Best way to make pizza with limited options?
So essentially I have three options since I only have a microwave oven(with convection and a grill) and something called as a "gas tandoor". A gas tandoor is like a grill placed directly on a stove but is covered by a dome shaped metal top.
What I want to know is among the following methods, which will give me the best results?(like fluffiness and crispy bottom)
- Baking the pizza in a pan to get a crispy bottom and then transfer it to a microwave oven and baking it further in convection mode.
- Baking the pizza in a pan to get a crispy bottom and then transfer it to a microwave oven and baking it further in grill mode.
- Placing the pizza in a pizza pan and putting it in the gas tandoor.
I want to make a NYC style pizza or a Neapolitan style pizza, NOT a Chicago style deep dish pizza.
Best Answer
It's possible to make a good pizza on the stovetop (with a lid), but it won't quite have the same consistency as a New York style pizza.
Serious Eats had a write-up on 'skillet pizza' years ago.
Basically, the idea is that you cook the crust first in the skillet, flipping it twice (so the flat side is on the bottom again), then top it and put a lid on it to melt the cheese ... which should work pretty well in your tandoor.
A few words of advice :
- If you like lots of toppings on your pizza, you will want to pre-cook them.
- Flip the crust shortly after it sets up on the first side, as you'll be returning it to that side when you're melting the cheese.
- A pan with sloped or curved sides makes it much easier to get in there rather than something with steep sides.
I actually use this method even when I have an oven, especially when I'm cooking for a lot of people -- I cook the crusts on both sides on a cast iron skillet or griddle, then move them to a sheet pan and let people add their toppings, then put them in the oven to melt the cheese.
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Answer 2
Almost all pizza recipes, like these for Neapolitan or New York style* pizza, require a very hot oven. Crucially, the surface you put your pizza on needs to be very hot to achieve a nice crust. Assuming that you won't be able to fit a pizza stone or pizza steel in your microwave oven, the tandoor is probably better suited for this. Make sure to preheat it well. If the dome does not get hot enough to cook the toppings by the time the base is cooked, you can try to finish the pizza in the microwave oven on grill mode.
Alternatively, you could look for recipes that don't require as hot an oven. This recipe for Chicago deep dish pizza from King Arthur Flour calls for 425°F (just under 220°C) which your microwave oven might just be able to reach. You will definitely want a recipe that calls for the use of some sort of pan if you want any kind of crisp to your crust.
(*) By the way, the first two links are from Kenji's "pizza lab" on Serious Eats, which is worth checking out for some in-depth pizza info.
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