How to Make Pizza In a Convection Oven

You can make pizza in your convection oven.

Most ovens, called conventional radiant ovens, cook food by surrounding them with hot air. In comparison, a convection oven blows hot air directly onto food, which helps the food cook more quickly. One of the more common problems found with pizza cooked in a convection oven is that it doesn't have the crisp crust that a conventional oven would make. However, with just a perforated pizza pan or pizza screen, your convection oven can give you as crisp a crust as a conventional oven. These pans will better allow the convection oven's hot air to cook the pizza from below. This recipe makes two 12-inch round pizzas.

Things You'll Need

• 2 large bowls
• Whisk and wooden spoon
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. table salt
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• Perforated pizza pan or pizza screen

Instructions

1. Whisk together the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large bowl.

2. Add the olive oil and lukewarm water. Stir first with a wooden spoon, then knead by hand until the dough is firm, smooth and elastic. It should not be sticky.

3. Coat the inside of the bowl with a thin layer of olive oil.

4. Put the dough in the bowl, turning the dough to coat it evenly with oil so it won't stick to the bowl's sides while rising.

5. Cover the bowl with oiled plastic wrap so the dough won't stick to it if it rises into it.

6. Let the dough rise until it is doubled in size, about 3 hours. You can also put the dough in the fridge for up to 5 days for a slow rise, which would develop a more flavorful dough.

7. Divide the dough into two pieces and form each into a ball. Let them rise on a floured surface until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.

8. Preheat your convection oven to 500 degrees F. You can preheat a pizza stone in your oven, too, if you have one. Just make sure you give it ample time to preheat because high heat is important for a crisp crust. If you use a pizza stone, you can bake your pizza directly on it instead of in a pizza pan.

9. Roll and then press each ball of dough into 1/4-inch-thick rounds on a floured surface, and transfer them to your perforated pizza pans.

10. Top the dough with your desired toppings, which can be as simple as just a drizzle of olive oil and some sliced tomatoes.

11. Put the pizzas in the oven. If using a pizza stone, use a pizza peel. If you don't have a pizza peel, lightly dust the back of a cookie sheet with flour or cornmeal, place your pizza on it, and slide your pizza onto the pizza stone.

12. Bake the pizzas until their crust is golden brown. If you used mozzarella cheese, it should be melted, lightly browned in spots and bubbly.

13. Remove the pizzas carefully, allow them to rest for a few minutes so the cheese, if any, can set, and then serve.

Tips & Warnings

• This is a thin-crust pizza recipe; for thicker, chewier crust, use half bread flour and half all-purpose flour. Chill the dough if you have problems rolling it out.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish