"Biscotto di Casapulla": exceptional baking

Perfect baking in the oven, not just for pizza

In the cooking of pizza, but in reality of any dish, the type of oven and the heat generated by it (wood, gas or electric oven) are very important, but the "support" on which cooking takes place is equally important. We are not talking about simple baking trays, but we are in the refractory sector, from which the cooking of the true true pizza cannot be ignored. Pizza? Not only! but also bread, cakes or biscuits.

Among the refractory stones, the best of all is the Casapulla biscuit (which takes its name from the city of the same name in the province of Caserta).

What exactly is the Casapulla biscuit?

We anticipate that it will be very useful to know what Casapulla Biscuit is if you own and use an oven capable of reaching high temperatures, like a professional pizza oven .. but let's go in order.

The biscuit is a smooth and porous cooking surface on which to place the pizza base. It is made of top quality clay with the addition of volcanic sand which is normally used for cooking pizza in semi-professional ovens. Thanks to its special characteristics it is ideal for cooking pizza alternatively to the classic refractory stone because, while this tends to burn the bottom of the dough, the Casapulla biscuit does not produce the blackening effect on the bottom and on the edges because it has a structure with porous cells that regulates the conductivity of heat.

How does the baking of the pizza on the clay biscuit take place?

The pizza is rolled out and stuffed directly on the clay surface and then transferred to a preheated oven. The pizza, to be "made to perfection", must be cooked quickly, that is, in 3 minutes more or less, at very high temperatures, even 400 degrees! When the pizza is cooked it must be removed from the stone, using the pizza shovel. It is important not to touch the biscuit until it is cold, so as not to risk getting burned.

There are casapulla biscuits of various sizes, even small ones, perfect for semi-professional electric pizza ovens designed for those who want to test themselves in the kitchen at home. Another fundamental detail to know about the use of clay biscuits is that they should never be washed (neither with water, nor with detergents) because its special porous structure would make it absorb harmful distances which would then be released during cooking. Stones of this type should not even be left to soak: absorbing water, they risk breaking the next time they are cooked. If you want to clean the top, the only recommended way to avoid damaging it is by lightly scratching with a soft spatula / brush.

The importance of refractory stones in oven cooking

You may ask yourself, why is the refractory stone for cooking pizza so sought after? The refractory stone allows a uniform and fast cooking of the pizza, because it gradually heats up as the oven temperature rises and releases heat slowly. The refractory is generally produced by pressing (using machinery) of materials such as slate, clay or cordierite, eliminating the porosity.

On the contrary, the homemade biscuit is created by hand, working the clay by hand, without compressing it, in order to preserve its porous structure before the double firing. This characteristic means that the biscuit has a thermal insulating function, an ideal factor in cooking at high temperatures in semi-professional pizza ovens. If, on the other hand, you want to bake the pizza in your home oven, which reaches a maximum of 250 degrees, then the refractory stone can be used successfully, because it conducts more heat.

In conclusion, the purchase of a Casapulla biscuit can improve the cooking quality of your dough in pizza ovens. The result will be a state of the art pizza, cooked in a very short time, without burnt edges, to be the envy of the best pizzerias!