Water on a home made pizza - why?

[Nigel H]

I make quite a lot of home made pizzas, but I can't work out why I get quite a lot of water on them and how to stop it.

As toppings I use fresh mushrooms, fresh onions, ham and fresh buffalo mozzarella.

I usually make 2 pizzas at once - one for me and my wife and one for my son. My son's doesn't have the same toppings on and doesn't have the water.

I suppose I could take off one ingredient at a time and see what effect it has, but that would spoil them! My hunch is that it's the buffalo mozzarella.

Any tips?

[madala]

....make sure your oven is hot enough.....

[Saied]

Dry the mozzarella as much as possible.

Pat each individual cheese slice between two sheets of kitchen paper before popping on the pizza. Won't take more than a minute longer to do.

[grumbledoak]

Mushrooms, ham (especially the cheap stuff), and mozarella will all have a lot of water in them. And, you need a really hot oven to properly cook a pizza. Maybe fry off the mushrooms and dry off the cheese?

[Piglet]

We don't use squidgy mozzarella on pizza's but use the harder stuff instead (sorry can't think of better descriptions!), the squidgy stuff has lots of water in it.

[Nigel H]

Thanks for the tips.

I'll try drying out the mozzarella with a towel. I don't really want to go back to the other type of mozzarella as I don't like the taste and texture.

Interesting comments on the oven - this could be the case, but as it's a domestic oven it will only go up to 250deg C. I warm the oven up for a good half hour before putting the pizza in, so I run it as hot as I can.

[Hughesie]

Have a read of Perfection by Heston Blumenthal, you need a really hot cast iron pan underneath to crisp the base up, so you're cooking the pizza from the top and the bottom, ovens just arent hot enough to get a really good crispy waterless pizza.

Oh, and its probably the water from the mushrooms if you are using them uncooked straoght onto the pizza.

[madala]

....defo oven not hot enough.....

[Nigel H]

I did see the HB episode where he made pizza and had contempleted popping something cast iron into the my oven to get more heat. I was a bit worried about burning my pizza (plus it was a bit of a faff) so I didn't bother.

I know that you get lots of water on mushrooms, so next time I think I'll dry of the mozzarella and fry the mushrooms. If that still doesn't work up I'll try getting the oven hotter.

[The Walrus]

It is the mushrooms fella simple as that cooked them off before hand then dry them if you really like mushrooms or use dried mushrooms.

And as has been said tray in oven for a good 5-10 mins to get some heat on it, so it cooks the base at the bottom as you are applying your toppings, try to rotate and turn your pizza as well if you use two levels as I find that helps even out the cooking

[Roop]

What are you using as a tomato base...? If it's chopped tomatoes, this could be the issue. Better to use a strained type (ie: a passata).

Cheese-wise, packs of buffalo are often filled with water as a preservative but not *that* much absorbs into the cheese so can't see this being the issue.

Ham - yes, possibly. Don't use st ham, simple as. Dry cured stuff is best.

Mushrooms, if you are washing them before use, don't. Just wipe the cack off with a damp cloth. Mushrooms absorb water like a båstard and it oozes out after.

Tip: put your ham, mushrooms and onions into a bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil and give them a good mix round to coat them before you put thm on your pizza. This stops the (now waterless) mushrooms from drying up.

PS: ham and onions under the cheese layer, muchrooms on top...

Roop (ex Pizza Hut "Chef" )

[Nigel H]

Roop,

It's a home made tomato sauce, which I cook for 60 mins before, so I'm fairly sure it's not that. I also use good ham (no added water) so I'm pretty sure it's not that either.

Thanks for the oil tip. Will use that next time. Any reason why the mushrooms go on top? Is it to let any water evaporate easily.....

[The Walrus]

Nigel H said:

Roop,

It's a home made tomato sauce, which I cook for 60 mins before, so I'm fairly sure it's not that. I also use good ham (no added water) so I'm pretty sure it's not that either.

Thanks for the oil tip. Will use that next time. Any reason why the mushrooms go on top? Is it to let any water evaporate easily.....

Also what are you putting the pizza's on and how thick are your bases ??

[Roop]

Nigel H said:

Roop,

It's a home made tomato sauce, which I cook for 60 mins before, so I'm fairly sure it's not that. I also use good ham (no added water) so I'm pretty sure it's not that either.

Thanks for the oil tip. Will use that next time. Any reason why the mushrooms go on top? Is it to let any water evaporate easily.....

I wonder then is it the base. I find that some of the pre-made raw bases that you can buy are always a bit soggy unless you cook them on a red hot iron griddle / thick pan in the oven.

IIRC, mushrooms on top was so that they cooked thoroughly / browned etc, but onions and ham below so ham didn't become crispy bacon and onions didn't just fry.

[Nigel H]

I make the base myself - don't think this is the problem as I make another one at the same time (with differen toppings) that's not wet.

[Triumph Coupe]

Piglet said:

We don't use squidgy mozzarella on pizza's but use the harder stuff instead (sorry can't think of better descriptions!), the squidgy stuff has lots of water in it.

+1 - I found the same and after switching mozzarella as above never had the problem again. This is definitely the cause of your problem.

[dcw@pr]

Jamie Oliver had a thick marble slab made up to go in his oven - looked quite nifty to me. I think he pre heated it with the oven+grill on full whack first. Proper pizza ovens are 400+ degrees so a home oven is never going to get the same results

[Roop]

dcw@pr said:

Jamie Oliver had a thick marble slab made up to go in his oven - looked quite nifty to me. I think he pre heated it with the oven+grill on full whack first. Proper pizza ovens are 400+ degrees so a home oven is never going to get the same results

Not 400°C they aren't...! °F maybe...

IIRC, the ovens at Pizza Hut ran at 240-250°C (but it's been 15 years since I was working there)...

[grumbledoak]

Roop said:

Not 400°C they aren't...! °F maybe...

IIRC, the ovens at Pizza Hut ran at 240-250°C (but it's been 15 years since I was working there)...

Pasta () Hut's thick pan pizzas will take a lower temperature, to cook through without cremating the toppings!

400°F = 204°C, well within domestic oven range. But real pizza ovens "go to 11"!
http://www.carltonsales.co.uk/viewproductdetail.as...

[dcw@pr]

Roop said:

dcw@pr said:

Jamie Oliver had a thick marble slab made up to go in his oven - looked quite nifty to me. I think he pre heated it with the oven+grill on full whack first. Proper pizza ovens are 400+ degrees so a home oven is never going to get the same results

Not 400°C they aren't...! °F maybe...

IIRC, the ovens at Pizza Hut ran at 240-250°C (but it's been 15 years since I was working there)...

http://www.traditionaloven.com/

"At first, the oven is around 800°F or 425°C perfect for making fast in 90 seconds thin and crispy pizzas, however very nice pizzas are being done also in 300°C - 572°F temp, but it's still too hot for bread."

IMO pizza hut = bread not pizza