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Hawaiian pizza

Is there a scientific method for baking Hawaiian pizza?

So many people love pizza, but Hawaiian pizza, maybe not so much, which makes this type of pizza the most controversial pizza that exists, but there is more to this type of pizza than the toppings. There is a science to baking a delicious Hawaiian pizza. Here we examine the baking times for pizza cooked in a brick oven in a pizzeria compared to pizza baked in a modern metallic oven, the scientific methods for baking a Hawaiian pizza, and its physical principles while using the thermodynamic principles of cooking processes, and the science of making the cheese and dough that will be used on pizza. We learn that rather than being stabilized heat is transferred and then transformed from one source to another. This is one of the major key factors in the outcome of a successful Hawaiian pizza.

Brick oven by Basheer Tomehttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wood_fire_brick_oven_for_baking_pizza.jpg

A brick oven vs an electric oven

In the article titled, “The physics of baking good pizza”, authors Varlamov, Glatz, and Grasso (2018) examine the baking times for pizza using two scenarios, a brick oven in a pizzeria and a modern metallic oven or electric oven at home. Their purpose is to determine why pizza can be better produced in a pizzeria than at home. Their curiosity sparked them to investigate by beginning with a local Italian pizzeria. After receiving advice from a pizzaiolo, they realize that pizza must be baked in a wood-fired oven with a brick bottom, at an optimal temperature and time and that the oven needs to have the right capacity to accommodate two pizzas at a time. If the demands for more pizza were higher, the oven temperature would need to be increased from 60 to 65 degrees, with 30 seconds less than the time of normal baking time, but this would only allow for baking one pizza at a time, causing the pizza quality to be compromised and inconsistent.

Authors Varlamov, Glatz, and Grasso (2018) also discuss the advantages of a brick oven compared to an electric oven. They demonstrate how heat is transferred and practice calculating different temperatures of heat between the necessary interfaces while trying to figure out which would yield the best temperatures to produce the best result. As a result, they discover that the temperature of the pizza, the brick wood-fired oven, and its heated baking surface must be within the necessary parameters for a pizza to be perfectly baked. Varlamov, Glatz, and Grasso (2018) use the same calculations, but apply them to an electric oven with a surface made of steel, only to find out that the temperature was too high, resulting in the pizza turning into coal. The authors also experiment with calculations of thermal radiation for both the wood-fired brick oven and the electric oven. The structure of a wood-fired brick oven plays a major role in keeping the temperature constant by radiating heat evenly throughout the oven. Each specific topping and dough contain a certain amount of water. To calculate an accurate baking time, we must know the amount of water in each topping and dough that must be evaporated. Using the right calculations, the baking time for the pizza in a wood-fired oven resulted in a successful product, but with the electric oven, the product was unsuccessful in the end because the pizza was undone.

Heat and Mass Transfer properties of pizza

As we examine further, we check out the movement of temperature and mass from one location to another during the pizza baking process. In the article titled, “Heat And Mass Transfer Properties Of Pizza”, Authors Dumas and Mittal’s (2002) objectives were to model the coupled heat and mass transfer phenomena within a pizza during different baking processes and determine the heat and moisture transfer properties. The pizza was baked using two types of heating methods forced and natural convection. According to the authors, “Forced convection baking is typically performed on foods in ovens with induced air circulation, with heat being transferred to the product by the surrounding air” (Dumas and Mittal 2002).  When the pizza is heated, vaporization takes place, causing air to move from the inside to the outside upper surface of the pizza. There were no changes to the size of the pizza and its physical properties. All the ingredients that make up the dough and the pizza toppings were measured and the moisture levels for the crust and all included toppings were measured, different temperature setpoints were used during the baking process to determine which heat and mass transfer properties were better and which baking method would be preferred.

Thermodynamic principles of the baking process of pizza

Now we will explore the thermodynamic principles of the baking process of pizza. According to the Britannica encyclopedia, “thermodynamics is the science of the relationship between heat, work, temperature, and energy and deals with the transfer of energy from one place to another and from one form to another, and heat is also acknowledged as a form of energy (Britannica, 2019). If there is a difference in temperature between two objects, the hotter or warmer temperature will move to the cooler object, known as heat transfer (Britannica, 2019). A good example of this is placing a pizza inside a hot oven. The heat from the oven will transfer to the pizza and some of the heat will be transformed into a type of energy called bond energy as water evaporates and chemical reactions occur, but most of the heat energy causes a rise in temperature in the cheese and sauce, which will begin the cooking process (Libretexts, 2021).

The science behind cheese and dough

"Athena Pizza - Hawaiian Pizza" by elsie.hui is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/?ref=openverse.

Next, we examine two of the main ingredients that make up a pizza, cheese, and dough. This is a process that begins with milk. The milk has blobs of fat and protein in water, then acid is added, such as vinegar or lemon juice causing the milk to coagulate, which is then separated into curds, then the water is squeezed out (Libretexts, 2021). Enzymes are needed to make certain cheeses and their noticeable flavors including mozzarella. Now we explain the science of making dough, which is a simple process that includes mixing flour and water. Pizza dough has a texture lighter than bread because the yeast contained in the dough has holes. Yeast is a microorganism that produces gas and consumes sugar, and after a period of sitting, the yeast will cause the dough to rise (Libretexts, 2021).

References

Varlamov, A., Glatz, A., & Grasso, S. (2018). The physics of baking good pizza. Physics Education, 53.

Dumas, C., & Mittal, G.S. (2002). HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER PROPERTIES OF PIZZA DURING BAKING. International Journal of Food Properties, 5, 161 – 177.

Rowat, Amy & Rosenberg, Daniel & Hollar, Kathryn & Stone, Howard. (2010). The Science of Pizza: The Molecular Origins of Cheese, Bread, and Digestion Using Interactive Activities for the General Public. Journal of Food Science Education. 9. 106 - 112. 10.1111/j.1541-4329.2010.00101.x.

Drake, G. W.F. (2022, August 25). thermodynamics. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/thermodynamics

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopedia (2019, July 4). heat transfer. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/heat-transfer

Hahn, E. V.  (2021, July 12). The Thermodynamics of Pizza. Chemical Education Digital Library (ChemEd DL). LibreTexts. https://chem.libretexts.org/@go/page/50912.