pizza maker | organised castle

We recently purchased a new pizza maker as our old one had finally ceased to work properly. I am not sure how old it was but we had definitely had it for more than 8 years. When we first bought the original pizza maker it took about 3-4 minutes to cook a pizza with toppings. Over time this gradually increased until it was taking 7-8 minutes and then finally was not cooking them properly at all. In fact, the dough tasted uncooked which was definitely not our preference.

So, we decided to replace the appliance as it gets well-used and is an efficient use of electricity rather than heating an entire oven. After a bit of research we chose one that is the same size as the original but with some slightly upgraded features.

Better positioned handles that minimise the risk of burns. Also, a glass window in the lid so that you can observe the cooking progress.

A removable pizza stone insert which makes cleaning a bit easier. However, it does not get washed – merely scraped or brushed to remove any debris.

A couple of stainless steel paddles which make it a breeze to lift the pizza in and out of the oven.

We have used the new pizza maker twice so far and I am very pleased to once again have a perfectly cooked pizza in 3-4 minutes.

I know that single-purpose appliances generally get a bad rap as they are expensive to buy, a nuisance to store and only suitable for a very specific purpose. However, we really enjoy making our own pizzas, I have plenty of space to store the item, it is an efficient use of electricity and for me, this is definitely a worthwhile purchase.

For the past couple of years I have been making gluten-free pizza bases and tonight I want to share the recipe with you.

I have previously posted about making pizzas here but did not published the recipe as it included a specific blend of flour which was only available in the recipe book. However, the ‘recipe’ for the flour blend is now available on the internet and you can look it up here.

The recipe below is the quantities I use. It is actually double the original recipe and I find it makes 6 bases.

Pizza Bases

Ingredients

600g MGF flour blend
16g psyllium
2 teaspoons raw sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons dried yeast
40ml olive oil
520ml warm water

Method

Turn the oven on to 100 degrees C and set a timer for 5 minutes. Turn the oven off after 5 minutes.
Place all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add warm water and oil. Mix well. (I use the Kitchen Aid mixer on a low speed).
The mixture will seem quite runny at first but will soon firm up as the psyllium absorbs the moisture.
Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and place in the warm oven to rise for 45 minutes.
Remove from the oven and divide into 6 equal pieces.

The original recipe suggests rolling the dough out on a greased tray, allow to rise for 20 minutes then add toppings and bake for 15 minutes at 220 degrees C.

My version is a little different. I roll the dough out on baking paper, bake on a tray for 8 minutes at 180 degrees C. When cooled I freeze the pre-cooked bases ready for future use.

This is the pizza maker that I use which has a pizza stone set into it.

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