Combi oven pizza: how to get a crisp base

Staff canteen, 11:40. Pizza is on today’s menu, and the only oven in the kitchen is the combi oven. The first round looks good: cheese melted, rim browned. But at the counter, every slice droops, and the base is as soft as a pancake. That is rarely the pizza’s fault. Usually it comes down to the settings and what the pizza sits on.

The short answer: Combi oven pizza turns out crisp when the oven works like a fan oven: convection (hot air) mode without steam, dehumidification on, a dry cooking chamber. The base also needs heat from below, so bake it directly on the rack or on a preheated stone. Par-baked crusts, bases with sauce and ready-topped frozen pizza belong in the combi oven. Raw dough belongs in a pizza or stone oven.

Below you will find the settings step by step, the right surface, starting values for crusts, bases and frozen pizza and the five mistakes that make the base soft.

Can you bake good pizza in a combi oven?

Yes, with par-baked crusts, bases and ready-topped frozen pizza. According to Rational, a combi oven can generate “dry heat like a convection oven” or steam like a steamer, alternately or at the same time (Rational: What is a combi oven?). For pizza, only the dry heat matters. How hot it gets depends on the model. For the iCombi Pro, Rational gives 30 to 300 °C in hot air mode.

A classic pizza oven is much hotter. The EU specification for protected Neapolitan pizza (“Pizza Napoletana TSG”) gives about 485 °C on the cooking floor, about 430 °C at the oven dome and a baking time of 60 to 90 seconds (Regulation (EU) No 97/2010).

What does that mean for you? Raw dough needs a great deal of heat from below in a short time. A combi oven does not have that: it heats with air and has no hot floor. A par-baked crust has already had that heat. In the combi oven it only needs finishing and the topping heated through. A combi oven does that very well.

Which setting do I need for combi oven pizza?

The basic setting is the same for crusts, bases and frozen pizza. Here is how to go about it:

1. Dry the cooking chamber. If the oven was running with steam before, say for vegetables, there is still moisture in the chamber. Switch to hot air, let the moisture clear and wait until the chamber is back at the target temperature.
2. Choose hot air, no steam. In combi or steam mode, the base absorbs moisture and turns chewy.
3. Switch on dehumidification if your oven has it. Rational describes its active dehumidification as taking the humidity out of the cooking cabinet so that baked goods get a crispy crust (Rational: Baking). Convotherm calls its function Crisp&Tasty: in the last phase of grilling, it removes moisture from the oven cavity (Convotherm maxx pro). Your oven’s manual explains how it dehumidifies.
4. Preheat the stone too. If you bake on a pizza stone, it goes into the chamber while the oven preheats. A stone takes longer than the air to reach full temperature. An infrared thermometer on its surface shows when it is ready.
5. Open the door only briefly. Every time the door is open, heat escapes. Slide the pizza in quickly and close the door.
6. Check before serving. The base is coloured underneath and does not sag when you lift it. For par-baked frozen products, the core temperature in the baking guide also applies.

What to bake on: rack or stone?

A combi oven heats with moving air. That is why the surface decides whether heat also reaches the base from below.

The baking guide for the par-baked pizzas in the table below names the rack or a preheated stone, not a tray.

What does that mean for you? To start with, the rack that almost every kitchen already has is enough. A stone is worth it if you want more colour underneath. It has to fit the shelves of your oven: Gastronorm (GN), the standard size for containers and racks in professional kitchens, or baker’s standard (60 × 40 cm).

Which type of pizza suits your combi oven?

Pizza reaches the kitchen in four stages: as a raw dough ball, as a par-baked crust, as a crust with sauce (base) or ready-topped. The three par-baked stages suit the combi oven.

*Values for a combi oven using hot air without steam. They apply to the par-baked pizzas from Taste Base. These crusts are 70 to 80 % par-baked. For other products, follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Crusts, bases and frozen pizza: how to get it right

• Thaw. Depending on the product, about 10 minutes at room temperature, side by side. Straight from the freezer works too, but thawed, the result is even better.
• Top in moderation. Par-baked pizza crusts and pizza bases with sauce work best with fairly dry ingredients. Drain fresh mozzarella well and pre-cook watery vegetables. Anything that has to cook through, such as raw mince, chicken or fish, goes on the pizza pre-cooked. A few minutes in the oven are not enough for that.
• Bake. Hot air without steam, 250 °C and 4 to 7 minutes as a guideline, directly on the rack or the preheated stone, not on a tray.
• Know when it is done. The cheese has melted and the base is coloured underneath. Measure the core temperature the first time: the baking guide requires at least 75 °C.

How many pizzas can a combi oven bake per hour?

That depends on the size of the pizza and how many shelves you use. A GN 1/1 rack measures 53 × 32.5 cm. It holds two 25 cm pizzas side by side with little room to spare, but only one 30 cm pizza. Put two pizzas on the rack as a trial before you plan around it. Calculate: pizzas per round × 60 ÷ minutes per round.

Measure the baking time with a full load. Several cold pizzas at once can make it a little longer.

Keep an eye on the heat distribution too. Depending on the oven, not every shelf bakes the same: on simpler models, the upper shelves can be hotter than the lower ones. If the pizzas brown unevenly, take the upper ones out as soon as the base has coloured, or quickly swap the racks halfway through the baking time.

How to get it right: five mistakes that make the base soft

1. Damp cooking chamber. The oven was running with steam before. Switch to hot air and dehumidify before the first pizza.
2. Wrong mode. In combi mode, the base gets moisture instead of a crust. Hot air only, dehumidification on.
3. Stone too cold. The display shows the air temperature, the stone is still cooler. Preheat for longer and measure the surface.
4. Tray instead of rack. A solid tray shields the base. The pizza goes directly on the rack or on the preheated stone.
5. Too much or too wet a topping. Water from mozzarella and vegetables softens the base from above. Top sparingly and drain well.

Your next step: test once, then save it

Before your next service, bake one pizza following this guide and write down the mode, temperature, time, surface and shelf. If your oven can store its own programs, save the setting as a “Pizza” program. Otherwise, put it on a card next to the oven. That way the late shift bakes the same pizza. How Flammkuchen works in a combi oven is covered in Baking frozen Flammkuchen.

The pizza from Taste Base comes in four stages, in 25 and 30 cm Ø: dough ball, par-baked crust, base with sauce and ready-topped in seven varieties. The dough balls are meant for pizza and stone ovens, and the three par-baked stages are the ones that suit the combi oven. All stages are on the pizza page. To test them, add samples to the tasting box: the samples are free, you only pay for shipping.

Frequently asked questions

Can you bake frozen pizza in a combi oven?

Yes, if the combi oven works like a fan oven: hot air without steam, dehumidification on, a dry cooking chamber. The pizza goes directly on the rack or on a preheated stone. As a starting value, use 250 °C and 4 to 7 minutes, or the manufacturer’s figure for other brands. The base will tell you whether the time is right.

What temperature does pizza need in a combi oven?

In a combi oven, bake par-baked crusts, bases and frozen pizza with hot air and no steam at 250 °C for 4 to 7 minutes. These values apply to the par-baked pizzas from Taste Base. For other products, use the manufacturer’s instructions as a starting value and measure the core temperature on the first pizza.

Can you bake raw pizza dough in a combi oven?

No, not to the standard a good pizza needs. Raw dough needs a great deal of heat from below in a short time, but a combi oven heats with air and has no hot floor. The Rational iCombi Pro, for example, reaches up to 300 °C, while a pizza oven runs much hotter. So use the combi oven for par-baked crusts, bases or ready-topped pizza, and bake raw dough balls in a pizza or stone oven.

Why doesn’t my pizza go crisp in the combi oven?

Usually moisture is to blame: the oven was running with steam before, it is set to combi mode or dehumidification is off. Or there is not enough heat from below because the pizza sits on a tray instead of the rack or the stone has not heated through. A topping that is too wet also softens the base.

Can I bake several pizzas at once in a combi oven?

Yes, on several shelves. A GN 1/1 rack holds two 25 cm pizzas side by side with little room to spare, but only one 30 cm pizza. Measure the baking time with a full load, as it can take a little longer. Depending on the oven, the heat may be uneven, and on simpler models the upper shelves can be hotter: take the upper ones out as soon as the base has coloured, or quickly swap the racks halfway through the baking time.

Tags: Pizza, Combi oven, Frozen food, Preparation, Pizza crusts