Julia Child's Clever Pizza Trick Starts At The Hardware Store

Julia Child's cooking was so exciting to many and she was perhaps best known for her influence in introducing classic French cuisine to Americans. However, this kitchen icon didn't limit herself to just French food. She applied her culinary technique and vibrant creativity to other cuisines as well, including pizza. In true Child fashion, she helped everyday home cooks perfect their pizzas with a simple trick involving bricks or tiles and a small piece of wood — all of which could be picked up at the local hardware store.

Although it might seem unusual to start your pizza process at the same place that sells hammers and screws, it makes sense when considering the way traditional pizza ovens work. As Child explained in an episode of her show "The French Chef," old-school pizzerias use ovens with tile or brick floors, upon which the pizza is directly baked. And since typical home oven setups can't achieve the same crusty bottom, Child came up with the solution of completely covering an oven-safe rack with fire bricks or quarry tiles to help address it.

This rack is then placed in the oven, which is preheated at high temperatures for 45 minutes to an hour to allow the bricks to fully capture as much heat as possible. At this point, home cooks should grab the piece of wood or shingle they purchased, which can function as a low-cost, impromptu pizza peel. (That's the technical name for the handy, board-like tools the pros use to slide pizzas deep into large ovens and later retrieve them.)

The advantages of this technique are clear. For one, it's a far less costly way to achieve high-end pizza crusts without spending the significant amount of money for a dedicated pizza oven or quality pizza stone, as well as a true pizza peel.  And unlike a traditional pizza oven, it can also be doubled-up, with two tile-lined racks in the same oven allowing two pizzas to cook at once. 

However, it's worth noting the potential downsides or hurdles to the technique, too. Hardware store bricks and tiles aren't designed for food use, meaning they'll need a good scrubbing (or possibly a more intensive cleaning) before you slide your pizza onto them. In addition, preheating the bricks takes significantly longer than a normal oven preheating, meaning home cooks will need ample prep time before dinner.

Still, it's hard to beat this innovative, low-cost way to bring your home pizzas a little closer to the pros. So, if you're a pizza lover, spend a few extra minutes and dollars the next time you're at the hardware store, and see why Child has such a deserved reputation as a kitchen legend.