Let's Make Pizza

Tonight was pizza night at the homestead. Been making home made pizza for quite a while and it took me a lot of fails to finally succeed.

Set the oven for 525 degrees (yes, mine goes to 525 ). Preheat the stone and oven for 30-45 minutes.

I enjoy thin crust pizza - make the dough at least several hours up to 24 hours ahead of time, let rise. Longer rise times allow the flavors and texture to develop.

Roll out the dough and dock it.



Pre-bake the crust for a few minutes then coat with olive oil before topping



Top with sauce and fried pork sausauge



Get the cheese on (I put it on frozen) and then top with pepperoni and green olives, when available



Bake until the cheese is golden brown, pair with your favorite beer, a double chocolate stout, cut and enjoy.

How do you make the crust? I have no idea how to make pizza dough..... Looks yummy

Tried a few recipes from the internet, and this one is the best. If done right, it will give you a cracker crust, something like a saltine. I make one 16" pie with this recipe, with some dough left to spare.

3 1/2 cups bread flour
3/4 cup warm water + 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tblsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp sugar

Activate the yeast in the warm water. Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer w/dough hook. Let mix until a dough ball forms and stop. The dough will be very stiff and dry. If a dough ball does not form, add small amounts of water to the mixer until it does. Cover and let rise from 9 - 24 hours in a warm place. I usually make my dough first thing in the morning on pizza day.

Roll it thin with lots of flour.

The secret to getting a good crispy crust is to bake as hot as possible. Pizza parlor ovens run much hotter than your kitchen oven, so we are already behind the 8-ball when trying to replicate our favorite pie. This is why I precook the crust for 5 or so minutes and put my cheese on straight from the freezer. It takes longer to melt and cook, giving the crust a few extra minutes in the oven. Using olive oil under the sauce helps prevent the sauce from soaking in, which makes the crust soft and the pizza taste dry.

Use a stone on the lowest rack in your oven.

Thank you!

Your pizza looks pretty good. Nice work!

ARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

A rolling pin and a docker? Pre-bake? Olive oil?!?!?!

I'm of the belief that pizza should be hand-formed... After all, you spend all that time letting the yeast make all those beautiful bubbles for you, and then go and knock them down with a rolling pin? Poor, poor underappreciated yeast!!!

O.K., sorry. I'm better now. In actuality, you pizza looks pretty damn good. I guess I'm just used to NY-style pizza, which is such a different beast.

I love making pizza and will have parties where people bring over toppings to make their own creations. My favorite is blue cheese, caramelized onions and bacon. The best part is with the thin nipolese style crust, you can make and eat a bunch of them. For me the secret is doing it on a grill. You can get it way hotter which is key.

a double-chocolate stout to go with pizza???!!!!???? only if i can wake up with a barleywine over fruit loops...

jpc said:

ARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

A rolling pin and a docker? Pre-bake? Olive oil?!?!?!

I'm of the belief that pizza should be hand-formed... After all, you spend all that time letting the yeast make all those beautiful bubbles for you, and then go and knock them down with a rolling pin? Poor, poor underappreciated yeast!!!

O.K., sorry. I'm better now. In actuality, you pizza looks pretty damn good. I guess I'm just used to NY-style pizza, which is such a different beast.

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I thought the same thing at first, but for a cracker style thin crust, that's pretty much how it's done. It's probably my least favorite style but hey, who an I to judge?

why am I reading this at 9:00 a.m. now I want pizza for breakfast. Looks damn good !!!

Aschecte said:

why am I reading this at 9:00 a.m. now I want pizza for breakfast. Looks damn good !!!

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I know, right?

I have dough in the fridge. I might just go out and fire up the oven!

jpc said:

I'm of the belief that pizza should be hand-formed... After all, you spend all that time letting the yeast make all those beautiful bubbles for you, and then go and knock them down with a rolling pin? Poor, poor underappreciated yeast!!!

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We're boring in the midwest. All our pizzas are round.

I tried doing a hand formed pizza once. My hands got tired and it looked kind of like an ameoba.

jasonsbeer said:

We're boring in the midwest. All our pizzas are round.

I tried doing a hand formed pizza once. My hands got tired and it looked kind of like an ameoba.

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LOL...

I've done my share of amoebic pizzas. I ended up learning a bunch over at pizzamaking.com, kind of the pizza equivalent of this place. I learned a ton about high-gluten flour, proper baker's percentages, good yeast, overnight ferments in the refrigerator, and best of all, how to form it so it's uniform from crust to center.

I'll be making pizza(N.Y. style)on Friday. Tomorrow(later today), I'll be making 3 dough balls using the same formula, but 3 different flours, just to see what's what. Pictures and descriptions to follow. But for tonite?, I'm druck, and I'm going to bed!
I mean, you did say "lets make pizza" right? Ok, now I'm goin t bed..............

Evets said:

I'll be making pizza(N.Y. style)on Friday. Tomorrow(later today), I'll be making 3 dough balls using the same formula, but 3 different flours, just to see what's what. Pictures and descriptions to follow. But for tonite?, I'm druck, and I'm going to bed!
I mean, you did say "lets make pizza" right? Ok, now I'm goin t bed..............

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BOO-YA, bring it! :fro: I'm not a druck as I think you are.

Let us know how it goes.

Ok, the dough is made. I decided to do a sicilian pie as well, with yet another flour.

The best pizza known to Man: http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm

I have been making homemade breads and pizzas for years now. I have two natural sourdough starters that I have kept alive for 3+ years as well. In my opinion, hand forming is the only way to go for a great crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside pizza dough, and pizza is really all about the dough. I don't use regular bread flour, but all purpose for pizza. I think it comes out way better. I used to be the chef at a restaurant with a wood fired oven, and you could tell the pizzas that were hand-tossed versus rolled out. Rolled out dough can be so thin it will almost always be soggy. A great trick to avoid a soggy crust is to let your pie rest on a wire rack for a few minutes after coming out of the oven in order to let steam escape that would make an otherwise great crust soggy. I would say keep the toppings very simple too. Pureed tomatoes, fresh mozz, and few garnishes. Broiled mushrooms with shallots and Taleggio and Prosciutto and arugula are a few of my favorites. Of course much of this changes when venturing into the world of deep dish or Chicago style.

Thin & Crackery is for me. I make a very dry dough. You're not going to toss this crust.

Nice! That looks pretty good!

Here are a bunch of pictures from tonights pizza bake. I'm still trying to digest the data in my head concerning the different flours but at first impression, they all performed well. I found very little difference in them at all. I guess this is to be expected though, since they're all bromated bread flours except for the All Trumps(Buffalo Chicken pie) which is a hi gluten flour. Anyway, enjoy the pics!

More

More pics

Evets - There appears to be much deliciousness at your table.

I'd like to add some new styles to my book. Can you share your recipe and advice?

Man that looks great Evets! Nice oven spring. Beautiful crust. But, no color=no flavor! Cook it!

jasonsbeer said:

I'd like to add some new styles to my book. Can you share your recipe and advice?

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Sure. This is a 61% hydration dough. depending on what flour you use, you may want to use a bit less or more water.
For each 16 pie I used 293 grams of flour, 179 g water, a slightly rounded .25 tsp instant dry yeast, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp oil.
Mix and let rest 10-15 minutes, knead 4-5 minutes refrigerate 40-48 hrs. remove from fridge about 3 hrs before baking on a pre-heated stone as hot as your oven will go. 6-7 minutes.

Sean said:

Man that looks great Evets! Nice oven spring. Beautiful crust. But, no color=no flavor! Cook it!

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Thanks!
I agree. I should have left them in a little longer. Oh well, they still ate pretty well.