THE MARGHERITA PIE featuring a firm and crispy crust at Precinct Pizza in Tampa, Florida. Photo by Josh Keown about two-percent oil in the dough formula. The protein content of the flour provides the foldable characteristics and the oil contributes to the softness of the finished crust, but the real key to making this type of crust is in the baking. It has been found that baking at high temperature for a short time is vital to achieving these characteristics. If using an air impingement, oven screens are the favored baking platform with baking temperatures in the 475 to 510 F range and baking time in the 4½- to 5-minute range. In some cases, it might be necessary to modify the top finger configuration by either fully or partially closing off one of the finger positions to prevent scorching of the toppings at these higher temperatures. When using a deck oven, the pizzas are best when baked directly on the deck with an oven temperature of 600 F or more. Baking time should be no more than is necessary to bake the top of the pizza, which will typically be anything between three and five minutes. Here is a tip for making this crust if you want to use a coupe style or tapered edge cutting pan: do not season the pan on the outside, only season it on the inside to prevent the baked crust from sticking. The bright finish on the outside of the pan will effectively reflect heat away from the bottom of the pizza during baking, allowing for a fully baked but not very crispy (softer) bottom crust characteristic. Firm and Crispy crust is arguably the most commonly soughtafter pizza crust characteristic. It is possibly the most challenging type of crust to make, as well. Be honest -- who hasn't struggled to achieve these characteristics in their crust? Firm andhttp://www.proluxe.com http://www.proluxe.com