I agree with Bob. Unless you've got an 800 F oven, partially baking the
pizza untopped (except for olive oil and spices) seems the best way to get
a crispy, unquestionably done crust. Like Bob's experience, my dough does
puff up. This has got to be classic oven-spring. What I do is to check
the dough after a few minutes and use my metal peel to press down on the
puffy portions. It feels a bit silly doing it, but it works.
I haven't done it but I suppose one could also (carefully) lay a hot heavy
baking sheet on top of the pizza for the first few minutes -- sort of like
the pizza equivalent of pie weights. But that would ruin the puffy edge we
all know and love.
Mark
Bob dempsey <rdempsey@dialaccess.com> wrote
>long ago, we learned it was better to bake the dough for a few minutes,
>take out and then top. But usually, when we do this, the dough puffs up
>quite a bit.