feedback pizza crust dilemma

[Cathy]

I just wanted to let those of you who posted to this question a week or so ago that I tried my recipe again only this time I preheated my stone for 1hr at 450º before I put the unbaked pizza on it. The preheating made all the difference. The crust was wonderful and tender. Thank you again for the help. This board is such a delight to post to and read.

[Ralph]

Unfortunately, I didn't pay too much attention to that thread - I'm too stubborn to make my own!
Oddly enough, though, Emeril had a pizza as one of his recipes on a show last week. He recommended using a stone, and indeed advised heating the pizza stone in the oven at cooking temperature for at least half an hour. He said this serves two purposes: It provides a non-stick surface at that heat & the heated stone sort of chars the underside of the crust.
We don't have a pizza stone, but we have a thing called Pizza Pronto that we got at Sharper Image several years ago (we've seen it elsewhere, since). It's basically a self-contained stone heated electrically with a built-in heating element.

[Ohioan]

Ralph, I just noticed the Pizza Pronto (or something like it) in the Chef's Catalog that I received yesterday, and I was wondering how it worked; it seemed to have the entire top of the pizza exposed to open air instead of surrounded by heat. Have you used yours often? Can you tell us a little about it, including what kind of crust and topping it produces? Do you have to do something special with the crust and/or toppings? Oh, and can you use the appliance for anything else besides pizza? Thanks a lot.

Phoebe

[This message has been edited by Ohioan (edited 08-31-2000).]

[RunnerKim]

Hey Cathy,

Now you can see why some of us are addicted to pizza! My Dad concinvced my to throw my stone and peel in the car for our visit to them over Labor Day weekend.

Glad its worked out for you.

Kim

[Ralph]

Phoebe,
The one we have is a hinged "oven," similar to a clam in shape, on legs. It's electric with the heating element in the top portion. The bottom is the "stone." To cook, you put the pizza on the stone, close the top, & cook! The stone cooks the crust from beneath, & the heating element cooks the toppings. It usually takes about 5-10 minutes for the pizza to be done. I don't think it's a whole lot different than using a pizza stone in the oven, just more gimmicky! Bonus: This time of year, you don't heat up the whole kitchen with your oven!
I've used it with frozen bread dough (of course divided to size, & rolled into shape), Boboli, and a basic crust recipe found in the instruction book for our Cuisinart food processor. All turn out well, though in the future, I'll probably heat the stone longer. Nothing special is necessary with the crust or toppings; just roll out the dough, spread on your toppings, slide it on the stone, & there's your pizza! I know the instruction book has suggestions & recipes for other uses, like sandwiches, bread, etc., but we've only used it for pizza.
I haven't seen a Chef's Catalog in a while, so I don't know exactly what you're looking at (& their web site doesn't list anything like it). As I said, though, we've seen it elsewhere than Sharper Image (I think Bed Bath & Beyond), but Pizza Pronto is definitely the trademarked name.

Originally posted by Ohioan:
Ralph, I just noticed the Pizza Pronto (or something like it) in the Chef's Catalog that I received yesterday, and I was wondering how it worked; it seemed to have the entire top of the pizza exposed to open air instead of surrounded by heat. Have you used yours often? Can you tell us a little about it, including what kind of crust and topping it produces? Do you have to do something special with the crust and/or toppings? Oh, and can you use the appliance for anything else besides pizza? Thanks a lot.

Phoebe

[This message has been edited by Ohioan (edited 08-31-2000).]

[Ohioan]

Ralph, you're right; I just checked my latest Chef's Catalog, and the pizza baker I had in mind isn't there. But I'm sure I saw it in some catalog within the last few days! Where, where, where? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/confused.gif I've just checked the Sur La Table website (one of the catalogs I remember getting and discarding this week), but it isn't there, either. And I can't find it in any of the catalogs I've kept from the past week, including Professional Cutlery Direct.

Did I dream it? Should I issue an Alzheimer's alert? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif Or should I just ask you and everyone to point me to a website where I can find one of these phantom appliances?

Thanks again, and pardon my dithering. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif
Phoebe

[Ralph]

Phoebe, I know you've read this so I'm just posting it for anyone else interested.

I searched, too, and couldn't find the exact Pizza Pronto. Ours IS several years old & it may just have been gimmicky enough that it wasn't made for very long! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif
As I said, ours came from Sharper Image (nothing on their web site), & I think I'd seen it a while back at Bed Bath & Beyond (nothing on their site either). According to the instruction book, it was "distributed" by Bond/Helman, 1701 Pacific Avenue, Suite 160, Oxnard, CA, 93033. I found their web site (www.helmangroup.com), but, sadly, no listing there either. They do have e-mail links if you want to try.
HOWEVER, on a positive note, a search for it at www.netmarket.com (http://www.netmarket.com) found a DENI 2100 "Pizza Bella" (quotes are their's) Pizza oven that looks strikingly similar! If you can't find something like it locally (maybe Target, KMart, Lechters, etc.), this pizza Bella may do.
Good luck....

[Ohioan]

Ralph, once again many thanks for going to so much trouble. I'm going to check all these leads, and I'm also going to keep trying to remember which catalog I saw that other version in -- just to reassure myself that I haven't gone delusional. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

Cheers and thanks again, Phoebe