast-iron pan like a little kid awaiting a package from Santa. When it finally came, it was heavy and seasoned and BEAUTIFUL! It was time to test it. I made my fantastic dough, rolled it, put my parchment paper down on the pan, and set the oven to 475 degrees. As I carefully preheated the oven, I artfully arranged my toppings and felt a surge of confidence. This was the moment of truth. With a slide into the depths of my preheated oven, my pizza transformed from a raw dough circle to a culinary work of art. What a masterpiece it turned out to be!
After biting into a pizza with a perfectly crispy crust and a cheesy topping bubbling with goodness, I realized that my search for the ultimate pizza pan had finally concluded. As I enjoyed each morsel, I couldn’t help but chuckle at all the years of mistakes I had made in making a good pizza.
So, please take note of my experience. Carefully select your pizza pan. Whether you opt for a round pan or a pizza stone, let your culinary journey be filled with joy, knowledge, and plenty of pizza. Until we meet again, enjoy your meals!