SWMBO asked me to make pizza

for her work-mates. This is all I could come up with in a hurry. (Shameless Promotion)





I hope they like them!

The one with peppers looks awesome to me.

Where did you get the pizza boxes?

Also, shouldn't those be sliced?

Very nice.

Looks great! Do I spy an oyster knife? I've often wondered about a pizza with oysters on it. I've done shrimp, crab, and conch pizzas which all turned out yummy. I might have to whip an oyster one up next time I'm shuck'n. Sadly it won't be for a while as it's getting to be a bit hot for oysters here in SC.

HighPlainsDrifter said:

Looks great! Do I spy an oyster knife? I've often wondered about a pizza with oysters on it. I've done shrimp, crab, and conch pizzas which all turned out yummy. I might have to whip an oyster one up next time I'm shuck'n. Sadly it won't be for a while as it's getting to be a bit hot for oysters here in SC.

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Actually it looks like a pizza cutter Though a seafood pizza sounds absolutely delicious.

What is the third pizza down? They all look very good, in fact now I am getting hungry.

weirdboy said:

Where did you get the pizza boxes?

Also, shouldn't those be sliced?

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They make better pictures pre- sliced.
I get the boxes from a local restaurant supply store. It's like $15.00 for 50 of the heavy duty 16" boxes.

sp1365 said:

Actually it looks like a pizza cutter Though a seafood pizza sounds absolutely delicious.

What is the third pizza down? They all look very good, in fact now I am getting hungry.

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Yeah, it's just a pizza cutter.
That's an Alfredo with Sun-Dried Tomato pie. One of my faves.
I also like to modify that into a Buffalo Chicken Alfredo.

I've already done the Alfredo with shrimp. Quite good if I do say so myself.

Those are some mighty fine looking pizzas! Care to share your methods?

Evets said:

Yeah, it's just a pizza cutter.
That's an Alfredo with Sun-Dried Tomato pie. One of my faves.
I also like to modify that into a Buffalo Chicken Alfredo.

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Ah I see the blade on the cutter now. Funny how sometimes you see what you want to see LOL.

I'm about to make three more pies for our HB club meeting tonite. These will be a bit more "specialer", as it were. I'll post more pics later.

Bopper said:

Those are some mighty fine looking pizzas! Care to share your methods?

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Sure! I'd be happy to. What in particular would you like to know?

White sauce pizzas are very underrated. They add a complexity to pizza and really open up the toppings that can go on.

Evets said:

Sure! I'd be happy to. What in particular would you like to know?

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what kind of oven do you use? I think I see it in your avatar, but not sure.

Evets said:

Sure! I'd be happy to. What in particular would you like to know?

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Cool! My main question is about dough. Do you make your dough from scratch and what is your process for shaping it? Let me give you some background:

Cooking is another one of my hobbies but I have really struggled with pizza. I think the problem may lie in the dough that I'm using, however, it very well could be user error. I've tried making pizza about a half dozen times using a frozen dough from a local pizza shop. The problem is that the dough just does not stay in the shape that I roll it out into. For example, when making a pizza in the shape of a circle, I'll roll out the dough in the desired shape and it will shrink back in to a much smaller circle resulting in the crust being much too thick. No matter what I do, I can't get the dough to stay put. I've tried both wetting and flouring the dough and it still does the same thing...always shrinking down. This shrinkage happens almost immediately after rolling the dough out. I am using 1lb of dough for 1 pizza. Any ideas where I might be going wrong? I am sure making my own dough will solve this problem and this is my next step, however, I figured I'd ask.

Are you giving the dough ample time to rise (and then punching it back down)?

Synovia said:

Are you giving the dough ample time to rise (and then punching it back down)?

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No. The dough is frozen and I thought was ready to use after thawing. I thaw it out in the refrigerator over night and then use it the following day. Maybe I need to let the dough warm up more? Come to think of it, I think its been on the cool side every time I've made pizza.

Yeah, warm up your dough, it will help a lot. Just thaw it in a bowl on the counter with a towell over it. It is dough after all, room temp won't hurt it at all.

Bopper said:

The problem is that the dough just does not stay in the shape that I roll it out into.

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Ahhh... there's you issue. Pizza should be hand-formed, not rolled out with a rolling pin.

My tips: check out pizzamaking.com; Tom Lehmann's recipe is awesome. On top of that, make sure to use a high-gluten flour (I use King Arthur bread flour), and knead for a L-O-N-G time. I like to do it the night before, and let it rise in the refrigerator overnight. Take it out a couple hours before use, and you'll be good to go.

Also, treat it gently. Don't "punch" it down; as Alton Brown put it, you'll just undo all the work you've gone forming gluten and getting the yeast to puff it up. Softly deflate after rising, but don't beat the snot out of it.

If the dough shrinks back - it's not ready for forming yet; let it rest another 15-20 minutes.

The problem is that the dough just does not stay in the shape that I roll it out into.

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If you are trying to shape your dough right out of the fridge, it will definitely not work. You need to let it warm up to room temperature. If you are trying to shape the dough at room temp and it is still springing back, try rolling it a bit (or stretching by hand, which is my preferred method) and then letting it rest for 20 minutes or so before working it some more.

When SWMBO asks for pizza, and she gets that kind of quality in return, you'd better be getting some grilled cheese later!

Yuri_Rage said:

When SWMBO asks for pizza, and she gets that kind of quality in return, you'd better be getting some grilled cheese later!

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true 'dat. I'll gladly spend a couple hours making homemade pizza dough & sauce, if she'll make me a grilled cheese in return!

Bopper said:

Cool! My main question is about dough. Do you make your dough from scratch and what is your process for shaping it?

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I make my dough from scratch (sometimes) and I toss it. I use to work at a few Italian restaurants and tossing the dough definitely helps to stretch it.

Plus, the kids get a kick out of it!

Delicious looking za. I think I'd have to grab some of the sun-dried tomato/alfredo and some of the pepper

Here are the club pies from last night.





That's Italian Sopressata, with peppers and onion, Pepperoni with chopped fresh basil and Buffalo chicken alfredo with smoked swiss and mozz.

All the pies in this thread were cooked on a good stone in my kitchen oven at 550.

I make my pizza on the grill with the smoker going and man are they good.

Pat

Thanks for the tips everyone. I think I'll let the dough warm up for longer next time. I always leave it on the counter for a while but I have ever let it get up to room temp. I have always made pizza on week nights and have been in a rush after work. If warming the dough up more doesn't work then I'll try a different dough.

Evets, those pics are making my mouth water!

This is a portable, semi-wood burning oven I recently built from an old charcoal grill. I added a burner on the bottom, lowered the rack and added fire brick to cook on. There's an open area in the back where the wood sits. There's enough heat that the wood self ignites.
Also, here are a couple pies baked in this. This also the oven in my avatar.

Yeah, definitely let your dough warm up. That makes a huge difference.
Also, someone mentioned pizzamaking.com. That's where I learned to make pizza. Check it out.

Evets said:

Yeah, definitely let your dough warm up. That makes a huge difference.
Also, someone mentioned pizzamaking.com. That's where I learned to make pizza. Check it out.

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Thanks - I'll check that site out today!

Evets said:

Yeah, definitely let your dough warm up. That makes a huge difference.
Also, someone mentioned pizzamaking.com. That's where I learned to make pizza. Check it out.

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Oh, I just noticed that you are kinda local. Have you made it up to Berwick yet? Guy, from One Guy Brewing (also on pizzamaking.com) makes his owns pies at his brewpub.

How about Earth Bread + Brewery in Mt Airy? The couple that ran Heaveweight opened a pizzeria brewpub there.

Both have been on my to-do list for a while now.

I'll have to check them out. Berwick is a couple hours from here but I can make Philly in a little over an hour.

Evets said:

This is a portable, semi-wood burning oven I recently built from an old charcoal grill. I added a burner on the bottom, lowered the rack and added fire brick to cook on. There's an open area in the back where the wood sits. There's enough heat that the wood self ignites.
Also, here are a couple pies baked in this. This also the oven in my avatar.

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I wouldn't mind finding out more about this rig!

Evets said:

I'll have to check them out. Berwick is a couple hours from here but I can make Philly in a little over an hour.

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Well look at that. Here is your chance to check out both:


Lew Bryson: Berwick Brewing in Mt. Airy

Boy, if I lived any closer I would be there in a heartbeat.

Those look really good. Maybe you should be the one starting the pizzaria...

i read over pizzamaking.com's recipe for the new york style crust. do you happen to have amounts you've come up with that are scaled down from his bulk recipe?

edit: i scaled this down to using 2 # of flour... any idea how many crusts this will make?

New York Style Pizza Dough
2 # Bread Flour
1.2 # Water
13.6 g Salt
9 g Olive Oil
2.1 g Instant Yeast

Sure. That will make 3, 15 inch pies. Each dough ball should weigh about 500 grams. Personally, I would double the olive oil. Also, if you add about .75 Tbsp each of garlic powder and onion powder to the entire batch, you'll get a most flavorfull crust, that you won't find in any shop.
Also, after mixing and kneading, divide your dough into separate containers and ferment in the fridge at least 24 hours. 48 is even better and up to a week is better yet.

Cook on a "good" stone, either Cordierite or Fibrament as hot as your oven will get. Preheat for at least an hour. Some folks alter their ovens to disable the door lock and cook on the cleaning cycle for extra heat. I've never done this and I'm not sure it's a good idea.

awesome, thanks for the info. i've done pizza before with good success in my oven, i just wasn't ever all that happy with the crust out of 'bread bakers apprentice'. i mean it's good, but i bet this one will be better. i've got a nice stone, so hopefully this will turn out well... i'll try the garlic/onion powder and 2x on the olive oil, thanks for those suggestions. what i used to do when i made more than one dough was put them in individual ziplocks after coating them in olive oil, will this work? or should i get some dedicated tupperwares for each ball? last question, do you ever freeze them after 24-72 hr fermentation?