When heating up a pizza, edges burn while middle still liquid

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(Please excuse the fact that I don't make my own pizza...)

I have a thawed (originally frozen-bought) pizza of about 25.5cm diameter, a microwave, and a convection toaster-oven, whose internal space' dimensions are 38cm x 30cm x 23cm WxDxH. The pizza is neither super-thick nor super-thin.

When I heat my pizza in the convection oven, I can't get the different parts of it to be done simultaneously: Either the surrounding crust has its brown color slightly deepening, so it's a bit toastier than originally but not totally dry - but then the middle is still barely warm and very much liquid-laden; or the surrounding crust has blackened, charred, and is inedible, while the middle is just about properly done.

You might be wondering what temperature I'm using. Well, it's 180 degrees celsius or so, but actually I have no idea what to set it to. I was wondering perhaps playing with this setting would help, but I don't even know whether to increase or decrease it.



Best Answer

The key here is that you said you’ve thawed the pizza. Frozen pizzas are designed to be baked from frozen. The instructions on the box should reflect this.




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Why is my pizza wet in the middle?

The steam from the base can't escape, so it condenses on your crispy surface and turns it wet and soggy. Use a pizza stone or a pan with holes to get a crispy pizza crust. A pizza stone will keep your pizza hot and its porousness will absorb some condensation.

How do I stop pizza from burning the edges?

The easiest way to prevent burnt pizza on the grill is to bake one side of the pizza first. Then pull it off the grill, turn it (so the baked side is facing up), and top the pizza. The hot crust will help the cheese melt and the toppings to start cooking. Then place it back on the grill with the lid on.

Why is my pizza not cooked in the middle?

If your dough is cold when you put it in the oven then its going to take longer cook, and so might come out undercooked compared to the rest of the pizza. By ensuring your dough is at room temperature before you put it in the oven, then this should eliminate this issue.

Why is my pizza base burning in pizza oven?

In most cases, a burnt pizza base is being caused by high heat coming from beneath the pizza. To prevent this, you can move the pizza higher up, lower the temperature of your oven, or add a buffer between the pizza and the heating element so it's not getting intense direct heat.



Pizza 101: Troubleshooting Common Crust Issues




More answers regarding when heating up a pizza, edges burn while middle still liquid

Answer 2

How big is the pizza in relation to the toaster-oven? If it takes up most of the interior area I could see this possibly happening. Have you considered cutting the pizza into smaller dimensions to see if you get a more even cook?

Answer 3

In general, when the edges are burning (or even just overcooking) while the inside is undercooked or raw, you can usually improve things by cooking at a lower temperature for longer.

A higher temperature means a higher temperature gradient, you see, because ovens/heating elements are always hotter than the food (to get things up to temp quicker), and it takes time for the food to come up to temperature from the outside in, so the higher temps will give more of a contrast, and lower temps have time for a more even heating.

You'd need to do some experimenting to get things right, ovens, dishes, and preferences all differ, but you can start moving the temp down (in F I'd suggest going by 50 degree increments, in C maybe by 20 degrees?) and start checking at the same time it used to be done, you'd only need to keep an eye on it a few times till you start to get an idea of how long it will take.

Another technique, a bit more limited but still effective, is to turn off the oven just a little early, and letting the pizza sit in the heated oven a little longer - effectively letting the food cook in the indirect leftover heat instead of using the directional heating from the oven elements. You can actually get quite a bit of cooking done this way, especially if you've a large oven, or a heat sink like a baking stone, but because the effects are finite it's best to use this for fairly minor tweaking. (I could for example, get a pizza to go from kinda watery to deep brown, smooth&dry [yes, a bit much], or cook three tortilla-base pizzas in the time between turning an oven off and when it cools - though as I said, that is my large and strong oven with a baking stone).

And third technique, if you're mostly happy with the outcome of the pizza base and it's just the toppings that are a bit watery or pale, is use a broiling or top oven element for a bit right at the end of cooking. The heating will be surface-stuff, especially in the middle (ie, won't make the insides hot), but it will work to give some nice browning or surface drying or toppings-cooking if that's your primary complaint.

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