The single thing that makes a home pizza look pro is the leopard-spotting on the rim. Good news: you can fake the wood-oven blast with kit you already own. It’s the finishing move on the full cook method, and the mark of a real Neapolitan bake.
01 · What char actually is
Leopard spots are localised caramelisation — tiny pockets of the rim hitting very high heat very fast. In a 480°C wood oven they happen naturally. In your oven, you engineer them.
02 · Grill from the top
Bake as normal on your hot surface, then for the last 60–90 seconds move to the top shelf and switch on the grill/broiler. The radiant heat from above freckles the rim without overcooking the base.
★ Pizzaiolo tip — Preheat the grill element itself for a few minutes before you move the pizza up — a cold element does nothing in 60 seconds.
03 · Know when to stop
A scatter of black spots is perfect. A uniformly black rim is dinner in the bin. Stay at the oven door for this bit — it turns fast. None of it matters, of course, if the dough underneath didn’t get its fermentation — char is the finish, not the foundation.