5-Minute Pizza
Ideally we would all have a wood fired pizza oven in the backyard - and the leisure time to attend to it! The key to getting a crispy-chewy crust in the oven is replicating the heat retention of that kind of cook surface.
For heat retention a big, heavy cast iron Pizza Griddle finds the sweet spot between a cookie sheet and a 2,000 lb stone slab. If you’re used to using a ceramic pizza stone, ours will cook the bottom of your pizza a lot faster. Here’s our technique:
1. Place the Pizza Griddle in the center of your cold oven then preheat to 500°F. Let it coast at 500° for at least 15 minutes to allow the griddle to heat through. You can also leave the Pizza Griddle in the oven all the time to help even out finicky oven temps.
2. Arrange your uncooked dough on a floured surface, adding cheese, sauce and toppings. If not using a pizza peel, do this on a piece of parchment paper layered over a thin cutting board. Tip: leave about 1/2" of dough hanging off the end of the pizza peel; this wet dough will grab onto the griddle and facilitate sliding the peel out from under the pizza.
3. Slide the prepped dough onto the hot griddle. If using parchment paper, hold your cutting board even with the Pizza Griddle and slide the paper onto it. Watch your fingers!
4. Switch your oven setting to High Broil and set a timer for 5 minutes.
The cooking time may vary a bit depending on the individual quirks of your oven, the length of your preheat time and the thickness of your dough. 4-5 minutes should work for most ovens for a thin crust pizza! You will want the bottom to be crisp and blistered with spots of char. The bottom cooks via conduction and radiant heat from the griddle; the top cooks via the broiler
If the bottom of your pizza isn't getting crispy enough, preheat the griddle for a bit longer - and also switch oven settings in between pizzas (i.e., don't leave it on broil while you prep the next pie!)
That's it! For more tips and cleanup instructions, please check our Pizza Griddle FAQ here.
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Related: Pizza Griddle FAQ, Sourdough Crust Recipe