How to choose a pizza pan

When talking about Roman-style Pizza in Teglia, special attention must be paid to her, to the baking tray. If you want to obtain a final product that is crispy in the right places and expertly cooked, the choice of support is fundamental.

Pan Pizza is the one that requires a very hydrated dough (it can reach up to 80%) and its cooking is planned in electric ovens: the processing technique of this type of pizza has different facets to take into consideration, but here we will talk about those that strictly concern the use of the pan.

PAN AND SIZES: WHY SIZE MATTERS

Professional baking trays commonly have a thickness of 8-10 mm, while what changes is the surface area measurement, so that we can find different sizes on the market.

Knowing the dimensions of the pan is useful for calculating the amount of dough needed to cover the surface without excess or defects. To know the correct weight of the dough to use, you can do a simple mathematical operation: multiply the length by the width of the pan, then divide by two. This way we obtain the weight of the ball that we will then roll out.

CHOOSING THE MATERIAL OF THE PAN

The most used material for professional baking trays is blue iron, unlike most baking pans used at home which are often made of Teflon or aluminum.

Why is iron the most suitable material for baking pan pizza? To answer this question, we need to do a little physics review and revisit the concept of heat conduction, or the process by which heat diffuses through a solid, liquid or gaseous medium.

Each material has a different degree of thermal conductivity: iron is able to withstand heat well but he gives it up slowly because it has a fair degree of conductivity, proportionally much less than half that of aluminium and almost double that of steel, for example.

When cooking Roman-style Pizza in a Pan, it is preferable to use an iron pan because we are interested in having a controlled cooking and not very fast as can happen with aluminum. The pizza dough must have time to relax on the pan to obtain a perfectly smooth base and even cooking.

But iron has a great enemy:humidity, which causes it to rust. For this reason, it is necessary to follow some small precautions to protect the pan and avoid the formation of rust. The technique that every pizza chef must know is the pan burn, which will serve to make it truly non-stick and make it last over time.

Before using the pan for the first time, it is necessary to wash it to eliminate the patina of grease that the blacksmith has distributed on it to preserve it for a long time. After having washed it and dried it perfectly in the oven at high temperatures, it is necessary to pass a layer of EVO oil over it with the help of a paper towel, trying not to leave drops on the surface.

At that point, you have to “burn” the pan, that is, put it back in the hot oven until you see the oil crystallize into a well-distributed film. Now our pan is ready to be used!

It is important to always remember not to leave food residues on its surface for a long time, wash it and let it dry perfectly on a rack. If rust does form, it will be necessary to remove it with an abrasive sponge and repeat the burning procedure.

Would you have ever said that physics and mathematics were so useful even in the art of pizza making?