The Home Made Pizza Thread

smonteton said:

i cant remember if we pre cooked it or smoked it for a couple mins and then cooked it.

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I'm looking forward to trying this out!

here it is a day late but not a dollar short!

Man, you guys like the fatty crust. The only thick crust I care for are the oily pan pizzas. Here's a pic of the thickest one I think I made. Some anchovies on there - yum!

Evets said:

I made a couple of "Detroit Style" pies this evening.

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That's what I'm talking about. Jeez that looks good.

Hey Headbanger, my experiments with sourdough haven't been a great success yet either.

I have found that the mixing technique suggested by Varasano is an improvement. I put everything in the bread machine with about 25% of the flour set aside. Then I let the machine run through just the slow mix part of the dough cycle to combine everything into a very wet dough. When it kicks up the speed (after 9 minutes), I reset the machine to start again (timer delay start) in 15 minutes. When the machine restarts, I slowly add in the rest of the flour just before the end of the slow mix. It does take some effort with a spatula to get all the flour mixed in.


I have also tested a few different flours in a basic dough recipe. I heard good things about the Antimo Caputo Pizza Flour and it did make very good pizza, but not worth the extra cost to have it shipped in for me. I understand it may really shine when baked in a very hot oven. I am only baking at around 600F.

What I am using most often now is a 3:1 blend of bread flour and cake flour.



Time for a little pizza pron (sorry about the off color balance):

Olive Drab said:

evets,
whats your dough recipe for the pan pies or are you just using the same dough as you would for a round pie?

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Different recipe altogether. This is a high hydration dough, 71%, so it can be a little hard to work with. The recipe I'm giving makes one 8X10 pizza. If you just make one then just mix the best you can with a fork. Sometimes I'll quadruple and use my Bosch mixer which doesn't work well with small amounts. Then I'll bake two and freeze the other two in plastic containers for a week or so.
Flour 160 g
Water 114 g
IDY(instant dry yeast, quick rise)1.29 g or .4 tsp
Salt 2.8 g or .6 tsp
Once mixed just plop it into your greased pan (don't spread yet)and refrigerate at least 24 hrs. 48 is even better.
an hr or so before baking, spread the cold dough in the pan, cover and proof in the oven at about 100 degrees if you can.
This style uses brick cheese if you can find it or mild or medium white cheddar, which is what I use. Cheese the pie all the way up against the sides then add a stripe of sauce down each side, but not touching the pan. Sometimes I put the sauce on when the pie is almost done. Bake at 500 for about 10-12 minutes. You might need to apply foil to keep the top from over baking.

Here's a couple more. Pre and post bake. Could have used a little more color on top. The carmelized cheese on the sides is the best part. It's like bacon!

would anyone be interested in sharing their process from beginning ( making of dough) to end ( actually cooking of pizza)?

Evets said:

Different recipe altogether. This is a high hydration dough, 71%, so it can be a little hard to work with. The recipe I'm giving makes one 8X10 pizza. If you just make one then just mix the best you can with a fork. Sometimes I'll quadruple and use my Bosch mixer which doesn't work well with small amounts. Then I'll bake two and freeze the other two in plastic containers for a week or so.
Flour 160 g
Water 114 g
IDY(instant dry yeast, quick rise)1.29 g or .4 tsp
Salt 2.8 g or .6 tsp
Once mixed just plop it into your greased pan (don't spread yet)and refrigerate at least 24 hrs. 48 is even better.
an hr or so before baking, spread the cold dough in the pan, cover and proof in the oven at about 100 degrees if you can.
This style uses brick cheese if you can find it or mild or medium white cheddar, which is what I use. Cheese the pie all the way up against the sides then add a stripe of sauce down each side, but not touching the pan. Sometimes I put the sauce on when the pie is almost done. Bake at 500 for about 10-12 minutes. You might need to apply foil to keep the top from over baking.

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Thanks. Ill try this in a few weeks.
Are you pulling it out of the pan and putting it on the stone near the end or is it in the pan the whole time?

It's in the pan the whole time and that's where it gets a little tricky, figuring out when it's done. If your pan is seasoned well or is non-stick, you can lift a corner to check the bottom.

JUST_BREW_IT said:

would anyone be interested in sharing their process from beginning ( making of dough) to end ( actually cooking of pizza)?

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This is for a very basic, wood-fired pizza dough. It will be bubbly, with lots of air bubbles in the dough, light and crispy. Very detailed process, but it's worth it if you want that traditional italian crust. Sometimes I add olive oil to the base, most of the time now.

Put the following into a large bowl:

7-3/4 cups of flour
3 cups of warm water at 95 degrees. (Set aside 1/4 cup in small separate container)

• Mix roughly by hand, just until most of the flour has touched the water. Doesn't have to be pretty and can just be done with a wooden spoon at this point. Let sit, covered, for 30 minutes to autolyse.
  
• Place 1/4 tsp of dry yeast into the 1/4 cup of water
  
• After 30 minutes, sprinkle 1tbsp + 1tsp of salt into flour.
  
• Stir in yeast mixture
  
• Mix by hand, wetting hand to keep dough off of it. Knead and fold, pinch and reform till all the mixture is wet.
  
• Let sit for 30 minutes covered then apply 2 folds to the dough. These will help create air pockets in final product. Wet hand and slip under dough, grab about half and stretch it up towards the top of the bowl until it's about to fall apart, then fold over the top of the dough. Repeat one more time from the other side. Cover and let rise for 12 hours or more.
  
• Flour large surface and gently remove dough. Flour lightly on top and divide into 4-5 pieces. On a dry part of the counter, form into balls, lightly oil tops, and place on a floured baking sheet for further rising. After 1 hour, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes prior to baking.

They will keep moist in plastic bags in the fridge for 2 days.

Can you scale that down? That's a lot of dough!

mtnagel said:

Can you scale that down? That's a lot of dough!

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....yes......scale it down...

I plan to post pics of the calzone tonight.

Calzones are NOT a fail or shortcut.

The ingredients steam, but not in water. They steam in the juices of all of the ingredients, resulting in a less maillard creation, but something awesome just the same.

cheezydemon3 said:

I plan to post pics of the calzone tonight.

Calzones are NOT a fail or shortcut.

The ingredients steam, but not in water. They steam in the juices of all of the ingredients, resulting in a less maillard creation, but something awesome just the same.

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Oh it was tasty for sure, the only fail was that I went down to the grill with a pizza and came back up with a calzone instead.

Forgot to snap a pic but I made the best one (pizza) so far last night, starting to get the hang of the sourdough.

headbanger said:

Oh it was tasty for sure, the only fail was that I went down to the grill with a pizza and came back up with a calzone instead.

Forgot to snap a pic but I made the best one (pizza) so far last night, starting to get the hang of the sourdough.

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Lol, I get it now!

May I get a little sourdough starter that weekend?

I alternately like pizza and calzone. Don't make the mistake of thinking that one or the other is better....

That is like saying that you LOVE ribeye and therefore NEVER have a bacon wrapped filet!!!!

Both are worthy.

And as you have witnessed, calzones take more skill. They need to be thin and uniform. Something nearly impossible with an overlapping seal, or else you get big bites of bread with NO stuff.


(Actually that thing looks AWESOME!!! I am jealous!!!)

theveganbrewer said:

This is for a very basic, wood-fired pizza dough. It will be bubbly, with lots of air bubbles in the dough, light and crispy. Very detailed process, but it's worth it if you want that traditional italian crust. Sometimes I add olive oil to the base, most of the time now.

Put the following into a large bowl:

7-3/4 cups of flour
3 cups of warm water at 95 degrees. (Set aside 1/4 cup in small separate container)

• Mix roughly by hand, just until most of the flour has touched the water. Doesn't have to be pretty and can just be done with a wooden spoon at this point. Let sit, covered, for 30 minutes to autolyse.
  
• Place 1/4 tsp of dry yeast into the 1/4 cup of water
  
• After 30 minutes, sprinkle 1tbsp + 1tsp of salt into flour.
  
• Stir in yeast mixture
  
• Mix by hand, wetting hand to keep dough off of it. Knead and fold, pinch and reform till all the mixture is wet.
  
• Let sit for 30 minutes covered then apply 2 folds to the dough. These will help create air pockets in final product. Wet hand and slip under dough, grab about half and stretch it up towards the top of the bowl until it's about to fall apart, then fold over the top of the dough. Repeat one more time from the other side. Cover and let rise for 12 hours or more.
  
• Flour large surface and gently remove dough. Flour lightly on top and divide into 4-5 pieces. On a dry part of the counter, form into balls, lightly oil tops, and place on a floured baking sheet for further rising. After 1 hour, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes prior to baking.

They will keep moist in plastic bags in the fridge for 2 days.

Click to expand...

Thank you!

cheezydemon3 said:

Lol, I get it now!

May I get a little sourdough starter that weekend?

I alternately like pizza and calzone. Don't make the mistake of thinking that one or the other is better....

That is like saying that you LOVE ribeye and therefore NEVER have a bacon wrapped filet!!!!

Both are worthy.

And as you have witnessed, calzones take more skill. They need to be thin and uniform. Something nearly impossible with an overlapping seal, or else you get big bites of bread with NO stuff.


(Actually that thing looks AWESOME!!! I am jealous!!!)

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, got you covered on the starter.

Calzone is awesome, but if you don't make it right all the good stuff leaks out.

Mine usually leak, I need to work on that too.

reynolds5520 said:

Hey Headbanger, my experiments with sourdough haven't been a great success yet either.

I have found that the mixing technique suggested by Varasano is an improvement. I put everything in the bread machine with about 25% of the flour set aside. Then I let the machine run through just the slow mix part of the dough cycle to combine everything into a very wet dough. When it kicks up the speed (after 9 minutes), I reset the machine to start again (timer delay start) in 15 minutes. When the machine restarts, I slowly add in the rest of the flour just before the end of the slow mix. It does take some effort with a spatula to get all the flour mixed in.


I have also tested a few different flours in a basic dough recipe. I heard good things about the Antimo Caputo Pizza Flour and it did make very good pizza, but not worth the extra cost to have it shipped in for me. I understand it may really shine when baked in a very hot oven. I am only baking at around 600F.

What I am using most often now is a 3:1 blend of bread flour and cake flour.

Click to expand...

I've been playing with Wood's bread machine method. At first I was trying to take shortcuts and it wasn't working out too well. Now it's starting to fall into place, I've resigned to following his recipe too the T and, go figure, it works really well.

I have not tried Varasano's method yet with sourdough. If I can ever nail down this one I'm keen to try that with the KA mixer next.

Still just using bread flour here, does the addition of the cake flour really make a big difference in texture for you?

I still need to do a test with just the bread flour.

I know I prefer the results with the bread flour/cake flour blend over the all purpose flour I started with a few years ago. It seems to be easier to stretch and a softer crumb. It's possible that with the improved dough mixing/handling I've added to my workflow that most any flour would work.

JUST_BREW_IT said:

would something like this work? Or do I want something bigger?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hamilton-Beach-2-lb-Bread-Machine/16503557

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That may work, hard to say really. See if you can find the manual for it online, you want one that has a delay cycle and a bake only cycle, several "artisan" cycles are also good.

I love a good homemade pizza too. Had a boss while I was in college who made a killer thin crust and cooked his pizzas in a green egg grill.

Anyway, I make pizza about once a month now and when I get a chance later today, I'll put together my process, dough & sauce recipes along with two topping combinations that are absolutely insane.

Pizza and IPA -- mmm. I think I have dinner plans.

Calzone leaked. It was still fantastic, but I'll hold the pics for now..

ghosthef said:

View attachment 117425

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That looks interesting. Cheese under the sauce? Pesto?

Yup. Deep dish has the cheese, toppings, sauce and dollops of pesto. Only did the pesto as it was a special request from on of my guests.

Nice.

byounger said:

Great thread! Subscribed.
Does anyone grill their pizza? It's getting warmer outside and I'd prefer not to heat the house up in the summer.

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Yes, I grill mine sometimes. First I coat one side of the crust with olive oil, and lay in right on the grill oiled side on the bottom, so its facing the coals, cook about 5 min. depending on how hot the coals are. Take it off the grill and coat the uncooked side with olive oil. this uncooked side becomes the bottom of the pizza. build your ingredients on to the cooked side and put it back on the grill. Makes a nice crunchy smokey flavored crust.

I made calzones last night, but now I'm hungry for pizza again.

Alright so here goes:

First I usually bake in the oven as hot as it goes (mine says 500, but actually heats up to about 550) or on my grill pizza stone (usually a little hotter 650-700):

Crust:

1 package dry active yeast (I think it's Hudson Mill that I use)
1 cup warm (90-100) water

mix the above and let stand for 5 min.

1 1/4 C ice cold water or beer
1 t. sugar
1 1/2 T Kosher salt
2 T olive oil
5 1/4 C all-purpose or bread flour (bread flour is best)
2 T Italian seasoning

Mix flour and Italian seasoning thoroughly in large bowl or in mixer bowl (if using a dough hook on a Kitchenaid). Mix together cold liquid, salt, sugar and oil.

If mixing by hand, make a well in the flour mixture and add all other ingredients stirring until all is incorporated (may need to add flour). Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead until soft and elastic (10-12 min.). NOTE: I always knead the dough by hand. I've made this recipe dozens of times and experience has taught me that I can best tell how much flour needs to be added, when the dough is ready, etc. by kneading it myself)

One could also make the dough by adding the wet ingredients to a mixer and using the dough hook. Use low speed first until the flour is incorporated and the dough gathers into a ball, about 4 min. Let rest for 2 min, then mix on low until dough is smooth and not sticky, about 6 min longer. Then, turn out the dough and knead for a min. or two until a smooth ball is formed.

Cut the dough into thirds, wrap into balls and stick in 1 gallon plastic bags in the fridge for 10 hours or up to 2 days.

This dough is "New York" style. It will be crispy on the outside but soft and porous on the inside. I do sometimes split the dough into fourths and make the crusts a little thinner without compromising the texture.

Sauce:

24 oz tomato paste (the highest quality you can find/afford, trust me on this one)
3/4 C water
1 1/2 T olive oil
2 T sugar
2 1/2 T Kosher salt
1 1/3 T dried oregano
1 t. dried basil
1/4 t. garlic powder (or a small clove of fresh pressed garlic)
4 large chopped fresh basil leaves

Mix first three ingredients in a large bowl well. Add everything but the fresh basil, mix well. Fold in the basil leaves.

Use immediately or store in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Topping combos:

I'm an IPA / IIPA fan, so I always go for a pizza with a kick:

1. Spicy Pepperoni, sliced andouille sausage, red onion, red bell pepper and pickled hot banana peppers (I drain these and pat them dry with a paper towl).

2. Spicy Pepperoni, ground beef, red onion, black olive and sliced fire-roasted red bell pepper

Enjoy (with a pint)!

cheezydemon3 said:

Calzone leaked. It was still fantastic, but I'll hold the pics for now..

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That's my bad, I jinxed it!

lol, it happens. She still loved it.

This thread inspired me to try a deep dish in a skillet. Usually I stick with a pizza stone, NY style. I may retire the pizza stone and use the skillet for now on.

My deep dish in my cast iron skillet came out so good I was thinking of trying a non deep dish/medium thickness crust in it.

Just made a batch of ny style dough for Thursday night pizzas. Going to let it cold ferment for 36 or so hours.

Have a Nice Day!

Here's the portable semi-wood burning oven I built to take camping at the bluegrass festival.

More

Hard to beat a straight ahead pepperoni pie!

Fresh Mozz, yellow fingerling potatoes soaked in salt water, garlic alfredo sauce on sourdough. About 90 seconds in the wfo.