I make a lot of pizza on a heavy stone on the BBQ. One time I didn't bake it long enough (20 rather than 25-30 minutes) and it was soggy. Otherwise the crusts have always been fine. They were also fine from the oven.

Some people suggest coating the crust with extra oil before adding stuff, but I never have. I have used well cooked home made sauce but often use some jared spaggetti sauce.

I wonder if 28oz of only 15min cook down is too much liquid although I would have guessed that it would just bake off. Otherwise I think baking for a few more minutes will do the trick.

Did you preheat the stone? Not doing that would give you a soggy crust....
How much of that very liquid sauce did you use? I would suggest it needed to be cooked for almost an hour without a lid to thicken or some tomato paste added.

Things contributing to a soggy crust.....too much liquid sauce, not a hot enough oven...not preheated long enough. To really get the stone hot you need to heat it for 40 minutes....some say an hour. Not enough flour in the crust, and cold ingredients on the crust.,...never gets a chance to get the crust hot enough to cook before the top burns.
Any of these ring a bell?
Linda C

1. Have you tried to pre-bake the dough first? If not, try that before you add the toppings.

2. There are many kind of stones. The best should be some what porus to let steam escape. If it is too much like ceramic which is a moisture barrier, you will be steaming the dough instead of baking it.

3. You need a stone that is fairly thick to retain heat, other wise stone is a relatively good insulator, and your dough will be soggy.

dcarch

Thanks!

I did preheat, but maybe not long enough. I think I did about 20 minutes. But the later pizzas weren't really any better than the earlier ones.

I did think the sauce was liquid-y, but I have had good luck in the past with ATK recipes so I went with it. Maybe next time I should drain the tomatoes or cook it longer? I used about 1 cup per pizza. It did have a nice flavor.

The cheese pizza came out the best, so maybe the toppings contributed to having extra liquid too, but I did pat the pineapple as dry as possible with papertowels. And the onions were pretty carmelized and I sauteed the peppers too.

I've been much happier pre-baking the crust as dcarch suggets. Just 5-7 minutes does wonders! You can actually do this then flip the whole thing over and add your toppings. That way both sides meet the hot stone.

I also like to oil the bottom of the crust lightly. Like toasted garlic bread!! Yum.

Practice makes perfect.......guess you'll have to make more pizza!
Darn, huh?

Deanna

Something else I've seen people say they do is cook the pizza without the cheese for a while then put the cheese on and cook until done. That way the crust is cooked well enough but the cheese is still soft and not browned. Probably precooking the crust a bit first would solve the problem though. One other suggestion I frequently see is supposedly a coating of olive oil on the crust/dough before the sauce helps keep the crust from being soggy.

When I make pizza, I go very lightly on the sauce, then put on the cheese before any other ingredients. It acts as a moisture barrier to any veggies you put on. If you put it on last over the veggies, it will trap the steam inside and make it soggy or that is what I read somewhere.
Clare

Did the dough feel wet? One thing to be careful of with ATK recipes is their measurement of flour. They call for four cups or 22 oz. Now if you go by King Arthur's label on their bread flour, a cup is 4.25 oz. So if you measured cups like KA does, you used about 23% less flour than the recipe really actually calls for. For that reason I always weigh when possible.

Awesome. I will try prebaking next time, and letting the stone preheat for longer. And maybe draining the tomatoes too. I like my pizza relatively saucy, so maybe I need something thicker. I did put a thin coat of olive oil on the crust before putting the sauce on.

FOAS - I did weigh the flour, actually. 4 cups in my cup measure came out to about 20 oz, so I used the full 22 oz. I didn't weigh the liquid ingredients, though, maybe I should have done that. My dough was more dry than I thought it should be, since the book said it should be sticky.

I also use a very thin layer of sauce so things don't get too wet. Put your cheese down first, then the sauce, so there's a barrier between the dough/sauce. That should help a lot. I also preheat my oven for at least 45 minutes. Even though the oven is hot, it takes the stone that long to get heated through.

A sauce made pretty much if whole canned tomatoes and seasonings, without an hour or so of reduction will be too "saucy" for me. I want the taste that comes with lots of tomato sauce but not the "juice". So I either boil a fresh sauce to reduce it so it will almost "stand a spoon" or I use Contadina tomato paste as the base, with onions, garlic, dry red wine, and herbs...oregano, basil and often parsley, simmer until it's thick enough to be swirled with a ladle on the crust and add my toppings.I cook my mushrooms and often onions as well, to get rid of excess moisture. I would think pineapple chunks even blotted, contain a lot of juice!
I like the flavor of a lot of sauce....but not the juice!
Linda c

Aptosca, I believe you may have hit on the critical steps.
"I go very lightly on the sauce, then put on the cheese before any other ingredients. It acts as a moisture barrier to any veggies you put on. If you put it on last over the veggies, it will trap the steam inside and make it soggy or that is what I read somewhere."

I make good pizza and I (without specific reason) follow your order and small amount of thick sauce. I do sprinkle a little parmesan at the last, but I doubt that it is enough to seal.

I think we can discount the need for extra oil as several of us don't use it and the problem example used oil. Likewise, prebaking is unnessary as we have success without it.

It appears that several of us (myself included) preheat our stones. I had assumed that everyone did that. Mine is particularly heavy and I suspect this may have something to do with my success.