TIPS & TECHNIQUES
Baking Pizza
in a Home Oven
The cast-iron skillet way
If you’ve got a cast-iron skillet, you’ve got pizza!
This method is a beginner-friendly way to bake pizza without a pizza oven. You don’t need any pizza-specific equipment like a peel or pizza stone and it gets the best results a home oven will give.
I’ve also demonstrated this method in a video with Gozney before!
What you’ll need
- Cast-iron skillet or oven-safe crepe pan
- Home oven
- Wooden spatula
- Oven mitt
- Pizza dough: Intro Dough, Sourdough or Gluten-Free
- You can adjust the weight of your dough to fit the size of your pan. 220g dough balls fit a 9″ skillet well.
- Your favourite toppings
- Fine semolina flour (semolina rimacinata)
The larger the flat surface of your pan is, the bigger your pizza can be. Crepe pans have a larger flat surface than skillets, but should only be used if they are oven-safe: no plastic handles or non-stick coating.
1. Preheat oven and pan
Once your dough has finished final proofing, set your oven to the second highest heat setting available, with a tray placed at the top rack. (We’ll crank this up to the highest setting later.)
Pizza cooks at 400°C / 750°F and above in pizza ovens, so we want your home oven as hot as possible!
Preheat your pan on the stovetop over low-medium heat.
Why cook pizza at high heat?
Speedy bakes above 400°C / 750°F create crusts with crispy outer shells, lots of moisture trapped in the crumb, and leopard spots!
Baking at lower temps takes longer, gradually drying out the crumb of the crust. Good news is, you’ll still get a lovely pizza with a crunchier finish and even caramelization on the crust.
2. Stretch your dough
Transfer a dough ball into a bowl of semolina. Gently flip it over so that the dough ball is completely coated in flour.
Gently press down on your dough ball, working from the center, to form a 2cm (1″) border for the crust.
Stretch the dough to fit the diameter of your pan.
How do I stretch the dough?
Check out the video in the intro for a couple of options on stretching your dough into a pizza base!
3. Add toppings
Pick up your pizza base, support it with your hands and lay it onto your preheated pan. Use a wooden spatula (or your fingers, but take care not to burn yourself) to adjust the position of the base if needed.
Start topping your pizza with your favourite ingredients!
4. Transfer pizza to oven
Use your wooden spatula to lift your pizza to take a peek at the bottom. Once your pizza is starting to brown underneath, switch off your stove and transfer the pan to the oven.
Set the oven to its highest heat setting and broiler mode (if available.)
Bake for 3 minutes, then rotate the pan 180° and bake for 3 more minutes. Continue to bake the pizza for a few more minutes if needed, until the crust is evenly golden brown.
Give it a minute to cool and enjoy your fresh, homemade pizza!
How long will the pizza take to bake?
The time it will take depends on how hot your oven gets. Mine took 7 minutes at 260°C / 500°F. Baking pizza is a very intuitive, visual process – once you see the crust is the colour you like, it’s done!
Use a timer to keep track of how long your first pizza takes, removing the guesswork out of your next bakes.
Leopard Crust Pizza 