Should you be charred pizza curious?

Is well done or charred pizza the next big trend in pizza flavor? Or is it something a few people convinced themselves was good?

Hi there!

Well pizza pals, not a huge truckload of pizza news or reviews this week. Not every week can be a banger, but I do have some thoughts on charred pizza. Where do you stand on the charred crust vs no char?

This topic came to light recently because of the style of Gussy’s pizza. You can see below that this is a hot hot pizza. A friend of mine grabbed this pizza, posted it in the group chat and immediately the people were divided. Some enjoyed the idea of the dark splots on the crust. Others thought it tasted too much like ash, and who wants ash with their pizza?

Michaelangelo could not sculpt a more perfect pizza out of marble. Pizza from Gussy’s, photo from Arielle.

The charred crust is an evolution, a delicious pizza mutation. Rising from the fires like a phoenix, the blackened crust persists. It’s stronger than it has ever been before. What was pale and soft is now flaky, yet hard. It has a whole new life ahead of it. Cleansed by the fires of the pizza oven, this pizza is pure and ready to accept you into its life.

It’s an entirely new being. As your teeth close in around it the charred crust shatters into a tiny fragments. Those fragments spread themselves every corner of your mouth, biding their time as they dissolve and lend their energy to your digestive tract.

The flavor of a charred crust is smokier, earthy even. You can taste the fire accompanying every bite. Like a black hole it sucks in the flavor the bright and zesty tomato sauce and goopy cheese. It’s an overpowering force that festers.

But is it to be feared? Our initial reaction to anything burnt is a big wet “whoops” or a horrified gasp. Like a couple of Frakenstein’s monster we walk around declaring “char is bad.” But why did prometheus steal fire for us if not to crisp up a pizza every now and then?

“Look at this, it taste like eating ash.” - Micah, who is getting used to charred pizzas.

Don’t Fear the Char

A none well done pizza I ate from Badamo’s

If given the choice, very few people will order a charred pizza. I went to Badamo’s last week and noticed they offer a “Well Done” option for their pizzas. In theory, I like a well done pizza. I was also sharing a pizza with a three year old who may not be ready for this advanced-level pizza. The option to get your pizza well done is hidden at the bottom of the toppings list.

I was Char Curious, but ultimately bailed out on the option because I didn’t want to get kicked out of the family. But I asked the employee there about the option when I picked up my pizza.

“Is well done like slightly charred?”

“No, it’s like well done well done.”

Their pizzas are so on point I’m sure they wouldn’t offer this option if it didn’t blend with their vibe. So I reached out to Anthony Badamo, owner of Badamo’s about the Well Done option and this is what they said:

Hey Dan! I’m glad your shedding some light on this! I offer a “well done” button on our online menu because there are a large contingent of folks out there that understand a well done pizza equals more flavor.

Over the years the idea of a well done pie had become more desirable and I believe it’s because of the large amount of pizza content online and on “food tv”. When a pie imo is well done it is left in the oven longer to achieve a darker color and to firm up the pizza in a way that delivers more flavor in its charred aspects of the crust.

Scientifically a “Maillard reaction” happens at high heat and in turn reduces the water amount from the crust, reducing sugars and gives the pizza crust and toppings a distinctive flavor. In short, learn the cheat code, order it we’ll done! If you prefer a doughy, light and undercooked pizza I’m positive one of the many other pizzerias around the area can accommodate!

With a testimony like that I’m inclined to start getting 100% of my pizzas well done.

The few charred pizzas I’ve had are more memorable than most. Is it because their unusual nature sticks out against a landscape of tanned pizzas? I’m not suggesting we all go wild burning our pizzas, but a well-done pizza is a creation to be cherished.

Many of you reading this would agree that Pizza Taglio served up some of the best pizza in this city. One Christmas Eve Tony seemingly had nothing better to do than make a limited numbers of “Brooklyn Style Pizza.” I’m not entirely clear what Brooklyn Style Pizza is, but if you only knew Brooklyn from this pizza you would think Brooklyn was engulfed in flames.

A secret Brooklyn style pizza from Pizza Taglio

This pizza was so crushable. It was sturdier than any skyscraper. It supported the toppings flawlessly. The extra crispy crust meant that more flavors can be piled on to mix a variety of flavors most pizzas couldn’t support. If you are a toppings fiend a charred pizza is your best friend. The lack of floppiness contains the pepperoni, cheese, sausage, peppers and onions with the same dexterity and strength Dolph Lundgren would use to crush me into the size of a can. This is a sturdy ‘za.

Is charpizza the next frontier in pizza flavor? For a while coal-fired pizza was trending in this city, and that pizza is famously burnt to a crisp. Yet, it works. When the crust mutates it allows for extreme experimentation on the base of the pizza. All those wild toppings you’ve been scared to add to your pizza come into play as you compensate for a burnt crust.

Let me know what you think about a little char on your pizza. For now it’s a fringe pizza varietal, but something tells me we’ll be seeing it pop up at more places as the boundaries of pizza flavors are pushed.

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Thanks for reading! I hope you have found something to enjoy in this amazing pizza newsletter. Feel free to leave a comment or share the newsletter with your pizza pals.

Thanks and pizza ya later!

-Dan Tallarico, Pizza Journalist