How do you know when a pizza is done?

Lift an edge. The underside should be spotted brown, not pale and not black. The cheese should be melted and bubbling, with a few toasted spots. The rim should feel set, not like raw dough. If the top is dark and the bottom is blonde, the floor was not hot enough.

How long do you bake a pizza?

A Neapolitan in a pizza oven: 60–90 seconds. A New York pie on a steel at 550°F (290°C): about 6–8 minutes. Deep dish at 425°F (220°C): 35–45 minutes. A calzone: 12–15 minutes at 475°F (245°C). Time is the clue. The bottom is the test.

A pepperoni pizza with a spotted, browned crust

Look at the bottom

How to tell a pizza is done

How to tell when pizza is done: spotted underside, bubbling cheese, a rim that is cooked through. Different signs for a home oven, a pizza oven, deep dish, and a calzone.

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Measurements

The top lies. Cheese browns under a broiler while the center is still wet. The photo is a pepperoni pie with a finished rim. The check is the underside: spots, not a pale board, not charcoal.

What to buy

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Baking Steel Original
Baking Steel
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Infrared Thermometer for Pizza
Thermometer
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Lodge Pizza Stone
Baking Steel
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Wooden Pizza Peel
Peel
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Home oven, Folded NY Pepperoni or Classic Cheese Pizza: steel preheated 45–60 minutes, 290°C (550°F), usually 6–8 minutes. Pizza oven, Sunday Margherita: leopard spots on the rim, still a soft center, a minute or a little more. If you wait for a crisp cracker you have left it in too long.

Chicago Deep Dish is done when the tomato is bubbling and a knife into the middle does not come out with raw dough. A Calzone is the same test. An Infrared Thermometer for Pizza tells you the stone was ready. It does not tell you the pie is finished. Lift with the Wooden Pizza Peel and look.

Common questions

How do you know when a pizza is done?: Lift an edge. The underside should be spotted brown, not pale and not black. The cheese should be melted and bubbling, with a few toasted spots. The rim should feel set, not like raw dough. If the top is dark and the bottom is blonde, the floor was not hot enough.
How long do you bake a pizza?: A Neapolitan in a pizza oven: 60–90 seconds. A New York pie on a steel at 290°C (550°F): about 6–8 minutes. Deep dish at 220°C (425°F): 35–45 minutes. A calzone: 12–15 minutes at 245°C (475°F). Time is the clue. The bottom is the test.