Wish to make restaurant-quality cup and char pepperoni pizza at residence? On this publish, you will be taught which sort of pepperoni works finest, what makes it curl, and easy methods to get essentially the most scrumptious ends in a normal oven.
What Precisely is Cup and Char Pepperoni?
Nicely, it is precisely what it seems like: pepperoni that curls up into cups and chars across the edges when it is heated. Regardless of what numerous corporations need you to imagine, you should not have to purchase a product labeled “cup and char” to be able to get ‘roni cup outcomes. In reality, labels will do you little to no good usually, because the several types of pepperoni are hardly ever labeled as such.
If you need pepperoni to cup up in your do-it-yourself pizza because it bakes, you must select the best-quality stick pepperoni you’ll find and reduce it into skinny (however not too skinny) slices with a pointy chef’s knife.
Nonetheless undecided what I imply? Here is what to search for when shopping for pepperoni for a cup and char pizza:
- Don’t purchase the super-thin pre-sliced pepperoni that is often displayed within the deli part of your grocery retailer. Although scrumptious in its personal proper, the sort of pepperoni will lay flat (or curl just a bit) when it is baked on a pizza.
- Select a stick of pepperoni that’s brick-red in coloration, onerous, and lumpy on the skin. These are the traits of what’s generally referred to as “outdated world” or artisan pepperoni, which is one of the best cupping possibility due to its pure or collagen casing and smaller circumference.
- Lower the pepperoni your self into thin-ish slices. Pizza guru J. Kenji López-Alt recommends a thickness between .1 inch (2.5 mm) and .225 (5.6 mm), however I’ve had one of the best outcomes with slices which can be roughly ⅛ inch (3.2 mm) thick.
Experiment Time: Does it Matter How You Bake the Pizza?
Out of curiosity (and since Lopez-Alt left this out of his personal cup and char pepperoni examine for Severe Eats), I performed an experiment to see whether or not pepperoni slices cup up otherwise relying on how a pizza is baked. I used the identical three forms of pepperoni (pre-sliced, American-style stick pepperoni, and “old-world” stick pepperoni) for every of two pizzas, in addition to the identical sauce, cheese, and dough. I baked one of many pizzas on a pizza pan at 500°F. Then, I preheated my baking stone to 550°F for an hour, switched to Broil on excessive, and baked the opposite one immediately on the stone.
Check #1: Can I get pepperoni cups on a pizza pan?
This was a pleasing shock. The high-quality (“old-world”/artisan) pepperoni cupped up properly on the pan pizza, and the American-style stick pepperoni curled up just a bit on the edges.
Check #2: Will all three forms of pepperoni cup up on a high-heat baking stone pizza?
Since I would already made a number of cup and char pepperoni pizzas on my baking stone, I knew this methodology would produce scrumptious “outdated world” ‘roni cups. What shocked me was the efficiency of the American-style variations.
Whereas the artisanal pepperoni slices cupped up gorgeously, as anticipated, they weren’t alone. The sliced-by-hand American-style stick pepperoni curled virtually into cups, too, and even the bigger pre-sliced model baked into shallow bowls.
Conclusion
If you need one of the best cup and char pepperoni, get the good things and slice it by hand to a uniform ⅛-inch thickness (or barely thinner). The roni cups shall be barely extra outlined should you bake them on the highest warmth on a baking stone, however they may also curl up properly on a pizza pan or baking sheet at 500°F.
FAQs
Nope! Your finest wager is to move over to the deli space of your grocery retailer or, even higher, the closest cheese and/or charcuterie store, and discover a stick of pepperoni with pure or collagen casings. Then, if you’re able to make pizza, slice the pepperoni thinly (about 1/16 to ⅛ inch thick) with an enormous chef’s knife.
In contrast to the American (“new world”) model, which is decrease in fats, cured for shorter quantities of time, and made with an artificial casing, “outdated world” pepperoni is increased in fats, has pure casings (both pork gut or collagen), a deeper crimson coloration, and a tougher, dryer, lumpier texture. That is the sort that’s closest to the authentic pepperoni, based mostly on Italian dry-cured salami recipes.
When you’re a purist, the one different toppings you want are crimson sauce and cheese. Nevertheless, I do love the addition of sliced inexperienced bell peppers and/or mushroom, which add a welcome trace of sweetness. (Talking of which, have you ever tried my Pepperoni and Broccoli Rabe Pizza with Scorching Honey? It is amazeballs.)
