Turning in the oven – three turns in ninety seconds
In a hot oven the pizza is decided in seconds. How to turn it towards the fire, how to read the rim and how to stop the same side burning black.
Quick answer: In a hot oven (wood-fired, gas, Ooni) the whole bake is over in a few tens of seconds – turn it two to three times towards the heat source with a turning peel, and read the rim rather than the clock to know when it is done.
Why turning is needed in a hot oven
In an oven at 450–485 °C (840–905 °F) the heat is often concentrated on one side (towards the flame or the fire) while the rest of the oven is cooler. Without turning, the side facing the heat source burns long before the rest of the pizza is done.
How to turn
Use a small, narrow turning peel and make quick, confident movements – slow, hesitant fumbling increases the risk of tearing the half-baked, fragile rim. Turn roughly every 20 to 30 seconds in a really hot oven, and watch the colour of the rim as your main signal rather than a fixed time.
See the full relationship between temperature and time in baking temperature, and what those dark spots on the rim actually are in leoparding. In an Ooni, turning is especially critical because the flame sits on one side only. If one side still burns, see burnt bottom and pale top.
