Food is a subjective experience. So if you enjoy air bubbles in your pizza, there's certainly nothing wrong with that. Savor your food and don't worry about what other people say. However, they detract from my enjoyment of pizza. Let me explain why.

From my perspective, air bubbles negatively impact the pizza in two ways. The first is that the air bubble stretches out the dough. This stretched dough is much thinner than other parts of the pizza. Especially if you are cooking in a very hot oven as is the custom in New Haven-style pizza, this causes the area to cook faster and dry out before the rest is ready. In fact, these spots will be crunchy when the pizza is done.

The second drawback to bubbles is that they create a slope. When the cheese and sauce heat up, they will flow down off the bubble. So, on the bubbly spots there is no cheese and very little sauce. Since the dough is also dried out in that spot, it's like having a lightly tomato-flavored, crunchy, pita chip in the middle of your slice. There's nothing wrong with pita chips, but it's not the experience I am looking for when I have pizza.

As far as what makes a high-quality charred pizza, the key is finding the happy medium. There is a difference between burned and charred. The black char should be a dusting or a light coating on the outer layer. The analogy that comes to mind is grilling meat. You can make a juicy steak if you grill it on very low heat for a long time, but it won't be very flavorful. Those black stripes from the heat of the grill give the meat a different flavor and texture. However, that doesn't mean that a darker steak is better. There is a point at which you are drying out the meat and burning it.

The ideal for me is a light dusting of black char, with the crust still chewy and moist. If the crust on a pizza is dry and brittle, then it is overcooked.